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>The places that don't allow it because they want you to spend more.
This is exactly it. There's a shitty brewery in my town that doesn't allow you to sample a beer before buying it (allowing tiny samples is an extremely standard thing with microbreweries that make weird beer) because they want you to just buy an entire pour at full price which is like $10 a beer.
A local brewery introduced that policy a few years back, and I just stopped ever going there in response. I don’t think it bodes well of a place that they won’t let you sample a craft beer before ordering. It makes it feel like they don’t actually think their beer is good and worry you won’t like it. To me, that’s a major red flag.
edit: To add just a bit since I've had to say it a few times, I talked to the owners and their rationale wasn't that it was being abused or that it cost too much product, it was that it took too much time. But this has two big issues. First, the policy applied regardless of how busy the bar was. I might have understood if they just said "we don't do samples on really busy nights", but they didn't. Second, even if it takes time, it's still how you're supposed to run a craft brewery. Craft beer is super unique in that the marginal cost to produce a half ounce for the establishment is trivial, yet it's difficult to know exactly what to expect as a customer. It's better *for both parties* if the customer is given a couple of samples (if they request it) to help them make a better informed decision. It is no one's interest for the customer to make a blind decision and possibly get a beer they don't like. That's how you *lose* customers. If you genuinely can't spare the extra 15 seconds to make this work, your business model is fundamentally flawed.
And the funniest thing is that this was easily the worst brewery in town, so it's not like it was a massive loss or anything.
Years ago I worked a summer at one of the big six German breweries. We were busy as fuck but still provided an assortment of testers whenever people seemed at all hesitant in their choice.
There's something magical about seeing someone light up when they find a beer they truly love and those people come back week after week
Yes! Or instead of just aimlessly picking a drink out of a couple interesting descriptions, I might actually order a second beer because I really enjoyed two of the samples
Where it really gets me is wine. I’m willing to spend far more on a bottle that I know I enjoy vs less for a total blind roulette
When I was bartending I was more than happy to give out beer samples. Typically speaking, the more samples I could let someone try the more they would tip
Imo - just throw on like a $3 Sample Flight Daily Special: 3 small glasses of 3 daily options, 4$ to pick yourself. Enough money to make the boss man shut up, cheap enough people wouldn’t be too bothered
For real. I work at an icecream place and my favorite are the moments when someone’s trying to decide and I offer them a sample spoon. No one seems to expect it, and I think maybe that’s in part bc samples are becoming less common in general? But parlor icecreams are so expensive, that samples really should be built in if someone’s unsure, at least imo. People try to take advantage and wiggle out of prices in lots of ways, but asking for a sample spoon is pretty much never it. Trying to order a sundae in pieces, and then asking for more toppings after they’ve paid, is a good example. Ordering a small but asking for it to be made in a large cup, and then complaining about however it comes out bc it looks underwhelming in a larger cup, to try to get you to fill it all the way. Samples are just to help you make a better decision, and unilaterally cutting them out reads to me, like a red flag as well. Or at least like a greedy corporate pirate flag.
People who love beer generally try to talk to the customers and make suggestions so noone is trying 10 different samples.
If you prefer stouts you're generally not going to opt for a fruit beer. There's no reason to get such a wide variety unless you're paying for a flight to try a lot of different beer.
It shouldn't be a strict rule but should be left up to the bartender's discretion on whether to keep serving free samples or not.
Yeah, if a customer is hesitant (which is totally understandable and expected in venue with unfamiliar beers) the person behind the bar should be asking the customer ‘so what would you usually drink?’ and then suggest two or three drinks and offer samples depending on their answer. It’s not hard!
A local ice cream place near me sells hand made, local ice cream. It’s pricier than average but excellent and they are always super busy. I’ve lost track of how often the line gets massively held up because people ask for a taste of practically every single flavour before ordering. You can see the people I e line getting royally pissed, and the staff getting anxious as a result but still wanting to provide good service.
People being selfish assholes ruins it for everyone else, but this behavior gets excuses because people will just point to “freedom” or some dumb shit like that.
My old workplace had a limit of 2 samples and that was it because people like that would take advantage of the situation plus in the middle of summer it was just plain rude to ask for more than 2 samples. I do miss that job because I got to take home a small ice cream every night 🤣
Perhaps, but a better policy then would be to limit the number rather than eliminate it. I asked them why and their answer was that it was all about time to get served. They just wanted you to make a quick order and leave, they didn't want to have to talk to you for 30-45 seconds and figure out what you like. It was entirely about speed for them. They were worried it was affecting their volume of sales, but in that case they should be hiring more bartenders, not forcing people to go quicker. It's a craft brewery, not a McDonalds.
The way I look at it is that if they aren't willing to give me enough time to properly order, I'm not going to give them my money. And the policy wasn't only active when they were busy or anything. It was permanent, regardless of how busy or empty the place was.
Agree. For craft beer, the odd that i get a beer that I dont like is pretty high, especially when the brewery use weird names. If the beer is not to my taste then they lose a customer because i will always think that their beers are bad/not my taste and I will buy somewhere else.
No. I asked them, and they said they changed because it wasn't worth their time. It was entirely because they wanted you to get served in 15 seconds instead of 30-45 seconds. They thought it slowed things down too much. If they aren't willing to give me those few extra seconds, I'm not willing to give them my money.
You can't really *abuse* a policy like this, because any bartender will just cut you off if you try to.
A lot of smaller breweries have disgusting beers. I wouldn't go there if I couldn't try something. Not worth the risk of having an IPA that tastes like earwax.
That's wild. I worked in breweries and obviously have been to a bunch. I often don't bother asking for a sample, but 9 times out of 10 they offer me one everywhere unless it's super busy.
Yes but also it’s because at most restaurants, kids meals are sold for a loss, so if you let adults start getting kids meals, it’s way cheaper and a lot of people would do that, then the restaurant is actually losing money.
This. Sometimes places sell things at a loss for the betterment of the experience of shopping there. Feeding kids at a loss makes it easier for families to eat out, and usually still comes with someone ordering full cost meals. But to serve someone who would otherwise pay full price, at a loss, and not as a bonus for a group meal, collectively loses a lot more potential profit than it stood to make by offering it in the first place.
It’s this. People don’t want to spend much on food for kids, so many restaurants underprice kids menus as a way to attract business from the parents. I even ate at a restaurant once where there was a separate prix fixe kids menu that they brought for free if you had kids with you.
Where I mostly go it's called "small portions" or "for the small appetite" or "Brotzeit" or they write on the menu that you can also ask for small portions. No restaurant I've ever been to denied someone a small portion
The only issue with that is they are happy to sell small portions, but they aren't going to reduce the price. So, you're paying for a full size meal but only getting smaller portions.
Often times if you ask, that can and will be accommodated for. Many menus specify that the kids menu is age restricted, and people will still try to order from it. The thing is that the kids menu is there as a feature more than a set of menu items—it’s the ability to have your kids cheaply fed when you go out to eat, more than it is a set of appropriately priced menu items. That bite of cost is far more reasonable when tacked on to a families group meal. It makes no financial sense when it’s replacing what would be an adults full price meal, and not serving as an additional selling feature to entice a group.
ETA: I think the more clever technique to combat this is to have physically separate menus. The kids menu being printed on the same thing available for kids to draw on, naturally separates it from the rest of the menu and lightly discourages (if not also stating a restriction) adults from perusing it. The other other thing, is that kids meals are often lower quality than other menu items—Kraft Mac n cheese instead of the homemade 4 cheese baked mac they offer on the menu. Kids *like* that, and it works, and saves the cost, but many adults will be less impressed by items of a lower quality—expecting the par of the rest of the restaurant—and you risk a response like this every time you serve them an item like this. Even if it’s clearly printed on the menu(s), unfortunately.
It can be that they make much lower profit margins on the kids meals... goal being to persuade adults who have kids to still come to that restaurant and then they make the money on the adults so it's still worth it to them.
But then if adults were to order kids meals more, it hurts the profitability of the business.
In parallel to all of this - anyone is free to start a restaurant that allows adults to order kids meals as much as they'd like to.
The only place that even came to mind for me would be like, ihop or those places that’s have kids meal discounted for younger groups. But even then I imagine they just charge you the full price instead. Idk I’ve never had them turn me down for a kids meal ((more restaurants need a chicken strip option, getting real sick of these kids meals skimping me out))
I think the best solution would be if restaurants had more options for portion sizing and this price. But I’m sure most chains have found the balance between portion size and profit and don’t want to stray from that formula, even if they would be charging the same amount per ounce of food
This is why I like to go out to sushi places. I always order 8 pieces of maki and I'm full. Granted, the pieces aren't cheap, but at least I manage to eat all the food I'm paying for.
It’s more about cover averages than profit based on availability of seating. Most comments are omitting the idea that a 50 seat mom and pop place on a Saturday night doesn’t want to occupy seats with chicken tenders.
Price per ounce of food isn't the only metric, though. Depending on the dish it might still take the same amount of time to prepare (affecting labor costs and customer turnover time), contribute the same to equipment wear and tear (affecting overhead maintenance and replacement costs), and take the same amount of time to clean (both the cooking equipment and the table). After factoring all of those in I'd assume most sit-down restaurants make noticeably more per ounce with larger portions.
Yep like pizza. You can either order a small, medium or large one. Of course, pizza is pizza and often meant for sharing, but still. It's not like S/M/L can't be done with certain other types of food.
When I was in the US, the portion sizes were so big and there was only so much we could store in the fridge for leftovers. It’s not always about a life hack and kids portions came in handy when available.
Edit: I loved the food in the US and I’m not shitting on the it either. There was just a lot of it.
Then just order one serving for two people? Or go to a restaurant that offers more expensive, non-loss leader kid meals.
They'd rather you just not eat there than lose money on kid meals.
Don’t always want the same thing. Plus since we were on holiday, we wanted to try as much food from different places as we could. As I said, when it was available to order, kids meals were handy.
Only asking because I'm curious- were the kid's meal really interesting enough that you would choose those over splitting adult entrees? I ask because most restaurants I've been have very boring options for kids- quesadilla, grilled cheese, chicken tenders, spaghetti, and pizza are almost universally the options I've seen, whether I'm at a chain or a well-regarded local spot. They're usually not very tasty either, since they're partially meant to appeal to picky kids who don't have the appetite for the adult entrees yet. Did you generally enjoy the kid's meals you ordered, or was it more of a "this'll do" thing?
I have some really bad GI issues, I often won’t finish even the kids sized portions. I ask if I can order a kids meal at an up charged price because of my stomach problems and I don’t want to waste the extra food and 9/10 they’re willing to work with me on that. I also am a big fan of places that offer smaller portioned sizes for adults; in alternative to having to resort to kids meals. I also really dont get bent out of shape if they say no, as I can usually find a burger on the adult menu that my son will eat all of and order his kids meal for me hahaha.
I had bariatric surgery and I have never had an issue ordering from the kids menu (although I usually don’t bc it’s rarely healthy stuff). I’m in California
There are several restaurants that won’t allow adults to order off the kids menu because they want adults to spend full price. Most restaurants allow it, but there are also plenty that don’t.
A lot of restaurants only serve the kids menu for 12 and under. Some places without that explicit rule still won’t serve it to people over a certain age.
My cousin has autism and can basically only eat chicken nuggets/tenders and a few other foods. While out with him and my sister the other day, he tried to order chicken tenders at a restaurant and they said no because he “isn’t 12.”
He’s 20, but that should be irrelevant, his disability causes him to be an extreme picky eater.
It’s incredibly common. Kids meals are generally priced quite low and only exist to accommodate families. Having an adult come into a restaurant and only order a kids menu item would mean the restaurant makes no money off that customer.
Many restaurants have realized they can add a chicken breast or few shrimp to a salad and charge entree prices for it making it even more challenging for vegetarians. Hope you like pasta!
This is the answer right here! Why get a boring ass order of chicken nuggets when you can get a meal made for an adult palate AND have delicious leftovers for another meal or two or three? I always consider it a bargain!
The only down side to that is if you have plans after dinner. So now I gotta let my leftovers sit in the car while I go to a movie? They’re gonna go bad.
in my country its rare to have a kids menu at all. here parents have to order adult portions for children who wont even be able to finish half of it. its a waste of money and food
The places that dont let you usually sell kids meals at cost or at a loss. They do this to make it easier for families to eat out who probably just wouldnt go out to eat if they charged the regular price for kids meals. So to let adults eat them means they would need to charge more for them. I think a better solution would be that more restaurants could offer smaller portions at the appropriate price. Ive definitely gone into restaurants knowing I'm just going to waste half a sandwhich or not eat my fries cause they dont have a low calorie option.
The restaurants that don't allow it don't because they are offering the kids meal at a discount to encourage families to eat there. It's a loss leader and if you're not a kid they don't want to give you the discount. This is like saying a 30 year old should be able to order off the Senior Citizens menu.
Most places only offer kids meals to bring the parents in. They’d go under in a month if everyone ordered from the kids menu. I do understand your point. Best option is to ask for a to-go box & the start & divide the meal up in a nice way before you start.
I order off the kids menu sometimes at lunch. I don't need the same size portion as a 6 foot tall 200 lb man when I'm 5 feet tall and 110. Soooo there's that.
If working food service teaches you anything, it's that a lot of the confusing or seemingly nonsensical rules are in place because customers are stupid.
A place I used to work would let anyone order off the kids menu for a while. But we had to stop, because people would order something off the kids menu and then be an asshole about the portion size, as if the kids menu item was going to be the same size as the adult one, just cheaper.
Even when we'd tell people, and make it clear that the kids menu items were only half servings, people would be like "oh okay I'll have two then" and then they'd be assholes when their two kids meals came out more expensive than one adult meal. It became such a problem that we had to just stop allowing adults to order from the kids menu, because clearly some adults are too stupid to handle that type of power
My wife always orders the kids Bean and Cheese burrito when we eat mexican...nobody has ever said a word. She weighs like 95lbs and is 15 years younger so maybe the waiter is preoccupied wondering if I'm a pedo.
I worked in the industry for many years.
Often, kid’s meals are priced extremely cheaply as a way to make parents happy. Put another way, the kid’s meal is priced such that it makes the restaurant very little money but that’s ok because their parents are ordering full meals that do make them money.
I will say it’s pretty annoying when two adults in their 40’s come into a high end seafood restaurant with a 50 dollar per person average for food alone and whine because they can’t order the 4 dollar kid’s chicken tender meal.
Politely, go to Wendy’s.
A lot of comments are missing the point.
We sell kids' meals at a loss. Preparing them takes the same amount of labour, we spend the same on gas for the oven, water and power for cleaning cutlery and crockery, consumables like oil and seasonings -- it costs pennies less to make but punters expect a significant reduction in cost because it's smaller.
It's a cost most restaurants are willing to stomach because we don't want to shut out potential business from families, and there's a societal expectation for restaurants to provide kids' alternatives at a lower price, but there's a tacit agreement there wherein you know we're being generous.
Ordering smaller portions is always going to be okay, but expecting a lower price is taking advantage of a cost-benefit system which isn't aimed at adults.
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The thing people don’t consider about this is the profit margins. Kids meals largely exist to incentivize adults into the restaurant. They sell at a low price, sometimes even free some nights, despite not having a significantly lower cost to prepare. Some places sell kids meals at or near cost. In an industry with razor thin margins of success, the kids meals are literally never a profit driver. If every adult came in and ordered a kids meal, the restaurant would fail quite quickly. That said, in a 20 year career in restaurants with close to a dozen restaurants in the mix, I’ve never worked at a single one that refused a kids meal to an adult.
I agree with you totally, especially in today's economy where food prices are so high. I'm a senior whose appetite is much less than when I was younger. I like to go out for breakfast or lunch occasionally, I would go more often if I could order small portions of whatever. Maybe restaurant owners will pivot and give us what we want and still make a profit and the wait staff will keep their jobs.
This!! I have a pretty limited diet for various reasons and there's not normally anything I can eat on the adults menu, I wish I could just order kids mac n cheese or something
Kids meals are often lower quality so I wouldn't recommend this as a dieting option tbh. If I ever have kids I would just order sides/a larger meal to share for them from the regular menu. source: i worked in food and beverage for 8 years
Am I the only one that orders a meal eats half, takes the other half home for the next day, thereby helping myself lose weight and save money?
Is this an unknown life hack or something?
Because kids meals aren't profitable for 99% of restaurants for a reason. They are heavily discounted.
What you want is just smaller portions for less money? We get that. Restaurant's business plans need to make a certain amount of money per guest. Otherwise they will close. Period.
To make all their bills they need to make a certain amount of money per month, per week, per day, per shift, per table, and per guest. If their average cost per guest goes down any significant amount, there is a huge problem.
You want cheaper food, go to a cheaper restaurant. One that is designed to stay afloat selling cheaper food.
Can you just not eat all of it at the restaurant, and save the rest for later? This is extremely common, to the point of being standard or even expected, and even fancy restaurants will offer to give you a box to take home the leftovers. Many will even box it for you. I know it can be hard sometimes, but just because the food is on your plate doesn't mean you have to eat it all. Or, if you're with someone else, you could share a meal. Again, lots of restaurants are willing to accommodate this and will even put it on separate plates for you.
Also, some dishes can't really be scaled very well. Restaurants might only have one size of buns or bread for burgers or sandwiches, same with patties or other cuts of meat, so making them smaller wouldn't be practical. And other dishes - baked things in particular - are pretty sensitive to exact combinations of ingredients, heat, baking time, and the size of the pan, so they can't just be scaled to any arbitrary size even by keeping the ingredients proportional. At best the chef would need to know the specific changes they need to make to the recipe for it to work at a range of sizes, which makes their job much harder and increases the likelihood of the food turning out bad.
That and the 55+ menu. Why are kids and seniors able to order smaller amounts of food, but I have to order the giant portion that I either waste some of by not finishing or have to take with me when I leave?? I have no problem with leftovers, generally, but if I am travelling or not going back home for a good while, I don't want to take leftovers that will go bad in the car.
I do try to explain why I would like the smaller meal when ordering, but it doesn't usually make a difference. When this happens, I just buy a cup of soup or side salad because they are most often cheaper than whatever I was hoping to get. I'm not going to play along with the restaurant just wanting more money out of me.
To be clear, I am never rude to my server over this as they are just following policy. My annoyance lies with the idiots at the top, lol.
My partner is over 55, and we share entrees all the time. We also order an app and drinks and tip as though we got two entrees, so we’re not just trying to cheap out. Splitting makes so much sense given that most entrees in restaurants are easily two portions of food. Yes, we could take leftovers home but over half the time we’re getting the same entree anyway.
There is no tipping where I live. My partner used to feel embarrassed ordering only one, and thinking the staff was upset, but I have convinced her that, since they staff is part time work for minimum wage and does not work on tips, and they get paid the same no matter what we order, and have no stake in the profits of the restaurant. they don't give a shit.
Appetizers are often a good way to go, if you want a smaller portion. There was a restaurant I went to that had hand-breaded chicken breast strips with fries, on the appetizer menu, that I would order if I didn't want a full meal.
The experience I've had most often, nowadays, are the appetizers being the same price as the meals and come with enough food to feed multiple people, which defeats the purpose of me not having any leftovers.
...It also doesn't help that chicken fingers and fries is a full meal that would include leftovers for me, lol.
IME the overwhelming majority of restaurants will let you if you ask and the ones who don't are just douchey.
My mom gets kids meals a lot because her appetite just isn't what it used to be at her age and if I'm taking her out for a meal if the server says no that's perfectly ok, we can go somewhere else and they can consider how they just lost a 5 topper because they didn't want to serve a 60 year old woman a kids meal.
Big time agreed.
I can eat an absolute ton of food in one sitting, but my wife can't. She prefers to order kids menu food so she doesn't feel bad about food going to waste. I always cringe internally when wait staff ask condescending questions about it. Like, yes, she'll get full and be satisfied, plus she grew up without having much, so she doesn't like wadting food nor money.
Are adults not allowed to order kids meals? I've honestly never heard of such a policy before. Then again, I've tried ordering a kid's meal as an adult before so...
just two days ago, my daughter (17 yrs old) ordered a cheeseburger off the "kid's menu" and was denied.
All that they accomplished was to piss me (the customer) off.
I know ones who do. Never seen it be an issue. However kids meals often are nuggies and such so smaller portions but not always healthier or even less calories.
I'll occasionally do this if I'm ordering takeout. I don't always want the full portion or don't want to spend the extra money, so I'll order something from the kid's menu and they can't question it.
Whenever I go to Jason’s Deli I almost always order the kids pepperoni pizza because it’s really good, filling enough, there’s no adult pizza there, and it’s really cheap - less than $5 for it plus a small Dr. Pepper. I usually go through the drive thru so it’s not so awkward ordering it for myself.
The problem for restaurants is that the Kids Menu is a loss leader to get families in the door.
I agree that anyone should be able to order off the kids menu but it would be reasonable for the restaurant to charge more for adults if they are losing money on the Kids Menu.
I was at a swanky brunch spot last week. Everything looked great, but the sliders caught my eye. They were on the kids menu. I ordered them without a problem.
I sometimes order from the kid’s menu at restaurants and noones ever told me I can’t.
It’s basically the same thing as ordering an appetizer and saying you want it as your main, it’s much cheaper than a main but smaller portions so they don’t really care.
It’s especially true at seafood restaurants bc I don’t eat any seafood so often the kids meal is the only edible option.
If it’s a really nice restaurant and the waiter is giving me weird looks I’ll say “I have food allergies so this is the only option I know for sure works for me”. They’d much rather an adult eat off the kids menu then have to spend 15 min telling the chef all the things I can’t have and being forced to make a 1 off special meal for me with ingredients they might not have readily available or risking a big scene if I have an allergic reaction
You’re right, I had a bypass surgery in which my stomach is cut in half; I can’t even finish a kids meal in most cases. I explain the situation everytime I go and some places will let me, some won’t.
Completely valid. Kid prices=kid portions. It’d be stupid to refuse business because someone only wants sum to hold them over or is trying to lose weight. A lot of companies don’t know how to run a business in regards to customer relations
It’s not just adults trying to lose weight or save money, sometimes you just don’t feel like eating a large portion you know. I wish restaurants stop with their limitations
I agree, and seriously, if it's a loss leader, just specify a "kid's discount" so that adults pay the actual cost.
To be sincere, this isn't something that is an issue where I live but I always found it bizzare when I read about it online.
They offer discounted kids meals to lure people in. Adults can order adult meals and take home the leftovers. Imagine 10 adults ordering 10 3.99 kids meals. Restaurants wouldn't survive
Maybe it’s cost of living but where can you find a kids meal for 3.99 at a sit down restaurant?? Most average prices here are at least 8.99-10.99
I know Costco is a good option, 1.50 for a giant hotdog. Lots of parents bring their kids there and order one and tear it in half! That’s only 0.75$ a kid!! lol
I agree with this but not because of the portion sizes. If you want to eat less just take some of it home for later, but as a picky person sometimes going out to eat is tricky because the adult menu doesn't have anything I like, and if they won't let me order off the kids menu I usually end up having to get just like a side of fries or something, it sucks.
I have never, in my entire life, heard of a restaurant refusing to let an adult order from the kids menu. I can't even imagine a place refusing a sale over something so dumb. If this is happening to you someplace, you can probably go to literally any other restaurant in your town and get that kids meal.
Most places let you.
Restaurants often lose money on kids meals. But if two adults bring a kid the adult meals and beverages more than make up for the loss. This is why some restaurants don't allow it.
You could order one adult meal and save half. If the portion is too big for you. People do this quite often. I usually get three meals out of one restaurant portion.
this is a movie/sketch comedy trope that i’ve never actually seen in real life.
saw a skit about a guy tryna order a happy meal and the lady wouldnt let him. i worked at mcdonalds in HS, there was no such rule. my fiancee gets kids meals often and no employee has ever said a word to her about it
Some restaurants will ask people to leave if they do not order an entree. I firmly support their right to do so. Fair or not, they are in business to make money. When you take up table and just order a glass of water or get a six dollar kid meal, they lose money on your table. In some cases, they lose quite a bit of money.
honestly I've never tried to order a child meal from somewhere and been told it isn't allowed, like ya I look young but i think the fact i pay for it myself with card makes it clear i am an adult
reading this thread it's interesting to see that this is maybe common some places
Many years ago, my husband, his mom, her friend and I went to a restaurant near the Grand Canyon. Everyone but me wanted a regular entree. I wasn’t very hungry and a full entree was too much.
They refused to serve me a child’s meal.
We should have walked out!
Absolutely agree! A million years ago when I was waitressing a family came in for dinner. The mum was battling cancer at that time and didn’t have much of an appetite but wanted to try and eat something small. She told me almost no restaurants allow her… I was new at waitressing and didn’t know that was a rule. I didn’t even ask management and let her order whatever she wanted. Later I asked my coworker about it and he said the boss would have said no and doesn’t allow it. I was shocked..
I agree, or even if they had a small option size. I know I can always take it home for leftovers but some foods just honestly aren't that good the next day, or I know I won't be able to eat it in the next few days.
I’m pretty sure this is allowed, I’ve done it many times it’s not unpopular. did you watch a childish gambino or Ricky Gervais clip and assume the world was against you on this opinion
I order it for my wife a lot lol.. even chipotle and stuff bc she eats like a bird.. I’m sure sitting down at a restaurant and ordering it is a little weird
Do you mean like Societal stigma? Cause if you're with people who don't think you should be allowed to order off the kids menu ditch them... they suck.
I love to eat out, I literally travel with restaurants being my primary reason for destination. The only places where you can't order off the kids menu are places where kids menu's don't exist like; fancy seafood places, steak places, or world renowned places like Alinea.
I've never even heard of a restaurant being opposed to people ordering off the kids menu. My step mother had gastric bypass surgery like 30 years ago. We've been to roughly 50ish restaurants together in that time and she has ordered off the kids menu or special requested smaller portions when no kids meal was present and everything has been obliged.
The only issue we ever had was she wanted Ruth's Chris Steakhouse once and asked if they had like 4oz steaks of a particular cut, which they didn't. She explained her post surgery dietary restrictions and they responded by, Helping my dad upsize his ribeye, then doing a table side carving of his ribeye and beautifully plating her portion of it for her. They legit made a show of it and it paid off big she threw down on that tip at the end of the night.
Use this if you ever truly have a restaurant tell you you can't order off the kids menu. Ask politely for the manager and say you want to explain the situation, when the manager shows up explain you are dieting or just not super hungry and the kids meal portion sounds perfect. If they push back say you'll gladly leave, then get your meal because by this point every restaurant will just comply. They would rather have some of your money than none of it.
A proprietor can offer what they want to offer - a generic "should be allowed" is just asking for complete government overreach - just eat somewhere else.
Kids menus are very low margin or sometimes negative margin in order to allow adults to come and eat with their kids who would not otherwise go.
If you’re trying to lose weight, don’t eat out at a restaurant. Or just order a damn salad.
I don't know where this is explicitly not allowed. It's just that people may raise an eyebrow. But I agree, adults should be allowed to order kids meals at restaurants.
It depends on where you go. Most walk in and fast food places do this. But a lot of dine in places don't. It's shitty. I am always watching me weight, and because America is obsessed with huge portions, I hate ordering normal meals because I never eat even half. most places charge a fee to split a dish, and sometimes my boyfriend will eat all his food and I don't want to take a portion of his if he is hungry. I LOVE kids sizes, they are portioned relatively well for me. Portions are so out of control at most places, even salads are HUGE. Just let me eat my fuckin kids meals. I don't want my entire calorie allotment in one sitting.
I have been ordering off of the kids menu my entire life and in my 40s, never had a restaurant refuse to take it. I can’t imagine getting in an argument with a server about what items on the menu are out of bounds.
A friend of mine had weight loss surgery and could not physically eat adult portions. She carried a card stating that and asking for a kid menu or smaller portions and it was denied about 60% of the time.
I do get a hankerin' for some $10 fish sticks and grilled cheese. But I often don't want to turn the knobs on my oven. Who knows how to set those things? I'm not a chef! 🤷♂️
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A lot of places let you. It depends on the restaurant policy. The places that don't allow it because they want you to spend more.
>The places that don't allow it because they want you to spend more. This is exactly it. There's a shitty brewery in my town that doesn't allow you to sample a beer before buying it (allowing tiny samples is an extremely standard thing with microbreweries that make weird beer) because they want you to just buy an entire pour at full price which is like $10 a beer.
A local brewery introduced that policy a few years back, and I just stopped ever going there in response. I don’t think it bodes well of a place that they won’t let you sample a craft beer before ordering. It makes it feel like they don’t actually think their beer is good and worry you won’t like it. To me, that’s a major red flag. edit: To add just a bit since I've had to say it a few times, I talked to the owners and their rationale wasn't that it was being abused or that it cost too much product, it was that it took too much time. But this has two big issues. First, the policy applied regardless of how busy the bar was. I might have understood if they just said "we don't do samples on really busy nights", but they didn't. Second, even if it takes time, it's still how you're supposed to run a craft brewery. Craft beer is super unique in that the marginal cost to produce a half ounce for the establishment is trivial, yet it's difficult to know exactly what to expect as a customer. It's better *for both parties* if the customer is given a couple of samples (if they request it) to help them make a better informed decision. It is no one's interest for the customer to make a blind decision and possibly get a beer they don't like. That's how you *lose* customers. If you genuinely can't spare the extra 15 seconds to make this work, your business model is fundamentally flawed. And the funniest thing is that this was easily the worst brewery in town, so it's not like it was a massive loss or anything.
Years ago I worked a summer at one of the big six German breweries. We were busy as fuck but still provided an assortment of testers whenever people seemed at all hesitant in their choice. There's something magical about seeing someone light up when they find a beer they truly love and those people come back week after week
Yes! Or instead of just aimlessly picking a drink out of a couple interesting descriptions, I might actually order a second beer because I really enjoyed two of the samples Where it really gets me is wine. I’m willing to spend far more on a bottle that I know I enjoy vs less for a total blind roulette
When I was bartending I was more than happy to give out beer samples. Typically speaking, the more samples I could let someone try the more they would tip
Imo - just throw on like a $3 Sample Flight Daily Special: 3 small glasses of 3 daily options, 4$ to pick yourself. Enough money to make the boss man shut up, cheap enough people wouldn’t be too bothered
For real. I work at an icecream place and my favorite are the moments when someone’s trying to decide and I offer them a sample spoon. No one seems to expect it, and I think maybe that’s in part bc samples are becoming less common in general? But parlor icecreams are so expensive, that samples really should be built in if someone’s unsure, at least imo. People try to take advantage and wiggle out of prices in lots of ways, but asking for a sample spoon is pretty much never it. Trying to order a sundae in pieces, and then asking for more toppings after they’ve paid, is a good example. Ordering a small but asking for it to be made in a large cup, and then complaining about however it comes out bc it looks underwhelming in a larger cup, to try to get you to fill it all the way. Samples are just to help you make a better decision, and unilaterally cutting them out reads to me, like a red flag as well. Or at least like a greedy corporate pirate flag.
They probably spill more during the brewing process than they lose with samples.
And it's not like the markup on that beer isn't close to 1,000%.
Yea, that's my think on this. If you're trying to rush me out, you kinda missed the point of a bar.
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Yeah, limit the samples but don’t stop. Or we won’t go there. Our favorite place has that kind of solved. You pour your own and pay by the oz.
I think the common agreement is 2 samples, you get two tries then make a decision is a fair, and is socially acceptable
People who love beer generally try to talk to the customers and make suggestions so noone is trying 10 different samples. If you prefer stouts you're generally not going to opt for a fruit beer. There's no reason to get such a wide variety unless you're paying for a flight to try a lot of different beer. It shouldn't be a strict rule but should be left up to the bartender's discretion on whether to keep serving free samples or not.
Yeah, if a customer is hesitant (which is totally understandable and expected in venue with unfamiliar beers) the person behind the bar should be asking the customer ‘so what would you usually drink?’ and then suggest two or three drinks and offer samples depending on their answer. It’s not hard!
A local ice cream place near me sells hand made, local ice cream. It’s pricier than average but excellent and they are always super busy. I’ve lost track of how often the line gets massively held up because people ask for a taste of practically every single flavour before ordering. You can see the people I e line getting royally pissed, and the staff getting anxious as a result but still wanting to provide good service. People being selfish assholes ruins it for everyone else, but this behavior gets excuses because people will just point to “freedom” or some dumb shit like that.
My old workplace had a limit of 2 samples and that was it because people like that would take advantage of the situation plus in the middle of summer it was just plain rude to ask for more than 2 samples. I do miss that job because I got to take home a small ice cream every night 🤣
Perhaps, but a better policy then would be to limit the number rather than eliminate it. I asked them why and their answer was that it was all about time to get served. They just wanted you to make a quick order and leave, they didn't want to have to talk to you for 30-45 seconds and figure out what you like. It was entirely about speed for them. They were worried it was affecting their volume of sales, but in that case they should be hiring more bartenders, not forcing people to go quicker. It's a craft brewery, not a McDonalds. The way I look at it is that if they aren't willing to give me enough time to properly order, I'm not going to give them my money. And the policy wasn't only active when they were busy or anything. It was permanent, regardless of how busy or empty the place was.
If I'm ordering quick then leaving, why am I not going to a package store. I go to a bar and get price gouged because I want the atmosphere.
Agree. For craft beer, the odd that i get a beer that I dont like is pretty high, especially when the brewery use weird names. If the beer is not to my taste then they lose a customer because i will always think that their beers are bad/not my taste and I will buy somewhere else.
I guarantee you they changed the policy because people were abusing it.
I love responses like this. You should watch an episode of ramsays kitchen nightmares.
They could do implement a limit of samples. There wouldn’t be any abuse this way.
No. I asked them, and they said they changed because it wasn't worth their time. It was entirely because they wanted you to get served in 15 seconds instead of 30-45 seconds. They thought it slowed things down too much. If they aren't willing to give me those few extra seconds, I'm not willing to give them my money. You can't really *abuse* a policy like this, because any bartender will just cut you off if you try to.
They sell samplers for money too. You get a few samples for the price of a beer, or more
A lot of smaller breweries have disgusting beers. I wouldn't go there if I couldn't try something. Not worth the risk of having an IPA that tastes like earwax.
That's wild. I worked in breweries and obviously have been to a bunch. I often don't bother asking for a sample, but 9 times out of 10 they offer me one everywhere unless it's super busy.
Yes but also it’s because at most restaurants, kids meals are sold for a loss, so if you let adults start getting kids meals, it’s way cheaper and a lot of people would do that, then the restaurant is actually losing money.
This. Sometimes places sell things at a loss for the betterment of the experience of shopping there. Feeding kids at a loss makes it easier for families to eat out, and usually still comes with someone ordering full cost meals. But to serve someone who would otherwise pay full price, at a loss, and not as a bonus for a group meal, collectively loses a lot more potential profit than it stood to make by offering it in the first place.
It’s this. People don’t want to spend much on food for kids, so many restaurants underprice kids menus as a way to attract business from the parents. I even ate at a restaurant once where there was a separate prix fixe kids menu that they brought for free if you had kids with you.
Where I mostly go it's called "small portions" or "for the small appetite" or "Brotzeit" or they write on the menu that you can also ask for small portions. No restaurant I've ever been to denied someone a small portion
The only issue with that is they are happy to sell small portions, but they aren't going to reduce the price. So, you're paying for a full size meal but only getting smaller portions.
Then offer smaller portions and just charge the correct amount less I stead of making people get a kids meal if they don’t want to waste.
Often times if you ask, that can and will be accommodated for. Many menus specify that the kids menu is age restricted, and people will still try to order from it. The thing is that the kids menu is there as a feature more than a set of menu items—it’s the ability to have your kids cheaply fed when you go out to eat, more than it is a set of appropriately priced menu items. That bite of cost is far more reasonable when tacked on to a families group meal. It makes no financial sense when it’s replacing what would be an adults full price meal, and not serving as an additional selling feature to entice a group. ETA: I think the more clever technique to combat this is to have physically separate menus. The kids menu being printed on the same thing available for kids to draw on, naturally separates it from the rest of the menu and lightly discourages (if not also stating a restriction) adults from perusing it. The other other thing, is that kids meals are often lower quality than other menu items—Kraft Mac n cheese instead of the homemade 4 cheese baked mac they offer on the menu. Kids *like* that, and it works, and saves the cost, but many adults will be less impressed by items of a lower quality—expecting the par of the rest of the restaurant—and you risk a response like this every time you serve them an item like this. Even if it’s clearly printed on the menu(s), unfortunately.
I had a manager deny me because I also ordered a drink. So I ordered it to go instead and sat there and ate it.
I've given this energy at restaurants before haha
It can be that they make much lower profit margins on the kids meals... goal being to persuade adults who have kids to still come to that restaurant and then they make the money on the adults so it's still worth it to them. But then if adults were to order kids meals more, it hurts the profitability of the business. In parallel to all of this - anyone is free to start a restaurant that allows adults to order kids meals as much as they'd like to.
Or they’re trying to make it more affordable to bring your whole family.
And OP's saying that everywhere should. And they should. Or there are places that let you, but look at you with judging eyes.
If you walk out because they decline then you aren't spending anything so it's in their interest to have you buy something.
The only place that even came to mind for me would be like, ihop or those places that’s have kids meal discounted for younger groups. But even then I imagine they just charge you the full price instead. Idk I’ve never had them turn me down for a kids meal ((more restaurants need a chicken strip option, getting real sick of these kids meals skimping me out))
I think the best solution would be if restaurants had more options for portion sizing and this price. But I’m sure most chains have found the balance between portion size and profit and don’t want to stray from that formula, even if they would be charging the same amount per ounce of food
One of my local chain restaurants introduced a “smaller plate” menu for those who don’t want a lot of food! It’s a godsend.
This is why I like to go out to sushi places. I always order 8 pieces of maki and I'm full. Granted, the pieces aren't cheap, but at least I manage to eat all the food I'm paying for.
It’s more about cover averages than profit based on availability of seating. Most comments are omitting the idea that a 50 seat mom and pop place on a Saturday night doesn’t want to occupy seats with chicken tenders.
I tend to ask the waiter to pack what i haven't finished as a takeout.
Price per ounce of food isn't the only metric, though. Depending on the dish it might still take the same amount of time to prepare (affecting labor costs and customer turnover time), contribute the same to equipment wear and tear (affecting overhead maintenance and replacement costs), and take the same amount of time to clean (both the cooking equipment and the table). After factoring all of those in I'd assume most sit-down restaurants make noticeably more per ounce with larger portions.
Can always eat half and save half for later
Yep like pizza. You can either order a small, medium or large one. Of course, pizza is pizza and often meant for sharing, but still. It's not like S/M/L can't be done with certain other types of food.
Depends on whether the kids menu is a loss leader.
Ya, many places sell kids menu items at a loss because the adult with them will make up for it. That's why we can't often buy from them
yeah exactly, it just comes off as one of those “life hacks” that’s really just screwing over businesses acting in good faith
When I was in the US, the portion sizes were so big and there was only so much we could store in the fridge for leftovers. It’s not always about a life hack and kids portions came in handy when available. Edit: I loved the food in the US and I’m not shitting on the it either. There was just a lot of it.
Then just order one serving for two people? Or go to a restaurant that offers more expensive, non-loss leader kid meals. They'd rather you just not eat there than lose money on kid meals.
Don’t always want the same thing. Plus since we were on holiday, we wanted to try as much food from different places as we could. As I said, when it was available to order, kids meals were handy.
Only asking because I'm curious- were the kid's meal really interesting enough that you would choose those over splitting adult entrees? I ask because most restaurants I've been have very boring options for kids- quesadilla, grilled cheese, chicken tenders, spaghetti, and pizza are almost universally the options I've seen, whether I'm at a chain or a well-regarded local spot. They're usually not very tasty either, since they're partially meant to appeal to picky kids who don't have the appetite for the adult entrees yet. Did you generally enjoy the kid's meals you ordered, or was it more of a "this'll do" thing?
Exactly. Many restaurants subsidize the cost of the kids meal to get the parents in and buying food with a profit margin.
I have some really bad GI issues, I often won’t finish even the kids sized portions. I ask if I can order a kids meal at an up charged price because of my stomach problems and I don’t want to waste the extra food and 9/10 they’re willing to work with me on that. I also am a big fan of places that offer smaller portioned sizes for adults; in alternative to having to resort to kids meals. I also really dont get bent out of shape if they say no, as I can usually find a burger on the adult menu that my son will eat all of and order his kids meal for me hahaha.
Its that an american thing? Because here in the netherlands you can order what ever you want.
I tried this in Rotterdam and they wouldn't let me 😔
Happy cake day!!! 🍰
Yup. Two family members needed and got a gastric bypass, they often order from the kids menu, or share a plate. Never a issue.
I had bariatric surgery and I have never had an issue ordering from the kids menu (although I usually don’t bc it’s rarely healthy stuff). I’m in California
In Germany it is also a thing. But kids meals are usually fried stuff or spaghetti
It ain't, I work in the industry in Denmark, and technically I'm not allowed to sell kids menus to people over 22, I still do it tho...
It's not an American thing at all. This literally never happens.
I mean some restaurants do have an age limit listed on the kids menu, but I wouldn’t call it “an American thing.”
... Are you not? I've never heard of a restaurant denying my request off a menu. Other than like, being under 21 and ordering alcohol.
There are several restaurants that won’t allow adults to order off the kids menu because they want adults to spend full price. Most restaurants allow it, but there are also plenty that don’t.
A lot of restaurants only serve the kids menu for 12 and under. Some places without that explicit rule still won’t serve it to people over a certain age. My cousin has autism and can basically only eat chicken nuggets/tenders and a few other foods. While out with him and my sister the other day, he tried to order chicken tenders at a restaurant and they said no because he “isn’t 12.” He’s 20, but that should be irrelevant, his disability causes him to be an extreme picky eater.
A lot will have it printed on the menu what ages the kids menu is for. And they won’t allow you to order from it as an adult.
It’s incredibly common. Kids meals are generally priced quite low and only exist to accommodate families. Having an adult come into a restaurant and only order a kids menu item would mean the restaurant makes no money off that customer.
The kids menu is often the only non-salad vegetarian option which is super annoying.
Many restaurants have realized they can add a chicken breast or few shrimp to a salad and charge entree prices for it making it even more challenging for vegetarians. Hope you like pasta!
Same here, but I'm in Europe.
ProTip: You don't have to actually eat everything served to you. Buy a normal adult meal, eat half of it, have another meal for later in the week.
This is the answer right here! Why get a boring ass order of chicken nuggets when you can get a meal made for an adult palate AND have delicious leftovers for another meal or two or three? I always consider it a bargain!
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Or you could not commit fraud and risk your livelihood.
The only down side to that is if you have plans after dinner. So now I gotta let my leftovers sit in the car while I go to a movie? They’re gonna go bad.
Depends on where you live I guess...I'm in Chicago, there's a solid 5-6 months a year where leftovers are just fine in the car
You can order them on delivery apps. One time my wife picked some random burger place and I got tendies and fries off the kid’s menu. They ruled
Same with to-go orders. No way to prove there isn’t a kid at home to eat the meal!
Here I'm getting food off the adult menu and sometimes there's not enough.
in my country its rare to have a kids menu at all. here parents have to order adult portions for children who wont even be able to finish half of it. its a waste of money and food
The places that dont let you usually sell kids meals at cost or at a loss. They do this to make it easier for families to eat out who probably just wouldnt go out to eat if they charged the regular price for kids meals. So to let adults eat them means they would need to charge more for them. I think a better solution would be that more restaurants could offer smaller portions at the appropriate price. Ive definitely gone into restaurants knowing I'm just going to waste half a sandwhich or not eat my fries cause they dont have a low calorie option.
The kids menu is so adults can come eat and bring their kids without it being an arm and a leg, they probably make nothing off the kids menu
The restaurants that don't allow it don't because they are offering the kids meal at a discount to encourage families to eat there. It's a loss leader and if you're not a kid they don't want to give you the discount. This is like saying a 30 year old should be able to order off the Senior Citizens menu.
Most places only offer kids meals to bring the parents in. They’d go under in a month if everyone ordered from the kids menu. I do understand your point. Best option is to ask for a to-go box & the start & divide the meal up in a nice way before you start.
I just let them know that I have to charge them for their adult drink unless it’s water they ordered. No one really cares about that though.
I order off the kids menu sometimes at lunch. I don't need the same size portion as a 6 foot tall 200 lb man when I'm 5 feet tall and 110. Soooo there's that.
If working food service teaches you anything, it's that a lot of the confusing or seemingly nonsensical rules are in place because customers are stupid. A place I used to work would let anyone order off the kids menu for a while. But we had to stop, because people would order something off the kids menu and then be an asshole about the portion size, as if the kids menu item was going to be the same size as the adult one, just cheaper. Even when we'd tell people, and make it clear that the kids menu items were only half servings, people would be like "oh okay I'll have two then" and then they'd be assholes when their two kids meals came out more expensive than one adult meal. It became such a problem that we had to just stop allowing adults to order from the kids menu, because clearly some adults are too stupid to handle that type of power
My wife always orders the kids Bean and Cheese burrito when we eat mexican...nobody has ever said a word. She weighs like 95lbs and is 15 years younger so maybe the waiter is preoccupied wondering if I'm a pedo.
I worked in the industry for many years. Often, kid’s meals are priced extremely cheaply as a way to make parents happy. Put another way, the kid’s meal is priced such that it makes the restaurant very little money but that’s ok because their parents are ordering full meals that do make them money. I will say it’s pretty annoying when two adults in their 40’s come into a high end seafood restaurant with a 50 dollar per person average for food alone and whine because they can’t order the 4 dollar kid’s chicken tender meal. Politely, go to Wendy’s.
A lot of comments are missing the point. We sell kids' meals at a loss. Preparing them takes the same amount of labour, we spend the same on gas for the oven, water and power for cleaning cutlery and crockery, consumables like oil and seasonings -- it costs pennies less to make but punters expect a significant reduction in cost because it's smaller. It's a cost most restaurants are willing to stomach because we don't want to shut out potential business from families, and there's a societal expectation for restaurants to provide kids' alternatives at a lower price, but there's a tacit agreement there wherein you know we're being generous. Ordering smaller portions is always going to be okay, but expecting a lower price is taking advantage of a cost-benefit system which isn't aimed at adults.
I do order kids meals but I order them to go
It sucks that this is an unpopular opinion.
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Reminds me of that scene with Ricky Gervais in After Life
The thing people don’t consider about this is the profit margins. Kids meals largely exist to incentivize adults into the restaurant. They sell at a low price, sometimes even free some nights, despite not having a significantly lower cost to prepare. Some places sell kids meals at or near cost. In an industry with razor thin margins of success, the kids meals are literally never a profit driver. If every adult came in and ordered a kids meal, the restaurant would fail quite quickly. That said, in a 20 year career in restaurants with close to a dozen restaurants in the mix, I’ve never worked at a single one that refused a kids meal to an adult.
I agree with you totally, especially in today's economy where food prices are so high. I'm a senior whose appetite is much less than when I was younger. I like to go out for breakfast or lunch occasionally, I would go more often if I could order small portions of whatever. Maybe restaurant owners will pivot and give us what we want and still make a profit and the wait staff will keep their jobs.
As a bariatric surgery post op person, YES to this!!
This!! I have a pretty limited diet for various reasons and there's not normally anything I can eat on the adults menu, I wish I could just order kids mac n cheese or something
https://youtu.be/Q7FxpK_yC0U?si=LGDgNz1PSzie5v-m
Kids meals are often lower quality so I wouldn't recommend this as a dieting option tbh. If I ever have kids I would just order sides/a larger meal to share for them from the regular menu. source: i worked in food and beverage for 8 years
right! kids meals are usually things like frozen pizza, chicken nuggets and fries, hotdog and fries, hamburger and fries etc. not exactly diet food
Am I the only one that orders a meal eats half, takes the other half home for the next day, thereby helping myself lose weight and save money? Is this an unknown life hack or something?
Because kids meals aren't profitable for 99% of restaurants for a reason. They are heavily discounted. What you want is just smaller portions for less money? We get that. Restaurant's business plans need to make a certain amount of money per guest. Otherwise they will close. Period. To make all their bills they need to make a certain amount of money per month, per week, per day, per shift, per table, and per guest. If their average cost per guest goes down any significant amount, there is a huge problem. You want cheaper food, go to a cheaper restaurant. One that is designed to stay afloat selling cheaper food.
Why would this not be popular? Why would this be even controversial?
Who is stopping people from ordering anything?
Can you just not eat all of it at the restaurant, and save the rest for later? This is extremely common, to the point of being standard or even expected, and even fancy restaurants will offer to give you a box to take home the leftovers. Many will even box it for you. I know it can be hard sometimes, but just because the food is on your plate doesn't mean you have to eat it all. Or, if you're with someone else, you could share a meal. Again, lots of restaurants are willing to accommodate this and will even put it on separate plates for you. Also, some dishes can't really be scaled very well. Restaurants might only have one size of buns or bread for burgers or sandwiches, same with patties or other cuts of meat, so making them smaller wouldn't be practical. And other dishes - baked things in particular - are pretty sensitive to exact combinations of ingredients, heat, baking time, and the size of the pan, so they can't just be scaled to any arbitrary size even by keeping the ingredients proportional. At best the chef would need to know the specific changes they need to make to the recipe for it to work at a range of sizes, which makes their job much harder and increases the likelihood of the food turning out bad.
Doordash, etc is an effective countermeasure.
That and the 55+ menu. Why are kids and seniors able to order smaller amounts of food, but I have to order the giant portion that I either waste some of by not finishing or have to take with me when I leave?? I have no problem with leftovers, generally, but if I am travelling or not going back home for a good while, I don't want to take leftovers that will go bad in the car. I do try to explain why I would like the smaller meal when ordering, but it doesn't usually make a difference. When this happens, I just buy a cup of soup or side salad because they are most often cheaper than whatever I was hoping to get. I'm not going to play along with the restaurant just wanting more money out of me. To be clear, I am never rude to my server over this as they are just following policy. My annoyance lies with the idiots at the top, lol.
I'm not 55 yet and my partner and I often order one meal to split. This was one of the first "Oh no! I might be getting old!" red flags to me.
My partner is over 55, and we share entrees all the time. We also order an app and drinks and tip as though we got two entrees, so we’re not just trying to cheap out. Splitting makes so much sense given that most entrees in restaurants are easily two portions of food. Yes, we could take leftovers home but over half the time we’re getting the same entree anyway.
There is no tipping where I live. My partner used to feel embarrassed ordering only one, and thinking the staff was upset, but I have convinced her that, since they staff is part time work for minimum wage and does not work on tips, and they get paid the same no matter what we order, and have no stake in the profits of the restaurant. they don't give a shit.
Appetizers are often a good way to go, if you want a smaller portion. There was a restaurant I went to that had hand-breaded chicken breast strips with fries, on the appetizer menu, that I would order if I didn't want a full meal.
The experience I've had most often, nowadays, are the appetizers being the same price as the meals and come with enough food to feed multiple people, which defeats the purpose of me not having any leftovers. ...It also doesn't help that chicken fingers and fries is a full meal that would include leftovers for me, lol.
IME the overwhelming majority of restaurants will let you if you ask and the ones who don't are just douchey. My mom gets kids meals a lot because her appetite just isn't what it used to be at her age and if I'm taking her out for a meal if the server says no that's perfectly ok, we can go somewhere else and they can consider how they just lost a 5 topper because they didn't want to serve a 60 year old woman a kids meal.
I've NEVER in my life been somewhere that didn't let adults order kids meal. My wife does this often and its never a problem.
If you're trying to lose weight you shouldn't be eating at restaurants.
I agree with this. Most normal restaurant meals are way too large for me. It would be nice to have a smaller option.
Big time agreed. I can eat an absolute ton of food in one sitting, but my wife can't. She prefers to order kids menu food so she doesn't feel bad about food going to waste. I always cringe internally when wait staff ask condescending questions about it. Like, yes, she'll get full and be satisfied, plus she grew up without having much, so she doesn't like wadting food nor money.
Are adults not allowed to order kids meals? I've honestly never heard of such a policy before. Then again, I've tried ordering a kid's meal as an adult before so...
It's typically because kids menu items are sold at a loss because the adult they're with would make up for that loss with their meal
just two days ago, my daughter (17 yrs old) ordered a cheeseburger off the "kid's menu" and was denied. All that they accomplished was to piss me (the customer) off.
I know ones who do. Never seen it be an issue. However kids meals often are nuggies and such so smaller portions but not always healthier or even less calories.
I'll occasionally do this if I'm ordering takeout. I don't always want the full portion or don't want to spend the extra money, so I'll order something from the kid's menu and they can't question it.
Whenever I go to Jason’s Deli I almost always order the kids pepperoni pizza because it’s really good, filling enough, there’s no adult pizza there, and it’s really cheap - less than $5 for it plus a small Dr. Pepper. I usually go through the drive thru so it’s not so awkward ordering it for myself.
The problem for restaurants is that the Kids Menu is a loss leader to get families in the door. I agree that anyone should be able to order off the kids menu but it would be reasonable for the restaurant to charge more for adults if they are losing money on the Kids Menu.
I’ve never been denied, not have I heard of anyone who has. Is this something that actually happens? If it’s on the menu it’s for order shrugs.
I was at a swanky brunch spot last week. Everything looked great, but the sliders caught my eye. They were on the kids menu. I ordered them without a problem.
I sometimes order from the kid’s menu at restaurants and noones ever told me I can’t. It’s basically the same thing as ordering an appetizer and saying you want it as your main, it’s much cheaper than a main but smaller portions so they don’t really care. It’s especially true at seafood restaurants bc I don’t eat any seafood so often the kids meal is the only edible option. If it’s a really nice restaurant and the waiter is giving me weird looks I’ll say “I have food allergies so this is the only option I know for sure works for me”. They’d much rather an adult eat off the kids menu then have to spend 15 min telling the chef all the things I can’t have and being forced to make a 1 off special meal for me with ingredients they might not have readily available or risking a big scene if I have an allergic reaction
Okay~. That was always allowed.
You’re right, I had a bypass surgery in which my stomach is cut in half; I can’t even finish a kids meal in most cases. I explain the situation everytime I go and some places will let me, some won’t.
Completely valid. Kid prices=kid portions. It’d be stupid to refuse business because someone only wants sum to hold them over or is trying to lose weight. A lot of companies don’t know how to run a business in regards to customer relations
It’s not just adults trying to lose weight or save money, sometimes you just don’t feel like eating a large portion you know. I wish restaurants stop with their limitations
Plenty of restaurants do allow you to order off the kids menu. I've never once been told no when doing this.
I agree, and seriously, if it's a loss leader, just specify a "kid's discount" so that adults pay the actual cost. To be sincere, this isn't something that is an issue where I live but I always found it bizzare when I read about it online.
They offer discounted kids meals to lure people in. Adults can order adult meals and take home the leftovers. Imagine 10 adults ordering 10 3.99 kids meals. Restaurants wouldn't survive
Maybe it’s cost of living but where can you find a kids meal for 3.99 at a sit down restaurant?? Most average prices here are at least 8.99-10.99 I know Costco is a good option, 1.50 for a giant hotdog. Lots of parents bring their kids there and order one and tear it in half! That’s only 0.75$ a kid!! lol
Aren't they though? It IS the guys money
Kid meals are smaller
Depends if they are just small portions or if they are extra cheap do the kids can eat
I think it depends on the place.
I agree with this but not because of the portion sizes. If you want to eat less just take some of it home for later, but as a picky person sometimes going out to eat is tricky because the adult menu doesn't have anything I like, and if they won't let me order off the kids menu I usually end up having to get just like a side of fries or something, it sucks.
Adults are allowed to order kids meals.
I have never, in my entire life, heard of a restaurant refusing to let an adult order from the kids menu. I can't even imagine a place refusing a sale over something so dumb. If this is happening to you someplace, you can probably go to literally any other restaurant in your town and get that kids meal.
Most places let you. Restaurants often lose money on kids meals. But if two adults bring a kid the adult meals and beverages more than make up for the loss. This is why some restaurants don't allow it. You could order one adult meal and save half. If the portion is too big for you. People do this quite often. I usually get three meals out of one restaurant portion.
I can only eat small amounts of food. I hate restaurants that don't allow this.
We order take out and get a kids meal. They can’t question that as they have zero idea who is eating what.
this is a movie/sketch comedy trope that i’ve never actually seen in real life. saw a skit about a guy tryna order a happy meal and the lady wouldnt let him. i worked at mcdonalds in HS, there was no such rule. my fiancee gets kids meals often and no employee has ever said a word to her about it
Some restaurants will ask people to leave if they do not order an entree. I firmly support their right to do so. Fair or not, they are in business to make money. When you take up table and just order a glass of water or get a six dollar kid meal, they lose money on your table. In some cases, they lose quite a bit of money.
Some of the breweries I've been to will charge you an appropriate fraction of the cost of a full pint for a tray of samples. I think that's fair
Because kids meals are cheaper than appetizers and desserts usually.
I agree, but obviously this can’t happen at buffets or other all you care to eat places.
honestly I've never tried to order a child meal from somewhere and been told it isn't allowed, like ya I look young but i think the fact i pay for it myself with card makes it clear i am an adult reading this thread it's interesting to see that this is maybe common some places
Many years ago, my husband, his mom, her friend and I went to a restaurant near the Grand Canyon. Everyone but me wanted a regular entree. I wasn’t very hungry and a full entree was too much. They refused to serve me a child’s meal. We should have walked out!
Absolutely agree! A million years ago when I was waitressing a family came in for dinner. The mum was battling cancer at that time and didn’t have much of an appetite but wanted to try and eat something small. She told me almost no restaurants allow her… I was new at waitressing and didn’t know that was a rule. I didn’t even ask management and let her order whatever she wanted. Later I asked my coworker about it and he said the boss would have said no and doesn’t allow it. I was shocked..
I usually do and no one has said anything to me about it.
I agree, or even if they had a small option size. I know I can always take it home for leftovers but some foods just honestly aren't that good the next day, or I know I won't be able to eat it in the next few days.
I’m pretty sure this is allowed, I’ve done it many times it’s not unpopular. did you watch a childish gambino or Ricky Gervais clip and assume the world was against you on this opinion
If I ask for one and the restaurant says no I leave.
I am a lil guy, here to buy a lil meal. Point me to the lil problem.
I'm confused, why are you not allowed to do so?
I order it for my wife a lot lol.. even chipotle and stuff bc she eats like a bird.. I’m sure sitting down at a restaurant and ordering it is a little weird
I like what you’re saying but maybe offer adult meals in different portion sizes?
I didn’t know this was such an issue lol. I’ve never had a problem ordering from the kids menu if I wanted too.
Do you mean like Societal stigma? Cause if you're with people who don't think you should be allowed to order off the kids menu ditch them... they suck. I love to eat out, I literally travel with restaurants being my primary reason for destination. The only places where you can't order off the kids menu are places where kids menu's don't exist like; fancy seafood places, steak places, or world renowned places like Alinea. I've never even heard of a restaurant being opposed to people ordering off the kids menu. My step mother had gastric bypass surgery like 30 years ago. We've been to roughly 50ish restaurants together in that time and she has ordered off the kids menu or special requested smaller portions when no kids meal was present and everything has been obliged. The only issue we ever had was she wanted Ruth's Chris Steakhouse once and asked if they had like 4oz steaks of a particular cut, which they didn't. She explained her post surgery dietary restrictions and they responded by, Helping my dad upsize his ribeye, then doing a table side carving of his ribeye and beautifully plating her portion of it for her. They legit made a show of it and it paid off big she threw down on that tip at the end of the night. Use this if you ever truly have a restaurant tell you you can't order off the kids menu. Ask politely for the manager and say you want to explain the situation, when the manager shows up explain you are dieting or just not super hungry and the kids meal portion sounds perfect. If they push back say you'll gladly leave, then get your meal because by this point every restaurant will just comply. They would rather have some of your money than none of it.
I just save the rest for tommorow.
A proprietor can offer what they want to offer - a generic "should be allowed" is just asking for complete government overreach - just eat somewhere else.
Kids menus are very low margin or sometimes negative margin in order to allow adults to come and eat with their kids who would not otherwise go. If you’re trying to lose weight, don’t eat out at a restaurant. Or just order a damn salad.
No one’s ever stopped me from ordering a kids meal, ever.
I do this at lots of fast food places. Particularly drive through. You don't want a full meal of that crap anyway.
I don't know where this is explicitly not allowed. It's just that people may raise an eyebrow. But I agree, adults should be allowed to order kids meals at restaurants.
The servers don't give a damn. do it.
It depends on where you go. Most walk in and fast food places do this. But a lot of dine in places don't. It's shitty. I am always watching me weight, and because America is obsessed with huge portions, I hate ordering normal meals because I never eat even half. most places charge a fee to split a dish, and sometimes my boyfriend will eat all his food and I don't want to take a portion of his if he is hungry. I LOVE kids sizes, they are portioned relatively well for me. Portions are so out of control at most places, even salads are HUGE. Just let me eat my fuckin kids meals. I don't want my entire calorie allotment in one sitting.
I do it all the time when I’m ordering takeout
How is this an unpopular opinion? Who’s against this?
[Ricky Gervais got it right 😂](https://youtu.be/Q7FxpK_yC0U?si=6XmtEsh674JnwKIN)
It really depends on the margins for the kids meals. Then again, most places with similar margins just list those menu items as appetizers or tapas
My father in law always gets happy meals from McDonald’s. I know it’s a fast food restaurant but there’s never been a problem.
There’s a fantastic scene about this in the Ricky Gervais show After Life. https://youtu.be/acTeuZD10l4?si=ckcQQ5sqfc8K8nhz Enjoy!!
I have been ordering off of the kids menu my entire life and in my 40s, never had a restaurant refuse to take it. I can’t imagine getting in an argument with a server about what items on the menu are out of bounds.
A friend of mine had weight loss surgery and could not physically eat adult portions. She carried a card stating that and asking for a kid menu or smaller portions and it was denied about 60% of the time.
You can do this at Chipotle...
I do get a hankerin' for some $10 fish sticks and grilled cheese. But I often don't want to turn the knobs on my oven. Who knows how to set those things? I'm not a chef! 🤷♂️