“For Kids 12 and Under”
“For Kids 12 and Under”
So we went to breakfast today, and I’m really trying to stay very strict for the next two weeks about what I eat. So, they have a “health conscious” menu at IHOP. I know, sounds luducrous, but I asked to see it. Well, the choices were not, in my opinion, that great, but I finally landed on something on the “kids” portion. A smaller portion size, so less of everything…fat, carbs…etc. When I ordered, the guy acted all weird and then said, “If anyone asks, just tell them it is for your son.” I’m like, “Uh, ok.” I actually hadn’t realized there was an age range for the meal. What is the deal with this? Is it money driven? Can they actually tell you that you cannot have a meal just because it falls on the “kids” part of the menu. This is so stupid! Any former restaurant workers out there have inside info on this?
November 10th, 2006 at 12:52 pm
That is dumb! I think it’s the same for the senior citizens menu too- smaller portions for a little bit less of a price. Someone actually carded my mom once at a restaurant because they didn’t think she was “60 or above” or whatever age the menu said senior citizens were.
November 10th, 2006 at 2:01 pm
It’s discrimination. What do you have to do if you go through a drive thru? Hang your kid out the window? Who cares how old you are, if you don’t want to eat that much food, what is it to them? Take if off the menu if they don’t really want to sell it. What about midgets or “little people”? The whole thing doesn’t make sense. Instead of senior/kid menus they should just have small appetite menus. It’s a innovative concept: less food for less money. duh!
November 10th, 2006 at 8:16 pm
That last line pretty much sums up why they discourage it; because if you accept that limit it means you have to spend more money, regardless of whether you eat all the food or not. The cheaper meal and the more expensive one probably cost almost exactly the same for them to make, so they’re just trying to get more money out of you by not providing the option to choose a smaller portion for less money.
It is kind of silly, I’ll agree, and I think most restaurants would not give you a hard time (or even say anything to you) about breaking the “rules”, which I think is the weirdest part of this tale - that the guy actually said “if ‘they’ ask, say it’s for him” - as if the manager was going to come around inspecting who was eating what, and interrogate you if it looked suspicious.
November 11th, 2006 at 9:01 am
I have tried to order off the kid side before and they have told me NO. I don’t remember which restaurants though. That is why I like the kind of place where you order then sit! Now that I have a kid, I can get away with it a whole lot more though. Maybe restaurants should offer a “smaller portion” menu.
November 12th, 2006 at 10:58 pm
Most Americans (including myself) eat huge portions. Much of humanity has struggled to eat enough now we have to struggle to not eat too much. That’s absurd. The Henry the 8th vs. Oprah Winfrey Syndrome. Although, I’m glad to be American living in the Oprah Age.