Why are US meal portions so big??

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:

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!!!

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.

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.

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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!

The entire Mcdonalds Value Menu is also in the low-calorie categorie. McDouble and Fries for $2 and 500-ish calories.

Or for the same price you can do the McGangBanger.

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.

Here in Mexico it is frowned upon to have all the food on one plate. Usually the rice is served alone on a plate before the entrée, which comes afterwards with tortillas in an extra container to keep them warm. Only poor people ( who basically live of rice and beans ) and I like to have their rice touch the stew and the beans on the same plate. I can't say, but wonder if this little part of Mexican food culture has maybe some bearing on how Mexican meals are served in the US.

A recent survey stated that 98% of the worlds obese population were american, this is quite shocking if you think about it. most users on this site appear to be from the US so maybe things are changing

I doubt the accuracy.

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.

I don't know how it started but I hate it. Not all U.S. restaurants do it but a lot of them do.

A recent survey stated that 98% of the worlds obese population were american, this is quite shocking if you think about it. most users on this site appear to be from the US so maybe things are changing

Sorry, I'm callin' BS. The current US population is, if memory serves, about 320 million, about half of which are obese. That makes 160,000,000 obese people in the US. So...are there only a little more than 160,000,000 obese people in a world population of 6 billion? Don't think so, given that India, at least, also has an obesity problem, and the population of India is about 4x that of America.

How else are we supposed to stay so fat? Geez...

Another person who has lived in the UK and US here. Again only speaking from personal experience I'd say portion sizes vary from restaurant to restaurant rather than by country. Ever gone to a Sunday carvery in the UK and seen the mounds of food people pile their plates with there. Hence why, as stated by the OPs first post, obesity is a problem there as well.

What I have also noticed is that rude and obnoxious people are found every where as well, though what it is about this thread which seems to be drawing them in, I'm not sure. For the record Otter has amazingly strong and defined arms and Whierd is erudite and perspicacious

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

Here in Oregon, most places, even fast food joints, have a wine list, lol! We're like Napa Valley North. :drinker:

I have noticed a race by lower and mid range restaurants - especially chains - to give bigger and bigger portions. Now days i just divide the plate by a half or even a third before i start eating. I then leave the rest to be thrown away. The only real "problem" is that i usually don't want to pack up what I did not eat. Sometimes my dinner companions, or even the "servers" seem to get terribly offended when I don't want to pack up the leftovers. For restaurants that serve massive portions, the food really isn't that inspiring to want to eat again. Also when travelling it is just inconvenient and i am forced to go back to hotel to store it. The same at home i guess... It is difficult to go on with your evening when you have to carry the leftovers with you for the night.

The good news is I see things are changing. A number of local "non-chain" restaurants are starting to serve "right size" meals. At least here in the NW ( Portland , Seattle, San Francisco/Bay Area ) there is a trend towards "small plates" options.

I like large proportions in restaurants! I eat what I can there and the rest goes in a "to go" box and I eat it later on. That's the best part a meal to eat later.