Why are restaurants serving such huge portions these days? Are they benefiting from all the wasted food? Realistically it must be more expensive for them to purchase the ingredients in such huge quantities, only to have them thrown away. Amirite?

+214 Why are restaurants serving such huge portions these days? Are they benefiting from all the wasted food? Realistically it must be more expensive for them to purchase the ingredients in such huge quantities, only to have them thrown away. Amirite?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Unless they buy in bulk. Maybe, I dunno. Just a thought.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I like the huge portions, Don't you take the leftovers home and save it for the next day?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

A lot of places have cut back on the portions and kept the prices the same. Canned food used to come in 16oz. Now, they're 15.6oz. Everything is starting to give you less and wanting more. That's America. Realistically, you pay them triple for the food so, Whether you throw it away or not, they have their money back.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

You also have to keep in mind the obese percentage of the population who demand at least that size portion, and usually order seconds.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

This is actually not the case. People very rarely ask for more than what's given to them. However, people will eat more if you give them more. The obvious exception is buffets, where people are expected to go back for more.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

If people see that the restaurant offers massive portions, they'll be more apt to go there whether they eat it all or not.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Nice restaurants make each dish seperatly. The chefs can't cook tiny meals. Also, you get what you pay for. I always take my leftovers home... If you throw it away that's your fault for wasting food.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

As a whole, people eat more food now than they did*. So, I suppose, the expectations have gone up. People like large portions and "value for money" so, overall, I guess is advantageous for restaurants to give them a little extra for their money if it means getting more customers. A restaurant that gives tiny portions and charges the same may make more profit per dish, but are unlikely to sell as many dishes because most people won't want to spend more and get less. This is why places like McDonalds are so popular even though everybody complains that the food is awful. It's so cheap that even though the profit per meal can't be much, they just sell so many meals that it adds up to more. *Before someone says that this is terrible because of the "obesity epidemic" bear in mind it isn't all bad; people are taller now BECAUSE they get more nutrition (so people aren't being gluttonous now so much as people were malnourished before) and life expectancy is better than ever before.

by Anonymous 11 years ago