Should adults be allowed to order from the Kids menu?

My answer is NO, unless they are super seniors, I don't allow it..My most expensive item on my kids menu is $3.99 except for Ribs which are $6.99, virtually break even prices...what's your opinion?

I agree.  I assume such a thing exists as a convenience for parents who can't afford to waste money or who have picky kids.  The restaurant has a few simple things they can bang out without having to deal with special orders.  If it were any other way, why would they even have a kid's menu?  Those items would just be in the regular menu.

Hell no!

No, but I also think restaurants should offer smaller portions for less money for those people who cannot eat the tons of food piled on their plates.

I cannot tell you how much money I have wasted while working out of town because I don't have anywhere to put or reheat leftovers.

OK, this is an issue that strikes close to home. In my experience, the restaurants that offer a kid's or senior citizen menu are offering lower prices on smaller portions in relative proportion to full sized meals. In that sense, they aren't losing anything. One of my daughters weighs barely over 80lbs and barely 4'9". She's a tiny waif at almost 31 now and rarely finshes a small hamburger. It's frustrating to dine out with her as she ends up trying to pawn off much of what's on her plate. She won't take a doggy bag home and ends up throwing it away if she does. When I fly up to see my girls, it's nice for the three of us to go out eat and have a good time together. There's the deal breaker. A restaurant that won't take a single hit on a child's plate for an adult is losing an entire party that potentially will total over $100. Her sister and I aren't going to go out and leave her, so we end up getting a take out somewhere and eat in.  I sort of had the same problem with my parents when they got older. My mom rarely ever ate what was on her plate either and my dad's appetite had slowed down. When she was still alive and my dad was able to go out, we usually ended up at Denny's as it was one of the few restaurants that offered a smaller portion Senior menu more in line with their needs and one or both of my kids wouldn't want to go when they were still down here. How many fine restaurants potentially lost a party of 6 because they restricted adults from ordering from the child's menu ? 

What are you losing Chewy? A few bucks or potentially more business?

Only if you do not give them the little box of crayons and coloring sheets!

DawnT

What are you losing Chewy? A few bucks or potentially more business?

 


You make a good point, but not everyone is going to be as fair about it as you sound like you would be. 


Imagine a table full of people...like the old timers who would hang out at McDonald's all morning until they did away with the free refills...all ordering off the kiddie menu and tying up a table for an hour with $15 worth of business and a 15% (if lucky) tip off that $15 for wait staff. Perhaps if this was allowed only at normally slow times it would be okay, but at any hour it would be a revenue killer. 


Just my 2 cents.

felix4067


No, but I also think restaurants should offer smaller portions for less money for those people who cannot eat the tons of food piled on their plates.

I cannot tell you how much money I have wasted while working out of town because I don't have anywhere to put or reheat leftovers.

This is my issue as well, especially when travelling.  I'd often be happier to have a half portion, even if I didn't pay any less, just so the stuff wasn't wasted.

Some restaurants in this area have been offering a "small plates" menu that half the size of their full service items. Last trip to one we actually spent more because we ordered a greater number of things to try and share.

Tony, don't folks do that at restaurants anyways ? A bunch of regulars or groups come in and tie up a bunch of tables to socialize.  That can work the opposite way too. Having a bunch of low yield regulars populates a restaurant and that in itself draws more people in. Empty restaurants are generally an indicator that something isn't right.

I agree with felix4067 and Dawn T (and of course, Greymo).  In fact, don't call it a "Kid's Menu", call it a "Smaller Portion Menu" or something similar, and price it proportionally, so you still make a profit. 

At a time like this, when at least some people are trying to avoid overeating (and many restaurants are bragging about their larger portion sizes), it only makes sense to offer items on the menu in two portion sizes, so that even the adults who don't want to make pigs of themselves can feel that they are still welcome.

chewingthefat


My answer is NO, unless they are super seniors, I don't allow it..My most expensive item on my kids menu is $3.99 except for Ribs which are $6.99, virtually break even prices...what's your opinion?

 


I think the key is Chewy's statement "virtually break even prices".  This is a great convenience and cost savings for parents of small children, not something to be abused.  The restaurant owner hopes to make up his lost profit on the adults.  


Or he can offer those prices to everyone and go out of business.

DawnT


Tony, don't folks do that at restaurants anyways ? A bunch of regulars or groups come in and tie up a bunch of tables to socialize.  That can work the opposite way too. Having a bunch of low yield regulars populates a restaurant and that in itself draws more people in. Empty restaurants are generally an indicator that something isn't right.

Maybe they do that down at the local breakfast and coffee stop, but can't say I have seen it in regular restaurants at prime lunch or dinner time. All I am saying is while it may be a good and fair thing to offer, people would take advantage and make it impossible to sustain. I haven't been in food service for quite a while now, but it isn't different from any other business, people who don't want to pay for what you are selling are not going to keep your business going.

We stopped letting our kids order from childrens' menus as soon as the kids' portions didn't fill them up. That was about the time the girls hit 6, as I recall. In my grandson's case it was when he was 4.

"Small Plate" for a price somewhere in between; you know, that sounds like a win-win compromise.

I guess I'm having a problem with the taking advantage of the price issue. I don't believe that I've dined in a restaurant that treated the kid's menu as a loss. Usually it's a small portion for a small price and works out the same or more if increased to an adult portion.

Let's look at the other angle. If you say that people are taking advantage of the kid's meals, perhaps that's an opportunity knocking as you see in some of the above posts for various reasons. Obviously it's what the people want and it's not about paying less. There's other things going on here too. You're going to find some people that are not going to publically order a large meal within a social group. How many times have you seen a woman order "just a salad" when it comes time for her to order. That sends a message and not very many other women in the group are going to want to be the one that carries the porcine label of the evening. A smaller portion at a smaller, reasonable price has it's place on the menu. You don't have to give away food to get parents to come, just an appropriate meal. 

DawnT


I guess I'm having a problem with the taking advantage of the price issue. I don't believe that I've dined in a restaurant that treated the kid's menu as a loss. Usually it's a small portion for a small price and works out the same or more if increased to an adult portion.

Your math works if you only calculate the cost of food, which is what most people do, but that isn't the only expense that needs to be calculated. A person eating a discounted meal takes up the same space as someone paying full price. The costs for wait staff, linens, cleanup, rent, etc are all fixed whether you are paying discount or full price. If the rest of the table is occupied by full price paying customers or parents of kids, there is no issue, but you know that won't always be the case. A table full of discount or lower (or no) profit meals just isn't a good thing for a restaurant owner.

The question was about kid's menu, not small plates.  Not that I pay much attention to them but it seems to me kid's menu usually contains things like hot dog, hamburger, grilled cheese, spaghetti and other basic noncontraversial things.  As an adult, you want to go out to dinner and order spaghetti-o's because you don't have a big appetite? 

When we're faced with one of us not being very hungry, we share appetizers and have them come with the rest of the entrees.

Yeah, ordering 'small' adult items is the way to go, rather than the 'play-food' that is on most kids menu's.

 I used to always head for the 'king-sized' items, but find myself cutting back by a lack of desire to overload. Don't give a damn about 'diet', but find I don't like to waste large portions. Maybe I am getting smater (at last). I don't think I will ever get serious about a childs menu item!

I often order a side salad and an appetizer for my meal.  I do not want to pay for left-over food  and  appetizers, sometimes,  are  just  wonderful.   There is no reason for any adult to feel entitiled to order from the kid's menu because they have  a small appetite  or are not that hungry.
 
I have  three grandchildren entitled to the child's menu  and  only one orders from it; that is  after she has  her  appetizer of mussels.

Greymo,
  I wish some of our kids would teach their children to eat what they order... I would rather have them order off the kids 'limited' menu, than order a full adult meal and eat one or two bites and leave the rest. Unfortunately it happens when the Grandparents (us) are hosting the meal and can't quietly set the rules without appearing to be coming down hard on the little cretains !!

I love my grandkids, but they have not been taught anything about eating manners and restaurant etiquette. The result is some hard feelings --after the fact. This includes the kids who leave the table during the meal...They need to remain seated till everyone is finished. (and put away the damn video game while we eat!.

Damn it Caudill, see what you started ! 

Greymo


I have  three grandchildren entitled to the child's menu  and  only one orders from it; that is  after she has  her  appetizer of mussels.

Fantastic!

I have no problem with a couple ordering an entree and splitting it, our portions are large, we don't charge a split fee as some places do. The bottom line is the bottom line, as my prep costs and all other overhead are the same for a Kids meal. Once you start something like offering Kids meals to anyone, your putting yourself on a slippery slope...that I don't need. I agree that if your not hungry or a tiny eater, get an Appetizer, or Soup. Different portion, different price, opens a Pandoras box of new problems.
Greymo, for you I have water colors.

OK Chewy, lets go with that. Suppose you had patrons that came in, occupied your tables and only ordered a drink and a couple of appetizers between them, perhaps a few order a soup or a salad. Isn't that the same thing? Group occupies your table and socializes for a few hours, places demand on your services such as refills and waitstaff and orders no full priced meals. Low yield and the tip is paltry. How would that compare to everyone ordering a kid's meal ? Would you run them off or eat it?

very many people don't seem to realize the price of the food has little to do with the amount of food they are getting. How much food you're going to eat doesn't matter.

Pricing, except for variable market items, like fresh seafood restaurants selling fresh catch fish of the day at "market" price, have to do with how much money the restaurant has decided it needs to meet their overheads, including staff wages.

They give more food, because food is cheap, and the price is high, so they give more to give the appearance of a value. Therefore, if they give less food and price it less, they aren't covering their cost.

One of the reasons appetizers are so expensive, compared to 25 years ago, is because restaurants have learned that people eat appetizers as their dinner. There's nothing wrong with that if one doesn't want a fuller entree, but the restaurant still needs to cover your seat for that service and they price accordingly.

A kid's meal is an even break at best, when factoring overhead. But, they do this because the adult will eat and wouldn't be at that table without their kids. So, the restaurant takes the no gain on the kid's meal in order to ensure they get the table service on the adults.

Anyway, the point is, restaurants price their food on covering their costs and making a profit on an expected number of services. If everyone started ordering small plates and they were not covering, you'd see the small plate prices jump. Again, the amount of food isn't the issue. Food, aside from topflight restaurants, is not the major overhead. So they can give more food to meet the expected value to get the price they need to cover and profit.

Bingo!   I have ordered appetizers at restaurants that cost as much as  some of the entrees.  I would never dream of thinking that I was entitled to a children's meal  anymore than I would think that I was entitled to  a child's movie ticket  or  amusement park fee.

I believe that  children's meals are offered to  parents with small children,  and  to no one else.

DawnT


OK Chewy, lets go with that. Suppose you had patrons that came in, occupied your tables and only ordered a drink and a couple of appetizers between them, perhaps a few order a soup or a salad. Isn't that the same thing? Group occupies your table and socializes for a few hours, places demand on your services such as refills and waitstaff and orders no full priced meals. Low yield and the tip is paltry. How would that compare to everyone ordering a kid's meal ? Would you run them off or eat it?

This happens, everything under the sun happens in a Restaurant, but ya gotta have guidelines that as an owner you feel comfortable working within, I say ok to special requests for obvious candidates for Kids meals but as a rule the answer is stated on the Menu that Kids meals are for Children 12 and under. No guidelines, chaos.

I only order off the kids menu @ a local place, and that is because he makes the best grilled cheese sandwich and it is not on the grown up menu.

I have asked him several times to offer it on the adult menu, but to this day no luck.

What's the problem?? Many Kids order off the regular menu, why can't adults order off the kids Menu. My bride & I are approaching 70. We don't eat as much as we used to. Usually, we just order an appitizer or Soup & Salad or something off the Seniors or Kids Menu. If a restaurant can't figure out how to price their product to make a profit, that's their problem

Sure---but first they have to color the place mat---if they stay in the lines they must pay adult prices!