3 ms·

Restaurants are so wasteful. Huge amounts of food is thrown away both in the kitchen and in the form of uneaten plates. Just going from restaurants to home prob

by api 6y ago

Restaurants are so wasteful. Huge amounts of food is thrown away both in the kitchen and in the form of uneaten plates. Just going from restaurants to home probably saves a decent amount of food.

elric 6y ago
It's very much not in a restaurant's interest to waste food in the kitchen. Ingredients are a significant part of their costs, so restaurants worth their salt (hah) are usually pretty good about this. And this is starting to be regulated in some places as well. Portion sizes on the other hand are entirely ridiculous. I often eat out with a tiny friend (in height and width). They tend to ask for smaller portions, but it's insane that many restaurants simply refuse to be amenable to that request. This means either I get fat eating their leftovers, or half a portion goes in the rubbish. Taking the leftovers home is rarely an option over here. I get that you probably can't serve half a chicken breast. But there seems to be no logical reason not to serve fewer fries, potatoes, pasta, whatever when a paying customer asks for it.
- beervirus 6y ago
  Why isn’t it an option to take leftovers home? I do that all the time.
  - lnanek2 6y ago
    It isn't done in Europe. Some OSEA countries think it makes you look poor as well. I do it every outing here in the US, though! Our portion sizes are ridiculous.
    - tsimionescu 6y ago
      Here in Eastern Europe (Romania) it is definitely an option. I know both people who do and people who don't like to do it.
- banana_giraffe 6y ago
  At least in the restaurants I've worked in, serving a smaller portion of a common item like a dish of pasta would probably just result in the same waste, just in the kitchen. The portions are generally prepared during the morning's mise en pas setup, and there's little motivation for changing that pattern. Not to mention no waiter wanting to try and figure out what a discount should look like. That said, I'm surprised taking leftovers home isn't an option. Around me, at least, the expectation is that you do take leftovers home.
- nkrisc 6y ago
  I assume you're somewhere other than the US? Usually when I go out to eat I end up with two meals: the half I eat at the restaurant and the other half I eat the next day. American portion sizes are ludicrous but most restaurants won't ever bat an eye at wrapping up the rest of your food for you. Even a $200 per head restaurant will do it. The only places that won't are the high end places where you're getting a $400+, 19 course tasting menu (+$150 or more per person for wine).
Ghostt8117 6y ago
Maybe, but supermarkets also throw away a lot of food and restaurants are more consistent in their weekly ordering and usage than individuals. Also, at least in NYC, many of the restaurants donate their unused product. And individuals have to buy individually wrapped products using more packaging than restaurants. Does anyone know for if cooking from home creates less or more overall waste?
II2II 6y ago
If you think restaurants are wasteful, you should see the food waste from many special events. I have seen enough food to feed hundreds of people tossed away at the end of events, in a facility that can only host a couple of hundred people. That is before considering kitchen waste or uneaten food that made it to the plate. Food waste in home vs. restaurants is more difficult to compare. Many people will eat food that restaurants would not consider serving, simply because they have no other choice. On the flip side, there are very wasteful household that buy far more than they will consume.

by api 6y ago

Restaurants are so wasteful. Huge amounts of food is thrown away both in the kitchen and in the form of uneaten plates. Just going from restaurants to home probably saves a decent amount of food.

elric 6y ago

It's very much not in a restaurant's interest to waste food in the kitchen. Ingredients are a significant part of their costs, so restaurants worth their salt (hah) are usually pretty good about this. And this is starting to be regulated in some places as well. Portion sizes on the other hand are entirely ridiculous. I often eat out with a tiny friend (in height and width). They tend to ask for smaller portions, but it's insane that many restaurants simply refuse to be amenable to that request. This means either I get fat eating their leftovers, or half a portion goes in the rubbish. Taking the leftovers home is rarely an option over here. I get that you probably can't serve half a chicken breast. But there seems to be no logical reason not to serve fewer fries, potatoes, pasta, whatever when a paying customer asks for it.

beervirus 6y ago
Why isn’t it an option to take leftovers home? I do that all the time.
- lnanek2 6y ago
  It isn't done in Europe. Some OSEA countries think it makes you look poor as well. I do it every outing here in the US, though! Our portion sizes are ridiculous.
  - tsimionescu 6y ago
    Here in Eastern Europe (Romania) it is definitely an option. I know both people who do and people who don't like to do it.
banana_giraffe 6y ago
At least in the restaurants I've worked in, serving a smaller portion of a common item like a dish of pasta would probably just result in the same waste, just in the kitchen. The portions are generally prepared during the morning's mise en pas setup, and there's little motivation for changing that pattern. Not to mention no waiter wanting to try and figure out what a discount should look like. That said, I'm surprised taking leftovers home isn't an option. Around me, at least, the expectation is that you do take leftovers home.
nkrisc 6y ago
I assume you're somewhere other than the US? Usually when I go out to eat I end up with two meals: the half I eat at the restaurant and the other half I eat the next day. American portion sizes are ludicrous but most restaurants won't ever bat an eye at wrapping up the rest of your food for you. Even a $200 per head restaurant will do it. The only places that won't are the high end places where you're getting a $400+, 19 course tasting menu (+$150 or more per person for wine).

Ghostt8117 6y ago

Maybe, but supermarkets also throw away a lot of food and restaurants are more consistent in their weekly ordering and usage than individuals. Also, at least in NYC, many of the restaurants donate their unused product. And individuals have to buy individually wrapped products using more packaging than restaurants. Does anyone know for if cooking from home creates less or more overall waste?

II2II 6y ago

If you think restaurants are wasteful, you should see the food waste from many special events. I have seen enough food to feed hundreds of people tossed away at the end of events, in a facility that can only host a couple of hundred people. That is before considering kitchen waste or uneaten food that made it to the plate. Food waste in home vs. restaurants is more difficult to compare. Many people will eat food that restaurants would not consider serving, simply because they have no other choice. On the flip side, there are very wasteful household that buy far more than they will consume.