That’s Why Fancy Restaurants Serve Such Tiny Portions

It all started in early 20th century, France. They introduced the idea of... some fancy French word — eating small amounts of beautifully served food. Five, ten, fifteen, up to twenty courses! In one meal you could try soups, appetizers, pastries, pastas, risottos... all that good stuff.

When you go to a restaurant to try a new dish, it stops tasting life-changing after about the 10th mouthful. When you’re only given a few bites worth, you somehow appreciate the taste more! Luxury restaurants always try to be as different as they can from cheaper places. They’ve got elegant interiors, expensive cutlery, and small portions — the opposite of what you get at your regular diner. It makes the meal more unusual...that’s why it’s more memorable.

Truffles, caviar...all those fancy-schmancy ingredients cost a lot, and deep down, you know that. So when you see them bring a tiny plate with a tiny serving, your brain’s happy. It’s logical somehow. How would you feel if you ordered a cheap plate of something fancy, and it was huge? You’d be weirded out, wondering if the quality was low or something.

Luxury restaurants get their ingredients from various places, It’s not really a one-stop-shop thing. That adds up fast. A bigger portion would be so expensive, even for the wealthiest customers.

Most fancy restaurants have at least 3 to 6 course meals. At some, you might get up to 30! You wouldn’t be able to try them all if they were regular size. And, if they keep the portion sizes down, you’ll have room for dessert and a fancy coffee, which means extra money for the restaurant.

It’s all designed to give you the “limited edition” vibe. You’re always more likely to appreciate something that’s rare and exclusive. A mountain of pasta is something you can cook at home any old time. Some strands of multicolored pasta spread across a plate of exotic veggies? That’s got food-selfie written all over it!

Now, gourmet chefs don’t just cook — they create edible works of art. And it’s a lot easier to make a masterpiece with fewer things on the plate. The more you slap on there, the more it’ll look like that meal you cook when you’re just trying to empty out your fridge. And for the customer, it’s not easy to look elegant when you’re trying to shove a huge burger in your mouth. When you’re eating your tiny portion at a fancy table wearing nice clothes, you can’t not look elegant.

Some restaurants are switching it up, offering regular and smaller size meal options. It’s perfect if you can’t eat that much, are dieting or want to save some money. But it’s not like the smaller portions are going to be fancier, they’ll just be smaller. Most restaurants have dim lighting and cozy secluded seating areas to make you feel more comfortable and relaxed... and stay longer... and order more! You’ll feel less guilty about ordering a ton of expensive food when you feel “invisible” in the dark.

Smells can affect your meal choices. Vanilla and cinnamon make you crave dessert. The smell of bacon might make you order a bigger breakfast. Lavender helps you relax, slow down, and eat and spend more. Fancy restaurants use incense and nice-smelling oils to try to make you order more! At cheaper restaurants it’s all different.

When you sit by the window and see people and sunlight, you’re more likely to feel conscious of your choices and order something healthy and sensible like vegetables, wraps, you know, that sort of thing, and you’re more likely to order a full meal ’cause you think someone might judge you or something.

They put up TVs everywhere to distract you. That way you’re more likely to agree to whatever the waiter’s offering you. Sitting at a high-top bar table makes you more alert, since you can’t lean back and relax. You’re more likely to order, eat, and leave. Then they can fill the table with someone else!

Where can you always find fast food? At the mall and at any rest stop. They’re hoping you just impulse buy something, even when you’re not hungry. Just looking at food or people eating can make you crave that burger!

And restaurants pay big bucks to get help designing their menus. They use something called “power positioning”. It helps you pick something, even if you didn’t know you wanted it! Whatever’s on the top right of the front page: that’s what they want you to order. You’ll always see the most expensive ingredients mentioned in the dish description, even if it only has one tiny drop of it. You’ll want to order it for that luxury vibe...

Some gourmet restaurants really do make their specials out of the freshest ingredients, the ones they just got in that morning. Most specials though? They’re made from stuff that’s about to expire, that way they don’t waste as much food. And watch out!

The specials at fancy restaurants might cost more than your new iPhone! Even the most luxurious places can’t always cook everything from scratch. Frozen veggies zapped in the microwave, vacuum-packed soups they dump in hot water... They might even use leftover shredded veggies from the salad bar to make tomorrow’s soup of the day!

When the greeter at the front door tells you there’s a 20-minute wait, they just made it up. Can they see into the future? How do they know exactly how long it’s going to take for that couple at the corner table to finish their pasta and leave? That specific wait time just makes you feel more relaxed, plus it makes it look like the restaurant’s really well managed.

The restaurant manager knows you’re more likely to order a $20 pizza if it’s right below a $45 steak. You might also fall for the special “$3 off dessert” even if it’s still $15! It’s called the anchoring effect. Your brain gets stuck on the “$3 off” bit and ignores the actual price!

When a friendly waiter invites you to take another look at the menu, it’s impossible to say “no”. You naturally want to please others. The waiters know which items to push, and they’ll describe them to you in the most beautiful way or recommend them as their personal favorites. Just try it: Ask them to recommend you a dessert, I bet you anything it’ll be the most expensive one.

The music you hear at restaurants affects the taste of food. You’re more likely to rate your pasta or pizza as authentic if they’re pumping out some Italian opera jams. Chips taste fresher when they crunch super loud, and oysters feel saltier when there’s some sort of Caribbean music going on. Waiters always want to start you off with a drink before you even open the menu, to catch you off guard. And if one person orders a pricey drink, chances are everyone else will too.

Menus that don’t use dollar signs make you feel better and more relaxed about spending money. And they don’t use cents either — the fewer numbers you see, the more you’re going to be willing to pay. You’re more likely to order a meal that has a long juicy name like “seasoned, wood-fired-grilled fish fillet with our head chef’s signature sauce and Uncle John’s secret recipe fried potatoes”... I’m in, hey, (exhale). Sorry guys.

That sounds better than “grilled fish with potatoes.” The first one sounds expensive, and like it’s a secret family recipe. Restaurants always like to make meals sound more authentic. That’s why they’re always loaded with foreign words, makes it seem extra fancy!

Restaurants get busy at lunch, at least that’s the plan. To stop you from noticing that your meal’s taking forever, they slow everything else down too. They’ll keep you waiting for a table, then seat you at an empty table, then put out the dishes and cutlery, then bring you the menu, then... you get the picture.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but you aren’t always the first customer to get that bread basket. What’s left from the previous guest...you might be eating that right now! When waiters bring you free snacks, they’re trying to make you thirsty. All those chips and crackers are packed with sodium. When you eat too much of it, your body sends a signal to your kidneys that it’s time to flush out the system. Before you know it, you’re ordering a bunch of extra drinks!