Why do restaurants charge for plate sharing, and would you go to a restaurant that charged for it?

I have never seen this in practice. But when I get fancy I get Red Robin.

But I can see why they do it.

-Extra dishes
-Extra time from the server dealing with drinks and dealing with a extra person
-Lost revenue from pretty much losing a extra seat

I would imagine the last one is the most important. Say if you had a paying party of four but they were sharing a plate and now they take five seats. But you have no five seat tables so they now use a six seat table. If the place is busy you could be losing a few seats. I have left tons of places due to the wait. They want every seat full and paying.

I’ve never heard of this. I’ve only shared dessert and say potato wedges and that type of thing but I’ve never been charged for sharing the plate.

“Lost revenue from pretty much losing a extra seat”

This must be it. I’ve never heard of a split plate fee before, but restaurants all over have a corkage fee for wine. If you bring in a bottle of wine from outside, to drink with your meal, they will charge you a fee “to open it.” This is actually to cover lost revenue from the bottle of wine they could have sold you. Even then, it’s an unspoken rule that you should only bring in a special bottle that wouldn’t be available at the restaurant.

Washing an extra dish doesn’t take much time or effort. But they have high overhead from other things, like rent, staff salaries, water, electricity, heat/AC, trash pickup, and all the other little things that go into creating a nice restaurant environment, like music, interior decorating, dishes, cleaning supplies, and complimentary things like ice water, bread/ butter, napkins, straws, and toilet paper, paper towels, and soap for the restrooms.

A restaurant provides a nice place to eat, and all this stuff, to you at no charge. But it isn’t actually free. It’s complimentary. Everything above costs the restaurant money, and they have to fill as many seats as possible with paying customers in order to turn a profit. Ordering a meal is essentially paying rent on a seat.

It could be to discourage people who prefer to dine cheap or else it could be the fee for washing those extra plates and cleanup required after that,or else it could be the fee for taking up space in the restaurant without ordering enough food to justify,as when two people occupy a place they take longer time to finish. Most restaurants would be having limited seats and when they order less food and spend longer time, it could naturally affect their business.

I have never been to a restaurant where they charge for extra plate. Since my daughter is small and picky eater, I always ask for an extra plate.

I think it’s pretty obnoxious to charge for plate sharing. What if I was dining alone? I’d still take up the two seat table. The extra money discourages plate sharing, which in turn encourages people spending more for their own meal. When people share there is an extra plate or two and flatware used, so there is a little extra work and resources used.

I am not usually in restaurants that charge for it. Last time I noticed a charge it was $2, but that was years ago. I think some of the delis in NYC have a fee for sharing, don’t they? Also, some higher end restaurants.

If restaurants served a smaller portion and charged less money and each person ordered their own meal, the couple would probably wind up paying the same amount as with the plate share fee. The difference is they would each have their own specific choice of meal and when eating single the portion would make more sense.

Charging plate sharing for a share with a child under ten years old is ridiculous to me.

This also makes me think about how I have been in restaurants that don’t want to allow adult to order off the children’s menu. Why not? If a 20 year old wants a grilled cheese with fries or chicken tenders, why can’t they order it?

Also, charging more money for a salad when ordered as an entree is obnoxious to me, unless it is a salad buffet, then I can see the logic there.

@JLeslie: It never made sense to me that I can go and order a burger and fries for less than a salad, which is usually 90% lettuce.

They charge based on what people will pay, not on a specific percentage of mark up on each item. Some items on the menu have much higher profit margins. I don’t understand why a waiter pushes dessert when a restaurant is extremely busy. I guess they are forced to. The waiter would make more turning the table. The restaurants must make a fortune on desserts. Drinks also.

They probably pay about 10 dollars for a cake, wholesale, that serves at least 16, and then they charge at least $6 per slice. A skinny slice -

My ex’s brother was in the restaurant business when I was dating him. The restaurant had the same exact menu for lunch and dinner, yet they had two separate menus. Prices were higher for dinner.

I’m thinking about this more and what I realize is chain restaurants I never see a sharing charge, and I don’t think I have seen one since I moved away from the northeast.

The first time I learned about free refills on drinks (soda) was Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant in Maryland in the early 80’s. In NY we always paid for a second coke when I was growing up.

If I am in a restaurant where I have to pay for a refill on soda, I switch to water. I refuse to pay $6 for soda on a bill. I will usually ask, if I don’t already know, “do you have free refills?” When they say no, I ask for water for the second drink.

I was in Red Robin last week (for the first time in over 25 years, and hopefully for the last time) and they charged $3 for “bottomless soda.” That was a bit high, to me.

I don’t see plate sharing fee in chains, either. I was in Philly last year with my daughter, and we ate a few times at Ruby Tuesday. We paid for one meal (steak, about $18). I ate the salad bar, we shared the steak and the soda and tipped the waiter generously. We were both happy to have two decent meals for under $20, and then about $5 tip.

My husband and I often share at chains if we won’t be able to take home leftovers. It depends. Some restaurants the portions are huge, others not so much.

Ruby Tuesdays we rarely share.

Chilis we sometimes share an appetizer and each have an entree if we are very hungry. We almost never share an entree there.

At J. Alexander’s we almost always share. We order an entree, a salad, and an extra side. We can barely finish it all.

I’m just wondering here if the extra $$ is allocated to the server. Obviously, aside from an extra plate (and entire place setting) that has to be washed (or removed) for the added diner, and the lost revenue from the seat that won’t generate any income, the server has to take care of another diner in some way. In addition to the foregoing, there are other overheads that the restaurant has, whether you want to recognize them or not: breakage and spillage from the extra diner (and “breakage” in many retail establishments is a code word for “theft”) and a potential liability, which would be the unkindest cut of all from a non-paying guest.

But my first thought is of the server, since the non-paying guest is also going to be a non-tipping guest, but the server’s workload has potentially increased by probably 25–50%.

@CWOTUS I can’t imagine the restaurant gives it to the server. Lately, I’ve been learning how many restaurants don’t even give tips to waiters and other service people in the first place.

The fast food Greek place next to my house doesn’t give any tips to the staff left in the credit card. The pizza place north of me doesn’t give the tips left behind for take out. They give the wait staff a large bonus at Christmas that supposedly is from that tip money. Screw that. If they leave their job in November they wind up with zero. Also, I’ve thought about the math and no way they are giving all the money back to the staff.

@jca the ridiculously high drink prices do influence me. I rarely buy a drink at a restaurant now. I drink more water anyway in the last ten years, but even before I reduced my intake I was annoyed with very high drink prices.

Alcohol even more amazing to me. I’m so glad I don’t drink alcohol. My husband and I figure we’ve saved $10k over the years compared to people who usually have a cocktail or wine when they dine out.

I learned this one from our neighbors to the North. They pay the bill on the credit card, and tip in cash.

Neighbors to the north? You think the Canadians invented that?

I doubt they invented it, but high tax places would encourage it.

Americans have been doing it for years. I admit to only tipping cash at restaurants about 20% of the time, my parents do it 90% of the time, always have. At hair and nail salons I do it 90% of the time. Can rides also. Usually I pay cash to a taxi in general, but especially the tip.

They are losing the revenue from selling an extra complete dish if two people share one dish. It’s annoying but that is the reason for it.

@JLeslie “I don’t understand why a waiter pushes dessert when a restaurant is extremely busy.”

Usually the priciest ingredients go into entreés, especially when the meal contains meat. Most restaurants make their thinnest margins on this part of the menu. Some dishes may actually be a “loss leader,” where the restaurant actually loses money on the dish. Sometimes they’ll price a dish attractively to get people in the door. The plan is to make up the lost profit on higher-margin items like drinks and dessert.

Coffee and soda only cost a couple cents a serving. Mixed drinks and wine are where a restaurant makes most of its profits.

They probably just want to discourage the sort of clientele who would come in, order one meal, then scrape half of that meal onto a second plate.
I picture them tucking their napkins under their chins first.

If it’s a nice restaurant, it’s going to leave the other diners looking on in horror.

@dapple_leaves Plate sharing in the US is usually for splitting one order between two people not for one person asking for an extra plate.

One of the problems in the United States is that restaurant portions are so large that one meal can often suffice for two people.

@janbb Yikes.

@JLeslie “I think it’s pretty obnoxious to charge for plate sharing. What if I was dining alone? I’d still take up the two seat table.”

Maybe it has to do with the social aspect. If you’re there with someone else you’re likely to sit around and socialize with that person, thus taking that seat for longer periods of time while the establishment is only getting the money for one person, effectively. Whereas if you’re dining by yourself you’re not likely to sit there any longer than it takes you to eat. I don’t really know, just speculating here, but that’d be my guess.

I’ve never really encountered a charge for plate sharing, but then I’ve never really shared plates with anyone (aside from side dishes with the wife).

When I worked in the restaurant business, I saw the cost of menu items broken down into component parts, especially if it was a meal. There would be a cost for, say, the entree, a separate cost for salad, and separate cost(s) for whatever sides would be included in the meal. There was also a “plate” or “plating” charge, not usually too substantial, to reflect the “back-of-the-house” cost for providing a plate, for example, costs to purchase, store, and clean dishes and utensils, and also to cover other costs associated with running a restaurant, as @Haleth has pointed out.

I haven’t heard of it either. Is it from an all you can eat place? I’d understand it if you had two adults, but only paid for one, and the one carted back twice as much food as they would normally eat, for the purpose of sharing it with their companion

@Haleth Yes, as I said I understand why the restaurant might want the waiters to push dessert (hence my forced to statement) but for the waiter themselves a new table buying entrees and possibly alcohol would be more profitable for the waiter’s pocket.

@Darth_Algar Some high volume delis expect singles to sit at the counter, so in that way I guess sharing food at a two top reduces revenue.

@dappled_leaves Some places split it into two for you, they actually bring it out on two plates.

Even when my husband and I each get an entree we might still share or try each other’s food. Many of the more expensive restaurants that are a la carte serve huge side dishes (which I find ridiculous) and I can’t imagine they aren’t for sharing even in the fancy schmanciness of those restaurants.

The cream of the crop very high price point tend to have small portions for every course and there isn’t an issue.

I would think in this economy and with all the competition for restaurants, including online reviews and info sharing, if a restaurant wants to keep business, nickel and diming for something like plate sharing might actually hurt their business.

I’m confused by what ‘plate sharing’ means. I had assumed, like @dappled_leaves, that people ask for a second plate and share out a meal between two. Is this not what happens? I’ve never done this. I will sometimes share a dessert with my husband because neither of us wants a whole dessert. I do know portion sizes in the US are often large and I have heard of people buying one meal and sharing it and I can understand the reasons why people might want to. @JLeslie and @jca what is the process of ‘plate sharing’ in your understanding?

I’m in the process of researching it to give an accurate definition. This is one thing I found:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/423884

Definition of Plate Sharing according to Urban Dictionary:

Plate sharing is the despicable act] of sharing one plate of food by two or more persons, where that plate is not a platter] or forming part of a tapas] menu. Plate sharing is typically employed by females] or homosexuals] when accompanying heterosexual males to restaurants]. Plate sharing can occur with one or more forks and is commonly known to be destructive to male institutions such as Steak Nights].

Plainly a reliable source. :)

I think we need a new definition! :-)

My puzzlement (apart from why plate sharing is particularly the domain of women and homosexuals) is do ‘plate sharers’ a. ask the restaurant to serve a single meal on two plates or b. ask for a second plate and do the sharing themselves. Something @JLeslie said made me think the idea may not be option b. as I had assumed.

@Earthbound_Misfit Usually b. but sometimes a restaurant will do a. for you. Generally you would say, “We’re going to share, can you bring an extra plate?” and the restaurant will bring an empty plate.

Thanks @janbb. I can see a restaurant might balk at people taking up two spaces but paying for one meal but as someone mentioned, if I was eating alone, there would be a space at the table for at least one other person and I can’t see putting a plate and some cutlery in the dishwasher is worth $6.

@janbb That’s what I was describing, above. Again, I think the restaurant is trying to discourage the attempt, not recoup any real costs.

@dappled_leaves But it’s not that uncommon or even considered particularly gauche here. Often a couple might order an appetizer to share or one each and then a main dish to share and perhaps dessert.

At the restaurant I know that does it, I think the owner is a cheapskate who wants everyone at the table to order and pay for their own entree.

What kills me is that in the hypothetical situation of a couple or two friends ordering some appetizers, one meal and maybe one dessert, they’re still probably ordering two glasses of wine, and/or two glasses of soda, and/or two cups of coffee, so the restaurant is still making profit on those other things (appetizer, wine/soda/coffee). As said, if the person ate solo at a table for two, there would be one entree, one wine, one coffee. I know restaurants probably dislike people ordering water but in my case, I do it all the time.

I would never request the kitchen divide the dish on two plates. What happens is sometimes it is offered.

Typically, an upcharge for sharing is when only one entree is ordered and nothing else. Meaning no other food, drinks don’t count. A restaurant might go as far as to upcharge if there is one entree and even other food ordered, but I don’t see how they can argue that is a legitimate charge, because there is no fee for just ordering an appetizer, so we could just say one person ordered the appetizer and the other an entree for their meal.

Back to the restaurant offering to split the food. I often tell the waiter we will be sharing everything at the time we order if that’s what we plan to do. At that point, in some restaurants, they sometimes offer to plate it separately, and you can accept the offer or not. Sometimes when they bring the food to the table the waiter will ask if we prefer he divide it for us table side, which you can accept it or not.

It’s more common that they just bring extra plates and we serve ourselves. Sometimes one extra, sometimes two. The two being an assumption we will eat family style.

America probably sees more of this practice because in some restaurants the amount of food served is ridiculous. Only recently have some of the chain restaurants known for huge portions started to offer half portions or small portions. Half/small are adequate for one person typically.

On one of the blogs I just read about an hour ago when I was researching the definition of this for @Earthbound_Misfit, I found one guy at a restaurant (I think it was in DC because it was from a DC newspaper) was complaining that he took his gf out and spent 200 bucks and the waiter charged him 6 bucks for plate sharing. He was pissed because he said they just had wine, appetizers, desserts but they shared one entree. Other people were saying you can spend 200 bucks on dinner but you balk at the 6 dollar charge, but the guy said his point was how could they nickel and dime him after just spending that much. He said he spoke to the manager who removed the charge from the bill, but he was still pissed.

Chilis, a restaurant chain here in the states, has specials where you can order an appetizer to share and two entrees for $24. It’s very very common to share appetizers.

Also, certain ethnic foods assume sharing. Chinese restaurants assume you will share typically. Some Italian restaurants are family style restaurants and assume you will be sharing. The waiter will help you to not over order food. He helps to guide you. They might suggest three entrees for a table of 4. Or, a half order of pasta and another entree for a table of two, instead of just writing down the regular order of pasta and another entree that you initially thought you wanted.

@jca I think that is ridiculous! That is nickel and diming. The first time the charge happened to me I was really pissed. I learned my lesson to ask if there was a sharing fee before I ordered. That was many years ago. It’s been a really long time since I encountered that, mostly because of where I have lived the last 20 years I think. I don’t think to ask now. Although, this Q has brought it to my attention again.

I’m almost positive at Stage deli in NYC they charge a share fee. I might remember incorrectly. My husband and I often go there when we are in the city. For him. I never go alone. We don’t share there though, so it isn’t an issue.

Sorry for multiple posts. I do have one sort of backhanded fee. At J. Alexander’s if you order salad with an entree it’s one price, let’s say $5. If you order a salad as an entree it’s $8. Same exact salad. We order the salad to share, an entree, and an extra side. Some waiters charge us the $5 and some the $8. When they charge the $8 we tend to tip a little less. I would argue that especially since we are adding an extra side (I think it is $8) we shouldn’t be paying the higher price.