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I think restaurants have figured out that non-repeat customers are more likely to be diverted by too-small portions than soso-quality food. As every American knows, there is no competition in the marketplace -- everything is uniformly the archetype that proves to be the most economical, and uniformity of advertising persuades every consumer to demand exactly that.. If the market paradigm is that large portions work, the industry is lock-stepped into large portions, and no corporate food chain dares to deviate.
By the way, fast-food presentation seems to be just the opposite of what the OP described. A burger, on the menu picture, looks so high it will tip over. But when you get the burger, you have to lift the top of the bun off to see if they actually put anything inside or not.
It is very common in some countries, like Brazil, for restaurants to proffer food by weight. It is buffet style, when your plate is full, they weigh it, and charge by the gram. That's for the sides, with the meat portion being calculated at a standard rate for a uniform portion..
I am totally cool with being able to make another meal (or more) out of a restaurant meal. Providing quality is decent, I'd prefer to get more food for my $$$ than less, and if I liked it, I'm going to eat it as leftovers, versus waste it. But I really enjoy leftovers. If I were an anti-leftover person, I'd probably avoid restaurants with generous portion sizes. As it is, I enjoy getting more bang for my buck. One of my top reasons for not returning to a restaurant is if I feel portion sizes are small for the price. I don't, as a rule, purchase appetizers, and I don't want an appetizer-sized entrée at an entrée price point.
This one did not state that but I asked- the server said "it wasn't a large amount"
I don't think I've ever seen a menu say that the appetizers are enough to share, its just something that most people know based on the type of restaurant and the price of the appetizer. Most appetizers are portioned with a table of four in mind.
The server is pressured to have a high check average, so they're going to say what you want to hear. They're there to sell you food.
Americans basically want a lot of food for the lowest price. Quantity trumps quality. If you go to Yelp or any other online restaurant review site, if a rating is low, the review is complaining about "too small portions" 90% of the time.
Even at my neighborhood taco place I can usually make three meals from what is served. Why would anyone be offended? I say, count your blessings and if "to-go" boxes offend you, don't return.
I don't think I've ever seen a menu say that the appetizers are enough to share, its just something that most people know based on the type of restaurant and the price of the appetizer. Most appetizers are portioned with a table of four in mind.
The server is pressured to have a high check average, so they're going to say what you want to hear. They're there to sell you food.
I order primarily from the appetizer menu and it's often enough to share for 2 people easily. I often order a few to share with the table and take my "portion".
Now I have seen where you can ask for it as a side dish. If you wanted fried green tomatoes and asked, they would probably be able to give you a few slices.
That doesn't mean quantity trumps quality. If the food's not good, I'm not going to return regardless of how generous the portioning is. I don't want leftovers of food that wasn't good the first time around.
My experience on yelp is that low ratings most often correlate with service-related complaints (particularly slow service and bad attitudes) and cleanliness issues, less often with food portioning. But maybe that's just here.
I wouldn't be offended, just disappointed that anyone could eat that amount of crap and how much of it would be wasted. Seriously, its always the cheap food that's piled high like pancakes, heaps of toast, french fries, pasta, etc. Not dishes with meat or fresh fruit and vegetables.
Normally we eat during happy hour or at restaurants that serve small plates (tapas). We start out with a fair number, knowing we can order more if we need to. Over the last year we've "to-go" boxes less than a dozen times and all are things we ate the next day (like half of a burger).
When food is piled high, its a red flag that businesses are overcompensating for other issues like quality, service, and cleanliness.
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