Puny Portions Down Under at Outback

The last time I was at Red Lobster, which was at least four years ago,
the lunch selections Mom and I ordered were so downsized and puny that
both my mother and I complained about it to the waitress, so she
admitted Red Lobster cut down the lunch menu portion sizes and that
was our last visit to Red Lobster, we never returned.

http://www.menshealth.com/20worst/worstfood.html


Number 1 worst "food" in America.

Very Sad.



Good Day

The restaurant can't win. IF they decrease portion sizes, people
complain. If they keep portion sizes the same but increase prices,
people complain.

Food costs have skyrocketed. Restaurants have a bottom line to
maintain.

I agree, when you said it was much less than usual, they should have
said something about it being downsized, if indeed it was. It is not
right to just beat around the facts.

I think it does. If I'm a regular customer at a restaurant and always
order a certain item, and suddenly I'm paying the same money for a lot
less, I'd be fairly miffed too and want to know why.

I think others could be right in that Outback has downsized their
portions. Unfortunately, a lot of companies are doing this; it seems
to be the trend. And if that's the case, I think Outback should just
fess up and admit it. Then the letter writer would know for sure this
was the new portion size (and not that the restaurant made a temporary
mistake) and can make a true decision on whether to order it or not or
even whether to go to Outback at all.

You are absolutely right.

The reason I go there isn't just because of the food, it's the pricing
of portions. In addition, if you've down sized, don't make the
customer feel like an idiot and own up to it. They made the change,
not me.

is, no matter what has happened in the past, or what I am used to,
what matters to me is knowing what I should be getting NOW.

It sounds like both the server and manager informed the OP the portion
size is correct. End of story.

I am a big fan of knowing what to expect. If something changes at a
place I frequent, it becomes apparent as it did to the OP. I speak to
the manager and find out if what I got is what I should have received
(like the OP did). Since I know the manager, she would probably tell
me they downsized.

But the obvious conclusion is OBSH DID downsize. Why sit around
debating the past, when this is what $x buys today? Just my opinion.

Downsizing and portion control has become much more common in this
economy, as restaurants fight not to raise prices even though food
costs have gone up. It makes sense when you think about it. I could
be paying $1 more and getting that 15% that is now missing.

I'm not sure I'm necessarily in agreement with a previous poster that
the downsized portions should be noted on the menu. Let's face it,
most every place is having to make up for the rising costs in some
manner. Whether it's by raising prices for the same amount of food,
downsizing the portions, changing the ingredients etc. etc. No matter
how a restaurant chooses to cut corners, there's always going to be
some customers that are unhappy about the change.

I do think the server and/or manager should have said something to the
effect of "We've recently had cut the appetizer portions". The OP is
right, if they did indeed cut the portion sizes, they should own up to
it when asked about it.

Everywhere you look, places have downsized their portions. Most of it
is due to the rising cost of food. Charging people the same amount for
less is starting to become the norm. Look in your grocery stores, I'm
sure you'll see a lot of items are smaller, but they're still the same
price.

This practice isn't going to change anytime soon. Ever since the
economy went down the toilet, lots of places have been downsizing a
lot or changing their menus altogether. Places that used to offer two
sides and a salad now count the salad as a side and only really offer
one side.

Places that used to offer bread, chips or other items while waiting
for your meal have now stopped or charge a small fee in order to get
them.

Those things are awful for our health, hopefully they downsized it.



good Day