It’s kinda lame it took a diet pill for this to happen, but I’m all for it. I’ve always found most restaurant portions overwhelming.
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Trough-sized portions have always put me off.
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The “new” economy of tariffs and regression means either raise prices or shrink portions. There already was a price surge for labor costs, so smaller portions are next. Perhaps it’s about time America stopped over consuming.
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My local Pho place has small, regular and large bowls. Regular is perfect for me.
Small Dac Biet (stands for everything in Vietnamese?) tend to be missing some ingredients and Large is just too much food.
For me $16 plus tip is a good price for lunch nowadays.
It’s way way WAY past time for that.
Chain restaurants that give you a half pound of pasta loaded with sauce, “never ending breadsticks”, etc. almost makes me urp. But there are still those “quantity over quality” people who want a meal to feed you for 3 days. For me, that only happens when I’m cooking at home and there are leftovers. Otherwise, a couple of appetizers are often enough for me these days.
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I had wonderful, good friends like that. Always went to the Consume Mass Quantities places. And sadly, it contributed to their ill health and deaths. I wonder even today if they’d still be alive if Ozempic had been around. Yeah, it was that bad.
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I’m not pro/con one way or the other - I see value in both - but blaming it on the GLP-1s is a farce though. Restaurants are shrinking portions for costs only. To shrink portions because maybe a small number of people are taking GLP1s is like saying we have to avoid meat because there are some vegetarians and vegans who might want to dine here. I’m quite certain even those on GLP1s would be fine with taking leftovers home if they couldn’t finish a meal in that sitting.
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I agree the subset of Ozempic user is maybe 1 in 10 diners, so to change portion sizes on that premise seems thin.
Everything else has gone up, real estate prices, labor and those rarely go down…food and portion sizes are the only thing left to reduce and now there’s a tariff war.
Wonder if some restaurants will add a special tariff surcharge to let people know it’s not their fault. Yes, I’m kidding…sort of. Bet it already happened.
ETA: tariff surcharges are being added to restaurant bills
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But not every dish is conducive to being taken home. What about business travelers who are heading back to their hotel? Offering a smaller version of a dish means less food waste, too.
I think this is fantastic for anyone who feels overwhelmed by “normal” portion sizes in restaurants — like an extension of the small plates idea. I also like the mini martini option.
Even better when they don’t marginalize folks by calling it GLP-1 special or what have you. Just offer small portions of stuff. This has been an option in many other countries for much longer, e.g. tapa vs racion, or 1/2 pasta portions for primi.
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They should position this then as a right-sizing meals then. McDonalds and Wendy was able to get rid of their supersizing, and people actually accepted that as a wellness thing (even if it was more about costs). But of course we all know it’s not a wellness thing. A restaurant meal - as much as I love them - are loaded in salt and butter far beyond home cooked meals. They are an indulgence unto themselves. Couple that with how many drinks they want you to buy - even if they have all the trained bartenders to know when to cut you off, drinking is not healthy.
And with all stats on DUI/OUI, and other health related concerns, restaurants will not stop pushing liquor and alcohol because it’s profitable. Mocktails became a thing only in the last 10 years because they saw it as a business opportunity, and finally realized that there are many who choose not to drink. I settled for water and ginger ale for about the first 35 years of my life when dining out because apparently there wasn’t a way to justify marking up still water and ginger ale by 300% yet.
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The vast majority of diners in this country still are all about quantity over quality. They want full plates. I honestly don’t care what they call the smaller portions, as long as they offer them at a reasonable price.
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That’s true. I personally don’t care for most buffets, and the amount of buzz over AYCE buffets is mind numbing. 98% of these are really mid quality, school cafeteria like food that is not worth it for the price you pay. I don’t care if it’s small or large portions - assuming you have the option to make choices - as long as it’s good quality food and also priced appropriately. If it’s a big portion and priced higher for it, that’s fine too. I like restaurants that have big dishes that are meant for sharing. I don’t like the spectacle dishes (or drinks) though - like a 128 oz drink or a 128 oz steak. I’m not interested in being anyone’s side show freak when I eat out.
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I’m all for more reasonable portion sizes. MY SO doesn’t have a huge appetite, and there are times when I don’t either.
This is also me in the supermarket (slight thread drift). I want to buy some cabbage that’s NOT pre-shredded in a bag. How about packaging up 1/4 each of both green and purple cabbage on a styrofoam tray wrapped in Gladwrap and sell it at a slightly elevated price? I’d buy it!
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I can see your point (and sometimes would also like have that option) but I can also understand why supermarkets are not doing it as cutting up any produce will significantly shorten its “lifespan” (and ultimately quality) and requires more people to sell the same amount of produce - quite significant higher risk that you lose more money as you have throw out more produce that you don’t sell
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Otto’s, a French restaurant in London known for rich feasts of canard à la presse, lobster soufflé and crêpes suzette, introduced a “menu for one, small appetite” in May. The tasting menu, which costs 240 pounds (about $325) per person, includes king scallop, seared foie gras, Scottish lobster, Bresse chicken supreme and coconut ice cream.“
These guys are taking the piss 
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I was told by Vietnamese colleagues it means ‘special’.
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That makes sense! I wasn’t sure if my idea of what it meant was right.
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