Is it ok to order off the kids menu as an adult?

[ColdLasagna99]

Lighthearted! Slightly inspired by the other ongoing restaurant/takeaway threads.

I don’t have a massive appetite due to my meds. (I love food and cooking - I just genuinely can’t eat as much as I used to.) At a chain place, I will quite often get a kid’s meal, which is the right portion size for me and obviously is about half the price of an adult meal. I will only ever do this in chains and when I am with friends they’ve never cared. For example, Nando’s does a great kid’s meal, and I will order drinks, extras, sides etc. Only been slightly reprimanded once. I’ve been a waiter in a chain and I wouldn’t think twice about putting the order through.

I know if everyone did this, they wouldn’t make any money, but I genuinely don’t finish my plate most of the time! On the plus side, when I order a normal portion do get nice leftovers for lunch

The kids menu is cheaper as they're not there on their own and restaurants make a loss/tiny profit on selling them. You're an adult. Order sides or starters if you don't want much to eat.

We haven’t eaten out in a long time but if we had, due to medical conditions, I would have to eat a child’s meal.

I cannot handle adult meals any more, and I don’t want to eat just sides.

I shouldn’t have to.

Nando’s does a great kid’s meal, and I will order drinks, extras, sides etc.

Surely you could cut the extras and sides and just have an adult meal then?

Of course you can

We often do it for my mum as she has a medical condition which means she cannot eat even a child size meal. Or sometimes just order her a starter / soup. But we do explain to the staff member taking the order.

Our daughter does this she is 30+ we rarely go out togther - she is very petite and a snacker but has the childs dish plus adult soft drink and adult sweet so they dont mind

Me and my wife are slim and both pre-diabetic and often big portions and food left over and daughter has some of that as well but personally I'd be too shy to ask.

I have. I really fancied a Mac and Cheese once and it was only on the kids menu.
I get fish finger happy meals all the time at Maccyds cos you can only get fish fingers in happy meals.

I’d just order an adult meal and eat what you want not order a child’s meal . With takeaway you can do as you please but not in a sit down restaurant setting .

@ofwarren lots of restaurants put an age limit on lots of kids menus because they don't make a profit off them.

If you don't want much to eat, ask for a half portion or just have a starter.

You're not a child.

I've ordered children's meals before. I haven't ever given it too much thought. We tend to dine out quite a lot too.

I order off the kids' menu sometimes but always offer to pay 'full price' i.e. whatever makes it tenable for them. As well as the reasons above, I thought there was some tax thing that made kids' meals cheaper, which wouldn't come into it if an adult is eating it, so it makes sense for me to pay more for a kids' meal. But I agree - it's okay to eat kids meals in these days of crazy portions. Adult burgers have got waaaay out of hand. A kid's burger is what a normal burger used to be.

Yes, lots of times, we've ordered off the children's menu for my 80 year old mother in law. Obviously not the "chicken nugget and chips" type of thing, but lots of restaurants do smaller portions of "proper" food as a children's meal.

I think all restaurants should offer half portions for half the price. Half is more than enough in most places.

And also agree that starters/sides is not the same thing at all. On some menus, it can be quite hard to cobble a decent combo together from starters/sides, not the same as having a proper but smaller main meal.

I pretty much always do. Adult portion sizes are ludicrous.

In a fast food restaurant - especially take away, yes I see no issue
on a sit down meal… most places are happy to give you half a meal, or just skip the sides

I wouldn't order from kids menu. Often they state under 12 or 14 on them. Keeping the leftovers is much more reasonable.

I think all restaurants should offer half portions for half the price. Half is more than enough in most places.

But they’d just end up raising prices to cover costs; as others have said, places offer kids’ meals as a loss leader to get families’ business. It’s really not on to do that as an adult. Just ask for fewer potatoes or whatever if you don’t want to waste food.

Starters are sometimes the more interesting option and ample in size themselves.

I think some places have started to skimp on starter portions though. It's bloody annoying when you look at a menu which has calories on and think say, 500-600 calories for a prawn starter - well that will fill me up, it's more than enough. And it comes out and it's like three prawns - no way in this world is that 500 calories!

I have never ordered a child's meal, the choices are generally not great. I often don't eat my whole meal, especially if I am having a starter, but I quite like taking leftovers home. Sometimes I will get 2 starters, but have noticed some restaurants not allowing starters as a main on a weekend night, which is fair enough really. I am pregnant right now, so not as good a customer, but usually I buy nice wine. Noone has ever mentioned any kind of problem with my ordering.

I probably wouldn’t mind as much at a chain restaurant, but wouldn’t at an independent. Children’s menus are often loss leaders, with the assumption that they’ll be purchased with a full priced meal.

But they’d just end up raising prices to cover costs

But if they serve less food surely it isn't costing them the same?

My DGM often orders off the children's menu due to portion size and being unable to eat spices. Not nuggets or anything like that, only when it's decent food!

Rarely ordered children's meals for DS when younger as much of it he didn't like.

Take a tub and take the leftovers home? Or lots of nice restaurants will tub up leftovers for you if you ask nicely - we often don't get time to finish food due to autistic DC, but don't feel like this gives us special dispensation to order off the children's menu.

It doesn't feel honest ordering a child's meal for an adult. As others have said they are often low profit for the restaurants which are already operating on tight margins in the current economy. Do you at least leave a nice trip when you order a child's meal?

Food is a very low percentage of their costs. A smaller meal still takes the chef the same time to cook, the same energy/power to cook, the same power to wash up afterwards, the same time for the waiting staff to process the order and serve, the same proportion of overheads, etc etc.

Half the actual food would probably equate to maybe 10-20% price reduction.