Recipe for Survival: 23 Ways Restaurants Save Money

Nina asks: Why does my restaurant food taste different and come on such small plates?

Recipe for Survival: 23 Ways Restaurants Save Money

1/25/2010 in Trends | 39 Comments

Photo by orsorama

Remember when eating out didn't require keeping a careful eye on the right-side of the menu? Tight budgets have forced many of us to select restaurants and menu selections based on cost, rather than taste preferences.

A recent study by Zagat, the restaurant and review guide, indicated 33 percent of Americans polled now pay more attention to restaurant prices than they have in the past and 28 percent of diners have switched to cheaper restaurants. In an even bigger blow to restaurants' bottom lines, approximately 20 percent have cut out booze, appetizers and desserts. As a result, analysts expect 12,000 to 18,000 restaurants will close this year, ending a decade-long expansion in the industry.

In a desperate effort to make it through the recession, American eateries of all types have drastically cut back on expenses. Here are 23 changes you may have noted. (Note not all restaurants use these cost-saving methods.)

1. Reduced Portions
From bread baskets to entrees, portions have shrunk while some niceties have been eliminated altogether. That complimentary breadbasket may feature the cheaper breadsticks and a scant few pieces of bread. Some restaurants no longer automatically bring bread unless asked or charge extra. On the plus side, perhaps this is part of the reason the obesity epidemic is slowing down in America.

2. Disappearing Condiments and Fixings
Some sandwich joints have actually charge extra for more than the minimum of condiments and/or such basic fixings as lettuce, tomatoes, olives, etc. Apparently $5 only buys just the meat and bread.

3. Reconstituted Meats
We used to laugh that "parts was parts," but fast food joints are no longer the only places inclined to feature unidentifiable parts. Reconstituted meats have been ground down and mixed with water and other by-products, then pressure assembled to look like real steak or chicken. For some time now the FDC has required processed cheese manufacturers label products containing less than 50-percent cheese as "cheese food." Perhaps menus should start indicating when they're serving "chicken food" and "beef food."

4. Veal Substitutes
What you think is Veal Parmesan may actually be "Pork Parmesan. The look-alike meat is an easy cost-cutting substitution for diners who rarely taste veal. Look for your veal to be grey or light brown in color when cooked. A fried cutlet that's still white in the middle is a swindle.

5. Weaker Drinks
Restaurants and bars mark alcohol up 200 to 300 percent, but many still want to stretch their investment further. Tricks include stretching with seltzer water, using smaller glasses, increasing ice content and, of course "short pouring," or reducing the percentage of alcohol in your drink. Don't bother sending your drink back for more alcohol, either, as the bartender likely will just pour additional booze into the straw to fake a stronger drink. While we're on the topic, have you noticed those nice, comfortable wedges of lemon and lime are now wafer-thin slices.

6. Magic Plates
Check underneath your entree and you may find a porcelain hill that makes it look like you're getting a larger pile of food. Another popular trick is the "incredibly shrinking plate." The standard 12-inch plate is steadily shrinking until, ultimately, entrées will be served on dessert plates.

7. Adding Surcharges
Rather than raise prices, restaurants like to add a surcharge for an increased in fuel expenses, employee health care and serving us on holidays. Because the law allows restaurants to limit notification of surcharges in the fine print on their menus, you may not be aware of this extra cost until receiving the check, at which time it's too late to downsize your order...or walk out.

8. Recycling Buffets
Is the lettuce brown around the edges? Are the tomatoes rather tired. Does that tuna dish look awfully familiar? Then you're eating at a leftover buffet. Rather than toss uneaten food from yesterday's or last week's buffet, more restaurants are freezing everything for future use.

9. Iceberg Salads
Remember the days when salads contained arugula, watercress and colorful touches of red radicchio leaves? Today you could sink the Titanic on the iceberg chunks in our dinner salads.

10. Á la Carte Sides
Before you fork over $20 for an entrée, ask if that price includes any side dishes. You may need to budget another $5 to $10 if you want dinner salad or the formerly standard potatoes and vegetables.

11. Mystery Fish
The bottom-feeding catfish used to be one of the cheaper fillets. Now even the classless catfish is being replaced with the cheaper grouper. Last August, two teenagers in New York City collected 56 fish samples from stores and restaurants. Testing revealed 14 of the samples were mislabeled as a more expensive fish.

12. Shrinking Menus
It's expensive to keep ingredients on hand for a wide variety of dishes, so restaurants are cutting down the number of dishes offered. You'll also see more cross-pollinated dishes that feature the same ingredients in a variety of forms.

13. Cheaper Ingredients
Starting down the road to cheaper substitutions is a nasty one. The menu may mention butter but the kitchen recipe calls for "margarine." That whip cream may just be Cool Whip (aka whipped lard), the seaweed is really cabbage and instant potatoes have stretched the mashed potatoes.

14. Is it Fresh?
Food distributors are charging restaurants fuel surcharges these days because of high gas prices. So, restaurants are trying to cut back on the number of deliveries they get. Instead of getting fresh produce every day, they order more food and less frequently.

15. Recycling Food
Preparing for a dinner rush requires a lot of extras, like rolls, desserts, side dishes, cuts of meat, etc. What happens to all those extras on a slow night? They end up in the buffet, reworked into meatloaf or worked into bread pudding. It's criminal to throw these foods away, but rumors are rampant some restaurants are removing leftover foods from plates and recycling them. Yuck!

16. Cheaper Paper Goods
I'm all for cutting down on the number of napkins thrown into a take-out bag and using cheaper take-out containers, but I really hate it when restaurants skimp on toilet paper!

17. Begging for Sympathy
More restaurants are posting signs asking us to appreciate they've had to make cutbacks and raise prices due to higher commodity and fuel prices. Understandably, they want diners to understand they're not just being greedy. I prefer this up-front approach to sneaker methods used by some restaurants.

18. Adding Comfort Foods
A restaurant I frequent serves a macaroni-and-cheese entree with lobster that is to DIE for. The New York bistro Artisanal recently launched Comfort Food Night and introduced a grilled-cheese bar to help bring people back to their childhood days. It's a brilliant concept as we tend to crave comfort foods when times are tough.

19. Upselling
Your server suggests a loaded potato instead of a plain baked potato or adding a salad to your dinner. What they may not mention is these changes add to your bill (and the waiter's tip). Watch out for upselling and ask about any price additions.

20. Menu Engineering
According to The Independent, restaurants use a combination of pictures, bold fonts and careful positioning of items to upsell diners. For example, restaurants like to box off high-profit items and avoid extensive straight lists that allow you to easily compare prices.

21. Trendy Buzz Words
Truffle oil, heirloom tomatoes and cedar plank salmon sound scrumptious and tend to induce customers into shelling our more dough.

22. Credit Card Surcharges
Luckily this is not common, but the occasional restaurant may sneak in a five-percent surcharge if you’re paying by credit card. By law, this will have to be mentioned in the menu but the print may be tiny, tiny, tiny.

23. Paying for Water
Under the guise of environmentalism, restaurants bring water only when you ask for it. This saves wait staff time while cutting down on water bills and dishwashing expenses. In addition, more servers now ask if you'd like bottled water, at a hefty mark-up, of course.

Visit our restaurant coupons page to save money the next time you eat out at a restaurant.

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39 Comments so far

Leave a Comment
- - Kristy
  - Cool Whip is made from coconut and palm oil, not lard.
    
    January 2010
- - Weston
  - Or my particularly favorite variation on #23 "Our water from the tap tastes awful so we only offer bottled water" My favorite barbecue joint tried this one on me about 5 months ago. I shook my head, ordered the bottled water and never returned to that place again. Previously I had been going 2 or 3 times a month with an average tab of approx $15. They won't see me again.
    
    January 2010
- - Holly Clark
  - And, some places add the tip onto your bill.....be sure to check this.
    
    January 2010
- - - Following: 2382
    - Followers: 2191
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    @yourfinances101
  - What a great post, but you've barely broached the subject. A vterean of 20 years in the biz, I could go on for days about more of these sneaky ways. Lettuce getting a little brown? Don't thorw it away! Wash it in a little lemon juice and it is brown no more. Fish getting a little slimy? Rinse that stuff off and throw it on the grill--as long as it doesn't stink, its OK. I could go on and on and on. These were not my personal practices either, it was things I was supposed to learn.
    
    January 2010
- - anon
  - This articly really makes me think about whether it's worth it to go out, or better to stay home and know that I'm getting the most for my dining buck! I have a cautionary tale to share: I used to be employed by a small bakery in an upscale neighborhood that exclusively used premade, prefrozen pie shells, frozen "dessert topping", margarine instead of butter, boxed cake mix, Jello pudding mix, imitation vanilla extract, even premade cookie dough from GFS, all the while selling itself as an "local", upscale, "from scratch" specialty bakery. In fact, ALL of the baked goods (muffins, scones) came from a plastic bucket from GFS. The owner was not at ALL honest with the customers when asked what went into the baked goods. I was disgusted and disheartened. But apparently, the owner believed it was the only way to keep costs down and the door open. I am ashamed to have participated in the trickery. It was hard not to tell the locavore who just paid $20 for a 9" "gourmet" pie made with inferior ingredients, when asked, that what they were really paying for was the same stuff they would rabidly avoid buying in the grocery store, and trucked in from god knows where at that.
    
    January 2010
- - - Following: 8266
    - Followers: 7754
    - Tweets: 1912
    @Ronda_Levine
  - None of this, unfortunately surprises me. I cannot tell you how many times I've been ill from eating at a "classy" restaurant or buffet (I just won't even go there...). I'd rather eat at home, with fresh ingredients where I know what went into it. Another thing they don't often tell you - watch out for preservatives such as MSG in the food.
    
    January 2010
- - Sara Bee
  - #11 Catfish is cheaper than grouper. The problem of substituting cheaper fish for grouper got so bad in Florida the state did DNA testing to stop the practice. The most common substitute for grouper was monkfish. Other than that good post.
    
    January 2010
- - ADD
  - Correction: Cool Whip is made from BLECH.
    
    January 2010
- - - Following: 764
    - Followers: 386
    - Tweets: 863
    @scourtney7
  - This year my main New Years Resolution was not to eat out all year. I am saving $ and my saving my health! I'm 28 days in and lovin' it!!!
    
    January 2010
- - peggy
  - Wow, was that enlightening. Good job!!
    
    January 2010
- - Robin
  - Coconut oil and palm oil may as well be lard - they both clog your arteries.
    
    January 2010
- - Sharon
  - I think this article is missing "full disclosure". I would like to think that a very small percentage of restaurants promote disgusting things like recycling lettuce or foul tap water. I also wonder if the author has stopped to think how many millions of people make a living from the restaurant industry.
    
    January 2010
- - George
  - 12. Shrinking Menus Taco Bell has dozens of items all made of the same 5 or so ingredients that are assembled into different shapes. They take a round shell and can make a Roundo, Roundito, Roundita, Crispy Rounders, and a Kids Super Roundup.
    
    January 2010
- - - Following: 154
    - Followers: 115
    - Tweets: 1536
    @Cy_Guy
  - The one missing item that comes to mind is marketing "healthier" and "diet conscious" portions. While it is admirable to be thinking of your customers health, cuts in the unhealthy foods' portions should be somewhat balanced by larger sized portions of fresh fruits and/or vegetables. This would still save the restaurant money since broccoli is cheaper than steak, but not as much money of cutting the portions of the steak AND the broccoli.
    
    January 2010
- - Ryan
  - Really this is nothing new, I experienced this 15 years ago. When I was in high school and college, I worked at a family owned resturant. The owner paid big bucks to have a consultant come in and help him "maximize" profits. So now we had these two so called experts following us around the kitchen weighing how much the hamburger patties we made were. We did all these same tricks. So instead of serving on our standard plate we put your burger and fries on the plate we use to use for the kids portions, so you got less fries but the plate didn't look empty. When we put the beef on an itallian beef sandwich we had to measure out exactly 4 oz of meat. It got to be insane the hoops we jumped thru for portion control. Now this resturant had been in business since prohibition when the owners grandfather made bathtub gin and sold it. It was based on getting big portions for a good price. So a year later the business started to fall off and this newly maximized profit margin started to shrink instead of increase. Friday night use to be insane for the fish fry carry out and suddenly the phone stopped ringing so much. One day he finally got fed up and told us to go back to the way it was.
    
    January 2010
- - Pat
  - Credit card surcharges are in violation of all merchant agreements for major card processors. This is well documented (search consumerist.com) and should be challenged and reported if necessary. Discounts for paying by cash are ok, but merchants are explicitly prohibited to impose additional fees for CC transactions.
    
    January 2010
- - kat
  - #15 - In MI, in a popular tourist town, at the most expensive, oldest, and upscale restaurant in town, the waitstaff are regularly encouraged to "recycle" the family-style sides provided with the dinners. This includes the bread baskets, butter, cottage cheese, and water pitchers. More than three waitresses and a busboy have recounted these stories... I haven't been back in seven years. Neither has anyone in my family.
    
    January 2010
- - Timothy Broyles
  - Great article. I've worked in restaurants for 10 years now, and have to agree with most of this. The only one I will say is untrue is restaurants scraping leftovers from half-eaten plates. That's simply not going to happen at 99% of your restaurants. It's so grossly against health code. As for upselling, that's nothing new. Don't get mad at the waiter for that though, they're forced to meet certain goals every night, the amount of upsells is one of them.
    
    January 2010
- - - Following: 15
    - Followers: 50
    - Tweets: 872
    @kosmo99
  - Reconstituted meat? Why is that not a felony? Mess around with my steak and I will NEVER come back. I can almost understand a surcharge for fuel if gas suddenly (and temporarily) doubles in price, but for employee health insurance? What next, a surcharge for employee wages? I raelize that insurance is expensive, but boil it into the menu price and be done with it.
    
    January 2010
- - Gene
  - Where I worked years ago we added buttermilk to many of the Kraft dressings we bought. I always wondered what Kraft would do if they knew.
    
    January 2010
- - The standard for dinner plates is NOT 12". Most plates used currently are 10 5/8" or 10 1/2"
    
    January 2010
- - Dacker
  - A few years ago, I heard a segment on NPR about scallops. Analysis showed that most of the scalops sold are actually round sections of skate wings made with a round cookie cutter-like tool. During the segment, at least one worker in Seattle's Pike Market called-in to confirm the story; he'd done it himself.
    
    January 2010
- - Connecticut
  - Here in Connecticut the trend seems to be no heat in the winter, no AC in the summer. It's sad sitting around trying to eat with your coat on but I see it everywhere.
    
    January 2010
- - tas
  - Uhm, upselling is something new? Or it "saves money", as the title of this article purports?
    
    January 2010
- - bob
  - The Subway in Rexburg, ID charges for water (and it's not even bottled)!
    
    January 2010
- - Jan Scholl
  - This past week my husband and I were at Bob Evans as its cheap and quick. He ordered the senior grilled chicken and they gave him the fried chicken instead. The waitress seemed completely clueless how to fix it, so we took the chicken off his plate, placed it on another plate, told her to go make some grilled chicken and she could have this piece back or whatever when she brought the sort we ordered. Oh she took it back all right and it was then placed on another dinner-even after we had both touched it. Scary and doubt we will go back there again.
    
    January 2010
- - - Following: 16276
    - Followers: 16105
    - Tweets: 967
    @pattishock
  - I actually prefer iceberg lettuce to the recent fad of grass clippings. I like crunch in my lettuce. I also love romaine.
    
    January 2010
- - MrEd
  - I once worked for a national pie company as a route driver. We were told to take the out of date pies from supermarkets and place them in restaurants. We were even furnished with a water pistol to "freshen up" the custard pies.
    
    February 2010
- - - Following: 24
    - Followers: 13
    - Tweets: 37
    @smgatas
  - I used to work for Burger King in high school in NY. I accidentally dropped a huge stack of cheese in the back (where I've slipped and fallen because of the grease on the floor SEVERAL times) and it bounced, essentially hitting every single side and corner of this cheese vlock. It landed on the floor and I picked it up and tossed it in the garbage...when my fat old boss came lurching over to me, btook off the slice on the bottom and she said, "The entire f-ing thing doesn't need to be thrown out, only the piece that landed on the floor!" Ugh. Oh, and the rule for frozen burgers that fell on the floor? Pop 'em in the french fry fryer for a few seconds. Good as new!
    
    February 2010
- - anon
  - "cheaper" grouper substituted for catfish??? REALLY? Because if the cost of grouper, it is probably the most often victim of being substituted for a cheaper fish.
    
    February 2010
- - Jules
  - French fries you leave in your plate? Back in the fryer for a minute and good as new. In Quebec they often go straight into the poutine, people will tell you that it's best when gooey and covered in sauce. Watch out for a stray toothpick from the club sandwich the fries came from.
    
    February 2010
- - Keith
  - I stopped at a local gas station for a capuccino drink in a large 64 oz., cup. True it was big but it had to last me all day ( or most of the day ). I put it under the dispenser and it wouldn't fit so I took a 12oz cup and filled it that way. I got to the register and the manager told me that would be 25 cents for the used cup. I was willing to pay extra for the drink but she was in a real bitchy mood so I said that was ridiculous . I will never go back there for gas or anything after her remarks. and her attitude. That was a year ago and I honestly have not been back there.
    
    February 2010
- - Bill
  - Here is part of a letter I sent to Outback Corporate: ""The Saint Augustine FL location had a photo of Sweet Glazed Roasted Pork Tenderloin that showed large slices of pork that covered a good percentage of the plate. I assume all Outback menus show the same photo. As a consumer advocate and an ardent poster of reviews on TripAdvisor.com, Google reviews, etc. I am asking that you take that photo off the menu and show a more accurate photo of what the pork really looks like. There were six very small medallions of pork that were weighed out according to the Managing Partner. I believe him and he and the waitress were fine in dealing with my constructive criticism. However, a picture is worth a thousand words and also sets the customer's expectations as far as quantity of pork. We used to go to Outback more when they had the two great pork chops on the menu. We were told that this new pork dish took the place of that. We can see how much more net profit is made on this replacement pork dish. Please don't misrepresent what your actual dishes look like. Therefore, if Outback Corporate does not change the photo of the Sweet Glazed Roasted Pork Tenderloin to look more like what was presented to us, or put the ounces of all meat, fish, and poultry on the menus, I will be filing a complaint with the FTC under the FTC POLICY STATEMENT ON DECEPTION ( see http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/policystmt/ad-decept.htm )which covers food. I believe this matter involves all three requirements: 1, "a representation, omission or practice that is likely to mislead the consumer." We definitely thought there was more meat from seeing the photo on the menu! 2, "..we (FTC) examine the practice from the perspective of a consumer acting reasonably in the circumstances." We believe that we acted reasonably, and maybe the proof of this is that the manager saw the difference from the photo to what we actually got (six small medallions that didn't cover anywhere near as much of the plate as the photo represented) and without us asking, gave us a new entree without charging us the approximate seven dollars more in price. 3, "...whether the act or practice is likely to affect the consumer's conduct or decision with regard to a product or service." We made the decision to split the entree, along with the coconut shrimp, based on the misleading photo of the pork dish. As we told our waitress, we were not looking for something for free for ourselves, as our main goal is to make sure that no other customer of Outback is deceived by the photo of that pork dish. I strongly urge Outback to put the ounces of all meat, fish, and poultry on their menus, and to have a more representative picture of whatever dish they are promoting at the time. This way, Outback will be following the rules of the FTC, and that will be "just right"." I eventually filed a complaint with the FTC, and it was accepted with a reference number given to me.
    
    February 2010
- - Bob
  - I'm surprised no one has mentioned the PAY TOILETS. Out of town and stopped in a Taco Bell to find entrance to the rest room required either a quarter or a token from the server behind the counter AFTER you placed your order. This would seem a good idea to reduce off-the-street use of the bathroom but tough on the family where daddy gets in line and the kids run off to go or wash up.
    
    February 2010
- - DonB
  - Unfortunately, the greed factor has replaced the honor code in our country at all levels. Games played will continue.
    
    February 2010
- - Beverley
  - A lot of the chain restaurants use mostly frozen food, and simply thaw it in a microwave to serve. You would be much better off just hitting the frozen food aisle in the supermarket. Neither are good nutrition choices...but, at least the grocery frozen foods are much cheaper and taste the same.
    
    February 2010
- - glove
  - so maybe cool whip isn't made with lard... it's still crap
    
    February 2010
- - D
  - Chinese restaurants! Do they all subscribe to the same trade magazine? When did green peppers begin to be used as filler in nearly every dish. I defy anyone to show me a true Kung Pao receipe that calls for 2/3 green pepper and 1/3 chicken.
    
    March 2010
- - Vicky
  - just ate at Atlanta Bread Company--ordered Italian Vegetarian Panini with NO mushrooms--it was loaded with mushrooms--after picking them off, there was so little filling in the sandwich it felt like I was eating a bread sandwich---a $7 bread sandwich!
    
    April 2010
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