About a year ago, T.G.I. Friday’s launched their “Right Portion, Right Price” menu, which I applauded. Other restaurants are finally following suit.
In a rare bit of positive recession news, cheaper, smaller portions are on offer at many chains, including–drum roll, please–The Cheesecake Factory.
The purveyor of waste-inducing portions recently started offering smaller plates priced from $3.95 to $6.50. I was all set to offer some praise until I read this quote from Cheesecake’s marketing chief:
“It’s a great value for folks who may not have as much money to dine out as they used to,” said Mark Mears. “At the Cheesecake Factory, we don’t really do anything small, so the portion sizes are actually pretty generous.”
Cringe.
Meanwhile, Chipotle now has a “Low-Roller Menu.” It’s not the most flattering phrasing for something as normal as ordering a reasonably-sized meal. But if frugal really is chic, than I guess customers won’t mind. We shall see.
Naturally, these tweaks are all about business, not cutting waste. But hopefully the latter will be an unintended consequence. Hey, something positive has to come out of this recession. And if it’s smaller portions at restaurants, well…that’s a start.
Comments
6 responses to “Portion Distortion”
I travel a lot for work and am always astounded at the portion size in the mid-west and at chain restaurants. I always try to eat at Mom & Pop places, preferably Asian if the community has any decent ones, and that seems to help. If I have to go to The Cheesecake Factory I get apps there.
When I get a large portion I take it home and eat it for breakfast, or lunch. Where I work we use recyclable takeout containers (true the black bottom isn’t acceptable for recycling in many communities), and we offer customers $1 off when they bring a container back. Rarely do customers return the container. I can’t tell if this is because most recycle, or reuse (they are a bit like Tupperware) the containers at home, or if they just get pitched. The original idea behind the containers was to be greener, while saving money when customers returned the containers. Not knowing how customers use the containers, I can’t say how successful we are on the first point.
I can say that a fair number of people either clear their plates, or take the leftovers home. But we still throw out a full (thin rectangular) can of discarded food at the end of the night. Beyond that we toss a can from the cooking part of the back of the house (that would include plastic packaging). If we had composting collection, I think we’d throw out around 1/4 (thin rectangular) can per night in the kitchen. Caveat: some of that trash is napkins, but these could be composted under many municipal composting programs.
[…] And what helps the waistline often helps the wallet – some US chains are offering cheaper, smaller portions. […]
The Cheesecake Factory portions are so over the top. My husband and I have been splitting dinners for years at most restaurants, but at the Cheesecake Factory you could feed a family.
It’s too bad they have to insult the customer who just wants a normal meal, but it’s still a positive trend.
It’s like TCF can’t help themselves. Even when they’re going for smaller portions, they can’t quite bring themselves to not serve giant ones. It’s like it’s part of their DNA (unfortunately).
Elise: I love the idea of a restaurant taking the containers back. Another reason customers don’t bring them back may be coordination. The customer would have to save the container, decide in advance to return to your restaurant, and remember to bring the container with him.