I’ve noticed more restaurants asking if we want bread before automatically delivering it. Some spots have bread that’s really not worth it; others I would never say no. Maybe this trend began with the gluten-free trend 
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Good point.
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I think it actually goes back further, to the dawn of the low-carb era.
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Gluten-free or low-carb, I think from a cost perspective it makes sense to check if the diners actually want the bread. Who wants to throw out perfectly good food?
I have a local steak house with meh bread that I know will be wasted if they serve it. A local inn has a basket of a really tasty variety of house-made rolls and some fruity bread that I can use as dessert. I would not object to an upcharge for the latter, but I doubt I’d get a discount for the former.
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Interesting… 
Thanks for sharing!
“free sampling”
okay - let’s get back to the basics.
how does an eatery make “free samples/sampling” known?
neon flashing signs?
flyers? mailers?
large font menu entries?
seriously, if a resto somehow conveyed to potential patrons they offered free samples of x, y, z, how many patrons would be influenced to go there?
my opinion: only those previous patrons who found the joint worth going to.
for established patrons, a free sample of something new and different could make a difference.
for unknown/new patrons, it’s totally meaningless.
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“I understand being charged for chips in cities where a fair amount of the population doesn’t know better, but in San Antonio a charge for chips typically means that you’ve somehow ended up on the Riverwalk.“
Funny.
Complimentary chips and “hot sauce” have always been the norm at any Mexican restaurant I’ve ever been to in the state of Texas. I can’t imagine that going over very well here.
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Not sure here how bread/butter or chips/salsa are “sampling” and not a sign of hospitality. That said, we endorse the concern about wasting “hospitality” offering.
P.S. We enjoyed our one Riverwalk experience in the previous Millennium. The hotel lobby had its own “river” [?] , but what sticks in the fading memory is our first time enjoying cabrito – not on Riverwalk.
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None of the chips or salsa are wasted wasted by us. They are top notch of course or we wouldn’t be there.
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When you sit down at the table in a Mexican restaurant in Texas, before your server can even ask for the drink order, the chips and hot sauce hit the table. I have yet to see anyone not dig right in. It’s not like wasting bread…
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I don’t think restaurants are going to be giving out a lot of free stuff anymore, after the struggles of the pandemic.
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In normal times, we are regulars at a local Asian restaurant. The owners will usually bring us a free sample of a dish - maybe something from a section of the menu that they know we havent explored much; maybe a new dish they are thinking of adding to the menu. I’ve no idea how much of a “good customer” you need to be to get the freebie but the hospitality is always appreciated.
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I wanted to add that I value resto reviews because, barring different people and their different tastes, they are still generally markers of how people really feel. Compare that with product and service reviews these days. Many places will offer a complimentary this or that “in exchange” for a positive review. Or the product will come with a postcard that implores the purchaser to go on and give a great review. Service places will even leave voicemails (I’m thinking car dealerships) that say - please review us with a 5 (out of 5). If you can’t for any reason, please contact us first and don’t leave a review. Anything less than a 5 is death for us. So I’ll take an unbiased, reliable review over those “paid-for” reviews anyday.
To the OPs point, people frequent well reviewed places, and don’t frequent poorly reviewed places. It’s not because the latter “aren’t given a chance.” It’s because they were, and came up short.
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Good question!
So my initial thought is to create an app where restaurant businesses could list their “free samples” so their samplings can become known in an effort to attract new customers.
But as you (and many others) have pointed out, it’s not going to sway anyone to want to visit a restaurant just for these samples.
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Oh yeah totally.
A lot of places would give you a free dessert or something like that for leaving a good review.
My personal feeling is that’s patently unfair to all the people who look to reviews for unbiased information.
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Couldn’t agreed more, Sasha!
It’s almost kind of like bribing.
No. It’s just a bite, and doesn’t predict much about the menu choices.
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I have never experienced getting a freebie in exchange for a review. I have been given a verbal nudge along the lines of “Glad you enjoyed your meal, Mr H, please post a Tripadvisor review”. Something I was always going to do anyway. Occasionally, there has been “post a TA review” card left on the table or accompanying with the bill. This is, frankly, all pretty meaningless. If I look at TA listings for almost everywhere I come across, the vast majority of reviews rate it as a 5 star Excellent. The fault in that lies with TA not setting a parameter of what they mean by “average”, etc. So, I may review a Michelin 2 star place and rate it “excellent”, as I probably would. But how meaningful is that when the local Italian place in my village is rated also “excellent” or “very good” by 80% of the reviewers (it isn’t, it’s very average - just like most of the other places in the area - literally average). If the rating question was “how much did I enjoy my meal”, that would be meaningful. This nonsense led to a Michelin 1 star place a couple of hours from me being voted as TA’s “best restaurant in the world” in 2017. Absolute bollocks (although I am having dinner there next month so you’ll be able to read my review here and on TA about just how good I thought it (I bet I thought “excellent”).
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Very good point about parameters. Also different people. My late MIL, bless her, never had a meal that wasn’t “excellent” and she frequented all manner of “family restaurants” and roadside diners.
But I wasn’t speaking to trip advisor. More like Amazon. I have seen countless products reviewed on Amazon that included - in the review - received complimentary copy. And have bought a number of products there too that came with a little postcard inserted - please consider giving us an excellent review! I just find that very obnoxious. It’s a little like the waiters in some restaurants who come by your table and instead of asking - how is everything - they ask whether everything is excellent.
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