Most of the time the only reason is there is just no room on the table for the menus to be kept. There are a few places (usually burger joints) where the menu

Most of the time the only reason is there is just no room on the table for the menus to be kept. There are a few places (usually burger joints) where the menu is a piece of paper that actually serve as a placemat that the waiters won't take back from you. I doubt a lot of people are changing their mind. I've rarely seen that.