🚀 go-pugleaf

But, who doesn't love "milk shakes"


nellie4526@mindspring.com wrote:
> Elmo <DoNoSpam@NoSpam.org> wrote:
>
> >
> >Portion sizes contribute to the problem by providing more calories than
> >any reasonable individual should consume which interacts with the ingrained
> >edicts to "Clean Your Plate!" [1] and "It's a sin to waste." so that we
> >consume more calories.  Where really upscale restaurants charge a lot for a
> >plate containing a relatively small portion, carefully prepared and very
> >carefully presented "for your dining enjoyment", it's more common to see a
> >family-oriented place providing much larger portions.  I think that some of
> >it has to do with the economics of the restaurant business.  You need to get
> >a certain amount of money over and above what the cost of the food to cover
> >overhead -- building, heat, taxes, owner's profit margin, etc.  If you're an
> >upscale joint, your clientele is paying a premium and knows it.  If you're a
> >local beanery or a franchised operation (like Friday at Applebee's in the
> >Outback or Chili Tuesdays with Ruby etc.) your clientele needs a more practical
> >reason to part with more money than the food is "worth" and if you give them
> >a big portion they won't feel so bad about paying for it.  So you load them
> >up with low-cost calories in the side-dishes.  French Fries, pasta, nacho
> >chips, and the like.  Price the individual sides high but include 2 or 3
> >with the platter specials at a price that's lower and you get people who
> >buy the special and eat the extra calories.  Worse, they come to accept that
> >as a "normal" portion size.  And I don't even want to think about the kind of
> >specialty foods that you can buy at entertainment venues (sporting events,
> >fairs, and the like).  Huge funnel cake -- about 6 pancakes worth of batter
> >fried in oil and dusted with sugar.  Deep fried Twinkies (frozen, dipped in
> >batter and deep fried) for Fud's sake!  And Doughnuts!  How many workplaces
> >have a Doughnut Day where when it's your turn you're supposed to bring in
> >2 or 6 dozen of those delightful fat pills.  Oink! Oink! OINK!
>
> Some restaurant chains (Bob Evans) have a few choices with more
> reasonable portion sizes, but then they manage to jinx that by
> labelling them "for our friends 55 and over".  Nice touch!  If I
> choose a reaonable size, I'm labelling myself as an old fart.  I also
> hate the giganormous soda sizes many places offer.  "Small" is 20 oz.!
> That's obscene.   Taco Smell is a good example.  Get one of their
> combos and they give you a cup that could satisfy a family's thirst.
> At least I learned that I don't have to fill the friggin thing up. The
> national "vegetable" is french fries.  Once again, you can choose your
> poison - small (already too big), medium, or large.   A 1/3 lb. burger
> is now considered small.  Heck, go for the 2/3 lb. or 1 lb. thick
> burger.  And don't even get me started about steak houses - 32 oz.
> steak?!  That's piggery at it's ultimate.