Smaller portions are a big restaurant trend as customers watch their budgets and waistlines

Restaurants hope that offering smaller servings beyond the children’s menu will meet many different diners’ needs. Some people want to spend less when they go out. Others are looking for healthier options or trying to lose weight.

#restaurant #EatingOut #SmallerPortion #food

https://apnews.com/article/restaurants-smaller-portions-weight-loss-drugs-9c55e5e4025e6e1542964cf2ff5f7031

Restaurants offer menus with smaller portions to meet changing tastes

The biggest new restaurant trend is small. Special menus with petite, less expensive portions are popping up at large chains like Olive Garden and The Cheesecake Factory as well as trendy urban eateries and rural retreats. Restaurants hope that offering smaller servings beyond the children’s menu will meet many different diners’ needs, whether it's saving money, losing weight or environmental concerns. Some restaurants are adding menus to court users of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Zepbound and Wegovy. Smaller portions aren’t a new concept. Twenty years ago, small-plate tapas restaurants were all the rage, for instance. The president of a culinary consulting firm says the scaled-down dishes appearing now seem part of a longer-term shift.

AP News
Where to eat in Toronto's Liberty Village neighbourhood for $15 or less
Toronto's Liberty Village is one of those areas of the city that just feels excessively people-y. While it's not among the most densely populated neighbourhoods in the city, it is home to plenty of tightly packed condos and apartment buildings, offices and, when the season rolls around, revellers from the nearby BMO Field and RBC Amphitheatre (...
https://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2026/03/cheap-eats-liberty-village-toronto/

https://www.instagram.com/berkeleyblogger/

This Instagram page serves to introduce you to a great #foodblog about #eatingout in the #bayarea

Check it out if you like posts about #restaurants and places to see in the #SanFrancisco area

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Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.

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...I can confidently say that influencers are the least of my worries as a waitress. In fact, I’d rank them and their camera crews at the bottom of my list of the rudest types of customers I’ve come across. It’s a list which I’ll now be sharing with you...."

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https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ng-interactive/2026/feb/26/the-secret-life-of-a-waitress-my-nine-nightmare-diners-from-flirts-to-complainers

The secret life of a waitress: my nine nightmare diners – from flirts to complainers

Are influencers really the biggest problem facing waiting staff? Not compared with the customer who demanded I pick up her dog’s poo ...

The Guardian
Ploughing through the streets on a snowy evening. Not much is open.

A lonely light of E.A.K. Izakaya on 46th drew us in. Barely anyone there — outside the snow is blowing full speed and only a few dog walkers are out.

Inside is warm, welcoming, and delicious.

A few bites of wasabi marinated raw octopus with nori, grilled edamame with garlic aioli and anchovy paste, chicken karaage with ponzu and spicy garlic, and butakaku, pork belly braised in a soy based sauce Yokohama style.

Matcha beer and a glass of Sapporo.

And a cherry on top. In the process of the dinner, our bartender introduced me to the best sake ever! — unfiltered cloudy nigori. Milky from the rice sediment it is so creamy, smooth, and lightly sweet.

Let it snow…

#food #eatingout #izakaya #japanesefood #sake #newyorkrestaurant #outinnyc #hellskitchen

It's the end of the hour.
Self-promotion time! What links, pieces of writing, art, and so forth would you like people to see in this chat? Post as many as you like within the character limit!

Remember you can answer these questions whenever you like.

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Have I written any characters that had bad relationships with food or had good/great relationships with food?

While I've written a couple of chefs/cooks, I don't think I've gone into how they felt about food--these were short stories. I think this is something I want to explore.

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#Writephant Q4:
Have you written any characters that had bad relationships with food (Richard Bach/Stephen King’s Thinner) or had good/great relationships with food?

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How much effort do I put into describing food in my writing?

Depends on the story. My first pro sale was total #FoodPorn - about a French restaurant with a misbehaving appliance in the kitchen. I did way too much research there. I've written a cooking teacher, too, in class.

I'm a big fan of competitive cooking TV for relaxation. And hospital shows . . . hmm.

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