Time to present the bill
 
Unless requested by the guests, do not present the bill until everyone is finished. Doing otherwise could be seen as rushing the guests. Often the person who wants the bill will make this known to you during the ordering process. If not, and there is no host at the table, simply set it on the table. Let them know you will take it from them when they are ready (if you are the cashier).

I place the check presenter the same way every time I leave one at the table so I know when they have moved it. When I say the same way, I mean exactly the same way, in precisely the same place. I put it just a touch back from the edge of the table, every time. This is so I'll know if they have put their payment inside and set it back down on the table. No one has ever put it back exactly parallel to the edge of the table and half an inch away from it. Never.
 
Lingering guests, oh my. What to do about the "campers" you will get? How do you get them out of the restaurant quickly? How do you get your table back so you can make more? The answer is so simple you may not realize it. The answer is, you don't! There is no sense rushing a guest. They are going to spend however much time at your table as they are going to spend. There is nothing you can do, short of angering them that is going to get them to leave. Don't even bother trying. All you are going to accomplish is causing bad feelings. When I first started serving I would try, politely, to get them out and have now come to the realization they aren't going to budge until they are ready. Clearing everything from the table except their drinks, which should be done anyway, isn't going to make them want to leave. Actually it's just going to make the table more inviting and less cluttered so it's the opposite of what you want to do. Simply attend to their needs until they leave and take the good with the bad.
 
When they have placed their payment in the check presenter: remove it from the table without glancing inside, perform the payment and return it to the table. If they left cash, even it the change is an appropriate amount for your gratuity, return their change to them. I beg of you; please don't ask if they want change when you leave the table with the payment. And by please I mean never! It's rude and unnecessary. If they want you to have the change they will either tell you as you pick it up or simply leave it on the table. Either way; no harm, no foul, you will get the change.
 
When everything is settled and done, thank them for coming into the restaurant. After all, without them you would not have a job in the first place. If it was a great table to serve, don't be afraid to tell them it was a pleasure. I don't know how appropriate it is but when I receive a gratuity which is a high percentage of the bill, I often let them know by saying something like, "Thank you, I appreciate your generosit".

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