Never Do This When Ordering For Kids At A Restaurant — Kitchen Staff Hate It

Giving kids a chance to experience restaurant fare can be the highlight of their week, but let's face it — children can be finicky about their food choices. You may end up in an establishment that doesn't offer anything from the kids' menu that appeals to a child, and you can't just let them go hungry if they are being picky (well, you could when I was a lad, but that's now considered an unseemly practice). But before you assume it wouldn't be any trouble for the kitchen staff to prepare a smaller portion of a regular menu item that appeals to the kiddo, Frankie Weinberg, the co-owner of Good Catch and Pomelo in New Orleans, revealed that's not exactly a simple request.

It's not that servers and kitchen staff don't like the little tykes. Honoring the petition to make a child a petite portion of a regular menu item causes more chaos than many realize, making it a request that restaurant chefs don't want to hear. Weinberg, also an author and distinguished professor of management at Loyola University New Orleans, said, "It may depend on the restaurant, but in just about every case I'm aware of, yes, it's problematic."

One of the most significant issues with asking for a kid-sized meal relates to food and labor costs. Many people don't realize that remaining profitable is a common problem for restaurants, and making tinier portions of an existing menu item can negatively impact a business's bottom line. "Restaurants cost recipes precisely, and smaller portions are often not any simpler to make than full-size options," Weinberg said. "This results in the same amount of labor going into a product that frankly does not cover its own cost to produce."

Even if producing a miniature portion of food doesn't affect a restaurant's profitability, Frankie Weinberg indicated it's going to throw a wrench in the establishment's normal operations. "Requests for smaller portions also disrupt kitchen team prep and create inconsistency, adding friction to an already tight service window," Weinberg said. "Custom portions are effectively off-menu items, and when granted selectively, it creates a fairness and inequity issue that frustrates staff through added confusion to an already complex system."

Customers ordering off-menu isn't necessarily a restaurant cardinal sin. But doing so at the right time and place is essential, and putting the kitchen staff to task cooking a special meal for little Johnny generally doesn't qualify. Still, the kid's gotta eat, right? Weinberg shared some advice for parents about how to go about ordering for little ones.

The first solution is also the most obvious. "First, look on the menu for intentionally-designed kids options, or ask your server about any typical kids options that the kitchen offers," Weinberg said. If the kids' menu isn't getting any rave reviews from a child, it doesn't hurt to ask your server if they have any specific recommendations. "From a developmental standpoint, many parents appreciate that exposure to real and diverse foods matters, and many chefs are happy to guide parents toward simpler versions of existing dishes without altering prep," Weinberg said.