Fast food: What happened to the "small" sizes?

[Kimberly]

Just got Burger King for lunch today, and I was made aware by the cashier that they no longer have "small" sizes on their regular menu? It's the first time I've had fast food in a year, so when did this happen? Medium is now their smallest normal size...

 

[disneysteve]

This is a growing problem (no pun intended). Restaurant serving sizes keep getting bigger and bigger. In turn, Americans keep getting bigger and bigger. Even the "small" is much larger than it used to be.

Here are two recent examples. DW and I had dinner last week at On The Border, a Mexican chain restaurant. She ordered a margarita. The waitress said they come in 2 sizes. The regular size is 16 oz. and the "grande" is 22 oz. Why the heck would we want a 16 oz. alcoholic drink? What happened to cocktails being 8 oz. or so? She got the 16 oz. and drank less than half of it.

This past Wednesday, we went to the new Cheesecake Factory that opened near us. I had heard their portions were large, but the menu really should indicated that everything is served family style. We each ordered chicken entrees. Both platters could have easily served two people. Had we also gotten appetizers, which we didn't, then one entree would have been enough for 3 people.

I would much rather pay a little less, get less food and see the obesity problem in this country start to improve.

 

[SplshMtn99]

McDonalds did this years ago in attempt to sell more.

New child size was really old small.
New small was really old medium.
New medium was really old large.
New large was really that huge super size thing they had.

So, in essence, if you were trying to save a few cents & just ordered a small, you ended up with more soda than you wanted (the old medium) and paid the extra $....because really, who looks at the soda on the menu.

Hope that makes sense.

Same thing with restaurants. I just want enough to eat there & that's all I want to pay for. I really don't want to pay for a portion large enough to doggy bag the rest. It increases their sales (profit) by increasing portion size.

 

[Kimberly]

Here are two recent examples. DW and I had dinner last week at On The Border, a Mexican chain restaurant. She ordered a margarita. The waitress said they come in 2 sizes. The regular size is 16 oz. and the "grande" is 22 oz. Why the heck would we want a 16 oz. alcoholic drink? What happened to cocktails being 8 oz. or so? She got the 16 oz. and drank less than half of it.

16 oz margarita?! Wow, I can barely have the 8 oz ones that they have at some bars around here before they get me loopy.

 

[arminnie]

Oh the Cheesecake factory. I ordered an entree once - ate until I was stuffed, took it home and had FOUR more meals off of my one entree.

I find that the average restaurant serving today is enough for THREE meals minimum. And I have a healthy appetite.

The only time I go to McDonald's is when I am driving between Arkansas and Louisiana - I don't have a lot of choice on those back roads. I can make a quick pit stop and get a cup of ice and a small hamburger.


disney steve - your daughter has the most beautiful smile.

 

[MareQ]

We order happy meals personally - the choices are limited but the size is right

 

[barbeml]

Burger King must own a huge amount of Lipitor stock.

I don't eat fast food, but those "King" commecials are hard to ignore.Their whole marketing scheme over the past couple of years has been "we pack as much fat and calories into a serving as possible...and we're darned proud of it!"

 

[barbeml]

DW and I had dinner last week at On The Border, a Mexican chain restaurant. She ordered a margarita. The waitress said they come in 2 sizes. The regular size is 16 oz. and the "grande" is 22 oz. Why the heck would we want a 16 oz. alcoholic drink? What happened to cocktails being 8 oz. or so? She got the 16 oz. and drank less than half of it..

The 22 oz of sugar water is supposed to make you forget there's no Tequila in there. Seriously, we were at OTB last week and I am done with their Margaritas. There wasn't a hint of Tequila in any of our drinks.

It's America...if it's huge it MUST be good!

I'd rather have a well-made normal sized drink than the BIG GULPS of sugar you get at most places.

 

[MamaLema]

When we order an extra large drink, its enough for our family of 5 and usually there's some left over.

...and that's not being cheap, either! Seriously, I don't know how people can drink so much at one time. I once saw a teenager finish a huge cup and then get refills.

 

[AllyandJack]

I always order the biggest size. When I crave fries, I want FRIES! I don't want 5, I want 50.

I'm always shocked when I go to a restaurant and they dump 4lbs of food in front of me. I can usually make 2 meals out of it, which is good....eating out turns out to be very economical for me.

 

[Micca]

16 oz margarita?! Wow, I can barely have the 8 oz ones that they have at some bars around here before they get me loopy.

Single Dis men, may I introduce you to your dream date ?

 

[TigerKat]

ITA most food portions are way too large, however, I've never met a Margarita that was too large for me!!!

 

[Honu]

In most restaurants the children's size is an appropriate meal size, but sometimes even they are too much - calorie wise.

Very few of the fast food restaurants in our are have supersize now. They have children's size, medium and large drinks.

 

[cardaway]

Works for us. Either we split one meal or we have leftovers for lunch. IMO it was worse when everything was smaller but the prices were not.

 

[sameyeyam]

Child size meals are what used to be considered a regular meal. When I go out for lunch a lot I order the child size burger meals. Then I have a free toy to take home to my son! A child size meal really will fill you up and costs about half the price.

Also, look at the value meal menu. For instance Wendy's has about 3-4 burgers, medium fries, small green or ceasar salads, small chili for 99 cents. For $3 you get a much more normal sized meal than the #5 for $5!

 

[chobie]

Works for us. Either we split one meal or we have leftovers for lunch. IMO it was worse when everything was smaller but the prices were not.

Yep, that's one of the reasons we like the Cheesecake factory. We always know there will be second meal to enjoy at home the next day.

 

[Planogirl]

Unfortunately, these restaurants are just reacting to customer demand. People want more food and the restaurants are only too happy to supply it.

 

[Sonya]

My dad is a good example of this. He thinks a restaurant is excellent if he gets lots of food. It could be really bad food, but if there is lots of it he is happy. He loves all you can eat buffets. He loves taking food home and eating it another meal, so the big sizes are good in his opinion.

My HS students can't believe there ever was anything smaller than "small". I tell them we used to get a cup that was small that looked like a child's cup. They don't believe me and say "How could anyone drink so little! I would be thirsty!"

 

[disneysteve]

disney steve - your daughter has the most beautiful smile.

Thank you! She's a cutie. She's been away at camp since June 27th. We get her back next Sunday. Nice having some quiet time but we're looking forward to seeing her and talking to her after 4 weeks without her.

 

[disneysteve]

Either we split one meal or we have leftovers for lunch.

We do this too, by necessity, but there are two problems with this.

1. If we share, we are forced to eat the same thing. We'd much prefer to get two different entrees and share with each other, especially at a new restaurant, so we get to have more variety and sample more of their food. The other problem we have is DW is allergic to seafood and I love it, so when we dine out I'll often get a fish dish - no sharing there.

2. Not everything is as good the second time around. I don't care how you reheat your leftovers, they just aren't as good as when they were fresh. Especially fish and vegetables. Also, sauces tend to dry up. I'll certainly use the leftovers so as not to waste them, but they are rarely anywhere near as good as the original meal.