Going to a restaurant to order food then hardly eat any of it - why?

[doorss]

I just don't get this. People come into a restaurant and order food. Its one of those restaurants you pay in advance. Food arrives, they just eat about a quarter of the dish - maximum. Then all leave with everyone in the group leaving loads of food left.

Why do people do this? If not hungry, don't eat. If pushing for time, don't eat. It's disgusting that people leave that amount of food. A bloody waste

Well thank God for that.

If you couldn't, you wouldn't have had the opportunity to use such a cheesy MN line, would you?

I'm super fat (size 18) but am unable to eat a whole meal. At home, I graze. I don't eat a whole plate.

I've managed to solve my eating out problem of not finishing a meal by going out in a group where one guy hoovers up all leftovers! He now sits next to me because he knows he'll have bonus food!

Nandos isn't massive portions if you order appropriately though, I usually have a chicken breast and some broccoli.
And you can order without any sides if you prefer...I guess they just didn't know what they were getting into?!

Which restaurant was it?

I don’t like food waste either so I’m mindful of how we shop and what I cook/ how I use up ingredients. If a friend or relative is cooking for me I eat what’s on my plate or as much as I’m physically able at least because I think it’s rude not to really.

In a restaurant however, if I’ve ordered and paid for the food and it’s not nice, or it’s too much then I’ll leave it. It’s just as wasteful to keep forcing food down that I don’t want/ am not enjoying or when I’m already feeling really full.

As it happens I’m married to a bottomless pit when it comes to food so if I’m with him he usually polishes off anything I can’t manage.

To be clear, I’m not claiming to be a waif with a bird-like appetite, I eat quite a lot and there’s definitely times I fully clear the plate. But sometimes I don’t - some portions really are that huge, or it’s skinny fries instead of proper chips, or it’s not especially nice etc etc.

This also might be just me but if I’m eating out chances are I’ve got a proper underwired bra on, nicer clothes etc - I feel more uncomfortable like that these days and less inclined to eat a big meal. I know that’s weird as obviously I buy things that fit, are not obviously uncomfortable etc, but the combination of that, maybe a bit of jewellery or whatever, the noise of the restaurant etc, dd to be managed if we’ve taken her out with us - it feels a bit like sensory overwhelm and I don’t feel like eating as much. Not something I noticed until having DC/ being in my 40s (they coincided) but there we are.

Portions are huge. I say that as quite a greedy person who really likes to eat but I’m not stuffing myself to the point of discomfort to make some dumb point about food waste.
I don’t mind a doggy bag but who wants a doggy bag from somewhere shit like Nando’s? I go for a monthly curry night with my mates and always bring home my leftovers and they do for a couple of lunches and I enjoy it but I wouldn’t bring home half a cheeseburger or 2 chicken nuggets from a fast food place. Sometimes a starter is ok, rarely kids meals are - they are lower quality rather than just small. If food isn’t very nice people are less inclined to eat it all.

If it's happening a lot surely the portions are just too big? I had a lovely lunch out recently. I ordered a sandwich with a bowl of chips, which would have been a lot, but when it arrived it was with a big salad and a bowl of posh crisps! I felt bad that I couldn't manage it all, because it was lovely and beautifully presented. I think I'll start carrying a Tupperware box for these occasions.

Outside of weight loss meds other medical conditions can make food complicated. DH suffers from LBD. He likes the idea of going out to eat and will ask to do so. Actually then getting him to physically eat the food is challenging. I find it sometimes embarrassing how much is left, but there is not much we can do.

Me too. I can rarely finish a restaurant meal, even if it’s delicious

All the "all you can eat" buffets that I have been in since Covid have a big sign saying that diners will be fined if they serve themselves food and then leave it on the plate.

One year we went out for my birthday to a really good restaurant where you have to book a month in advance. I was ill on the day of my birthday but rather than cancel last minute made the effort to go.... but I was just forcing myself to eat the starter and really not enjoying the lovely food so I explained to the manageress who was lovely about it and they just served my main and dessert directly into "doggy boxes" for me to enjoy when I was feeling better.
However, this only works if you are going home after the restaurant and will be able to refrigerate the food - if you're on a weekend away in a hotel then you may well not have access to a fridge in which case there's nothing you can do but leave the food uneaten on the plate.
My Ma in Law has a real phobia about wasting food - if she is unable to finish her plate DH usually helps her out, however she also tries to force him to clear up the shedload of chips or pasta I have left because my body is not a dustbin and the portion was just too big for me.

Surprised how many people get doggy bags. I never take leftovers away. They’re never nice reheated, and besides if I’m not finishing a meal then I’m going to eat the nicest bits and leave the carb / bits I don’t like. So the leftovers would be really sad.

It depends how big the portions are. I’m glad not everyone feels compelled to clear their plates.

I leave the carbs too. Usually chips. I like a nice sandwich and side salad, the chips are overkill

The problem for me is that all meals are too big. I have a tiny appetite and I find portion sizes far too big. Inevitably I end up leaving some.

Maybe the portions are too large.
When eating out I'm staggered by the portion sizes in some places . It's very wasteful.

Careful examination of meals over the years at a whole hosts of establishments, rough, ready, posh, expensive, cheap, family, big, small, all types of cuisine, have shown me that essentially what most places do is fil the plate with the cheap carb elements so that it looks HUGE and so they can charge top dollar for it because people will say 'oh they serve big portions, its great value for money'

And over time its just got bigger and bigger to justify the cost of these massive meals. Fish and chips half hanging off the plate, piles of rice and chips or bread etc. Not just in cheap places (and I use the word cheap loosely here).

Ask for a salad and its much much more money per mouthful and you barely get any protein element, just a load of ridiculous leaves, no substance to it at all. A bowl of veg is the most boring bland veg they can find it seems.

Its about chips, bread, pastry and rice. I cant really eat any of those so eating out is carefully chosen, small expensvie places and tapas really for me.

We went out with big family group for my mums birthday who is retired as well as my dad.
My sibling always orders food for her kids knowing that they won’t finish it.
One ate a measly amount and then proceeded to order an ice cream sundae with all the toppings and at less than a quarter, and the other ordered a main and a side (calamari) and ate only one.

they do this everywhere, even at other peoples. houses and end up throwing so much food away. Sometimes one of the parents might eat it.

At their own place their kids normally eat everything because according to them they don’t have any distractions.

these kids aren’t babies or even toddlers.

Same. I'm not going to order a huge portion but if what I do order is too big to finish, I'm going to leave it, not stuff my face.

The portion sizes more often than not are too big. I just order a couple of starters for that reason.

Or go for a curry so I can have a doggy bag.

It's not really anything to do with you though. Some people can't manage the portions that are dishes up.

I eat until I’m full, and leave the rest. That’s healthy. This idea of scraping your plate clean despite being overly full just for some pious, holier-than-thou ‘couldn’t possibly waste it’ attitude is nuts.

To put it crudely, once you’re full, whether you shit it out or scrape it into the bin, it doesn’t make a difference.

If you’re forced to pay for a full meal in advance, then you might not be able to finish it - you’re ordering with no clue as to portion size or tastiness, and you’re ordering at your hungriest point, to boot. Mistakes are very likely to happen.

Then, if you do leave some, you have to worry about some tosspot judgementally muttering about starving kids in Africa or some other such virtue-signalling Eighties nonsense.

So, either order less than you think you want and run the risk of leaving hungry or order what you think is enough and leave what you don’t want. And ignore the haters whispering into their desserts.

There could be lots of reasons OP. Large sizes, lack of time because of slow service or traffic, unappetising/bland/fatty foods, too noisy so wanting to leave quickly. If it’s good food and I am not going out afterwards I will ask to take food home if it’s a place that does this. I often share a main with DH because we are in a place where this is culturally normal (and to take home leftovers) but this is too often frowned upon in England.

What has the paying in advance got to do with any of this? You have to pay the same amount regardless of how much you've eaten.

I suspect in certain places it is influencers over- ordering to make their reels look good - apparently some of the same people book several places for one date and then don't cancel the ones they don't fancy on the day (re the link between over-ordering and no shows/deposit-paying)

However I can rarely finish a main course. It's not performative - I just have a small stomach. If I'm not going on elsewhere I will get a doggy bag

I don't like wasting food but sometimes you get absolutely crazy large portions.
Or you physically can't eat it. Loads of people have gut problems.
Sometimes it's just not good. Not every restaurant serves decent food.

Eating together is a social activity. Should they not be allowed to do it because they can't finish their plate?

They can’t control the portion sizes. Maybe it was too much. I do this and don’t care what you think.