Why are US meal portions so big??

laineybz

I don't think it's just the USA though.... most British curry houses do huge portion sizes, plus it's not really going out for a curry unless you have a large pile of poppadoms as a starter and at least two side dishes with your main course..... and one curry house in Birmingham sells naan breads the size of a table. No exaggeration. And they're advertised as naan bread for four. Naan bread for 2-3 families more like! But anyway, the USA does not have a monopoly on large portion sizes.

I've never been but I think the restaurant in Birmingham ur talking about hangs the naans up for ppl to help themselves.

jayjay12345654321

1. The US government subsidizes food production, making food crazy cheap (but not of good quality).
2. Americans have been conditioned to think that bigger is better. Bigger and cheaper is best.
3. To get smaller portions we have to pay more. For instance, if you want your meal split with half in a box to go, or wish to share your meal with your dinner mate, there is a surcharge of $1 or more at most establishments.
4. At fast food places the surcharge for smaller portions can double the price of the meal due to the increased labor cost in a custom order. Just try getting a half-sized banana split at Dairy Queen. It'll cost you nearly $9 to buy the individual ingredients.
5. We kind of like it this way.

I'm in Texas, and I almost always go splits on food with friends and I've never been charged a buck to do it. Maybe that's specific to certain regions.

There are a couple places here though where you have to bring your own wine if you want wine and they charge you a few bucks to open it and that chaps me a little. lol

Haha, same thing here! The corkage fee is ridiculous in a little town called Tomball near Houston. $25! On a $9 bottle of wine you brought yourself? My friend used to threaten to sneak in a flask of merlot.

PikaKnight

I've just returned from a holiday in California and was amazed at the portion sizes on all the meals I had when eating in restaurants. I mentioned this to an American friend and he just replied that the US was the land of plenty and they had to support their farmers. He then left half of his stack of pancakes and it was thrown away - what is the sense of that?? Portions in the UK are much smaller and yet we have a weight problem here too.

I haven't been to the UK and don't know anything about how sizes compare, but I do agree with you that portion size is ridiculous in most restaurants in my area. In fact, you can't order a Mexican entree without them bringing 2 or 3 plates of food because it doesn't all fit on one plate. Standalone Japanese restaurants are about the only ones (other than outrageously priced NYC locations 269,000,000 Americans have never eaten at) that keep portion size reasonable.

I believe my city was even voted the fattest in America several years running. We definitely live up to it. Around here, guys call themselves athletic and toned, when really they look like that MFP troll Whierd. I guess after a while, even we don't see how we look anymore.

Taking digs at people's appearances is not only against the CG but tells just what kind of person you are. Not cool.

kixxiekat

To answer the original question...I think there are many reasons: profits, demand and supply, evolution of eating habits, societal changes, personal greed, etc. Let's face it, times change; styles change, signs get more noticable, the desire for bigger, better increase. We are in control of ourselves unless we choose to give that power away to another, even if it is a business. The bottom line is that each country is unique and has unique issues, both good and bad. One of America's, pertaining to food, is unhealthy portion sizes. Was a very good and valid question.

PikaKnight

I've just returned from a holiday in California and was amazed at the portion sizes on all the meals I had when eating in restaurants.

It's to make up for the calorie labels they put on food in grocery stores. So far this week I've seen the nutritional content of a package of hot dogs expressed in "1/3 of a hot dog" serving size and hamburgers buns expressed in "2/5 of a bun" serving size.

What brands expressed serving sizes in those ludicrous servings?

Don't remember the bun vendor, but the hot dogs were "Harvest Bavarian Sausages".

I'm assuming that they were one of those large ring sausages, correct?

Nope. They were hot dogs. Individually plastic wrapped, even. No idea why they were called "sausages" on the package.

I called the 800 number on the package to complain.

Are you sure these weren't smokies? I tries looking them up and that's what kept popping up.

CTcutie

I think it's because the actual food is probably the smallest factor in the restaurant's operating expenses. Most of the costs come from rent/mortgage, salaries, insurance, etc. So if they can throw more food on a plate so people think they're getting a "great deal," they do it at little additional cost. Then, yes, some people will throw it away, some will take it to go, and some will eat all of it.

Exactly. We want a BARGAIN! And a little plate with a lot of white space = fancy pants places, not your run of the mill place.


I actually dislike eating salads at restaurants because 1) they are gigantic and will never eat it all and 2) they cost around $10-13 here in CT. A bowl of lettuce and some toppings is NOT worth it to me. A steak, on the other hand, I will gladly pay $ for.
You can go to a fast food place and get a box of fried fatty goodness for IDK, like $6-10.

My friends have a bar/restaurant and alcoholic drinks and sodas bring in a lot of revenue for them.

Topsking2010

Cook your own food!!!

TwoPointZero

It seems to me that the low-end chain restaurants (Chili's, Appleby's, TGI Fridays, etc.) typically do have pretty large portions (by whatever metric you want to judge "large"). I don't know where the OP traveled to in CA, but if it was SF, she should have been able to find places with small portions, say, French Laundry, Meadowood, Mina, Benu, Manresa, Fleur de Lys, etc. Of course, she would have definitely paid a bit more . . .

ThickMcRunFast

Things I want after reading this thread

1) Otter's arm definition
2) Wheird's "trolling" powers
3) Fajitas. Massive plates of fajitas.

SailorKnightWing

I believe my city was even voted the fattest in America several years running. We definitely live up to it. Around here, guys call themselves athletic and toned, when really they look like that MFP troll Whierd. I guess after a while, even we don't see how we look anymore.

I apologize to everyone for my fellow West Virginian. We're not all holes, though most of us do have fat *kitten*.

3dogsrunning

I kinda want multiple plates of Mexican food now.

I know, I'm feeling really shortchanged here. We've obviously been going to the wrong Mexican restaurants.

The sad part is that I was in Texas for a few months last year, ate Mexican food several times, and still didn't get it on multiple plates. :grumble:

I live in TX, have for my whole life... and yes, you can get mexican entrees on multiple plates. They usually bring the tortillas separately from the fajita meat, which is separate from the "fixin's" (cheese, veggies, etc). pretty common practice here in TX for the fajita meat to be on its own cast iron (very hot) serving skillet, sizzling as it arrives... ok, dinner plans made. cheers!

The last Mexican meal (in the US, I am not from there) I had it was all on one plate and the juice from the beans made my tacos all soggy. I would have preferred separate plates.

smantha32

I'm in Texas, and I almost always go splits on food with friends and I've never been charged a buck to do it. Maybe that's specific to certain regions.

There are a couple places here though where you have to bring your own wine if you want wine and they charge you a few bucks to open it and that chaps me a little. lol

Haha, same thing here! The corkage fee is ridiculous in a little town called Tomball near Houston. $25! On a $9 bottle of wine you brought yourself? My friend used to threaten to sneak in a flask of merlot.

Holy sh#t!!! i get pissed when they want to charge 3 bucks to do it!!! :noway:

joshdann

for what it's worth, I once had sushi (the best sushi I've ever had, tbqh) in Washington DC. It was a $100 meal and it came on no less than 11 plates. It was probably almost 1000 calories, too. I wish I could do that again soon.

realme56

I kinda want multiple plates of Mexican food now.

I had Mexican last weekend and a Margarita to go with it..... I was full to the top!! Plus you always get chips and salsa before your meal! Great salsa is not to be wasted!!!

whierd

Things I want after reading this thread

1) Otter's arm definition
2) Wheird's "trolling" powers
3) Fajitas. Massive plates of fajitas.

The Secrets:

1.Be a badass and lift heavy. Also jump off cliffs into pools of water to increase your badass factor.
2. Be unapologetically intelligent. Normies will see it as trolling because they cannot follow.
3. Go to Houston. I hear you cannot find Mexican food on less than 3 plates!

jayjay12345654321

for what it's worth, I once had sushi (the best sushi I've ever had, tbqh) in Washington DC. It was a $100 meal and it came on no less than 11 plates. It was probably almost 1000 calories, too. I wish I could do that again soon.

There's a place in Tokyo run by master sushi chef Jiro Ono that charges $300 per person. No menu, you book a reservation, show up and pay. He feeds you what he feels like making the rest of the night. The restaurant only seats 10 people. Jiro is 85 years old and supposed to be the best in Japan.

hilts1969

I've just returned from a holiday in California and was amazed at the portion sizes on all the meals I had when eating in restaurants. I mentioned this to an American friend and he just replied that the US was the land of plenty and they had to support their farmers. He then left half of his stack of pancakes and it was thrown away - what is the sense of that?? Portions in the UK are much smaller and yet we have a weight problem here too.

I have only met one american that wasn't fat and she was actually canadian, i blame oprah

ninerbuff

Frequency and "value" for money spent drive the restaurant businesses in the US. The "more" you can get for your money, the better the value so practically every restaurant serves large portions to compete. I always split food with my wife when we eat out saving calories and money. Oh and it helps keep me slimmer too.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

PikaKnight

Frequency and "value" for money spent drive the restaurant businesses in the US. The "more" you can get for your money, the better the value so practically every restaurant serves large portions to compete. I always split food with my wife when we eat out saving calories and money. Oh and it helps keep me slimmer too.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Yeah, but some places kick you out if you try to do that.

runlilyrun

American size 10 for a lady is.. slim, here in UK you are 14-16 and overweight. It's a different world.

American size 10 long on my 5'8" frame IS slim. My hip bones wouldn't fit in anything smaller than an 8. Different people have different body types, doesn't matter what country you're from.

I would call a US10 a UK12-14 which I agree would be slim on my 5'8.5" frame! I have proper childbearing hips so I just wouldn't be able to get below that and look healthy, I don't think. Right now I'm a UK 14-16 so I guess a US12? My Banana Republic suit jackets are US 10s.

I like to get children's portions when I can - I used to work at McDonald's and I sold a lot of 'top secret Happy Meals' which are the Happy Meal in a normal paper bag rather than the cartoony box

American size 10 for a lady is.. slim, here in UK you are 14-16 and overweight. It's a different world.

You can tell by someone's size whether they are overweight?

Well, here in the UK a 14 or 16 is certainly perceived by many to be 'big' - which may be because we possibly have a historically shorter population than in the US due to more rationing during the 1940s and early 50s? (no idea if that theory has any basis in fact, just throwing it out there!)

i'll bet a Big Mac in the UK is exactly the same size as a Big Mac in the USA, but of course that'll just be dismissed as the exception that proves the rule... :facepalm:

Nope. US (and Canada) Big Macs have about 50 calories more than UK Big Macs, according to Mcdonald's website(s). Curiously, the UK Big Mac has twice(!) the sodium.

Clearly, the products are somewhat customized for local preferences.

calorie counts =/= portion sizes

1 cup of 1% milk has fewer calories than 1 cup of 2% milk. identical portion sizes.

let's see some data about the bun diameters of Big Macs between the USA and UK!

Cadbury's Creme Eggs are smaller in the US.

Random fact!

They're also not real Cadbury's - they're made by Hershey with Hershey 'chocolate.'

I actually dislike eating salads at restaurants because 1) they are gigantic and will never eat it all and 2) they cost around $10-13 here in CT. A bowl of lettuce and some toppings is NOT worth it to me. A steak, on the other hand, I will gladly pay $ for.
You can go to a fast food place and get a box of fried fatty goodness for IDK, like $6-10.

I agree with this - My parents think nothing of spending £10 on a salad when we go to Pizza Express, for instance... No! If I'm spending that much on a meal I want lots of food!