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Comment by _nalply | Hacker News Reader

For Asians it's natural to share.

Brits are getting used to tapas menus, and have been ordering a variety 'curries' to share in Indian restaurants for ages. We'll get there.

I'm not sure tapas are becoming more common in the US but one does see a fair number of them in large cities these days. I really do like the small plates and, especially when I'm travelling, my eating schedule is often messed up enough that I want something lighter.

My only objection to tapas is that they often seem like an excuse to charge 1/2 as much for 1/4-1/3 as much food. That's probably not completely fair as there's probably less "filler" than a typical main has. In any case though I find tapas meals tend to be on the pricey side.

> My only objection to tapas is that they often seem like an excuse to charge 1/2 as much for 1/4-1/3 as much food.

It absolutely is. Also keep in mind that profit margins in restaurants are razor-thin, and prices really should be higher (and they are getting higher in reality).

On the plus side, tapas restaurants are usually 'gastronomic' restaurants, so more effort is put into every dish than a typical meat + 3 veg main course.

>and prices really should be higher

What does that mean? I don't see how a price 'should' be anything.

I like to joke that tapas is Spanish for expensive.

I feel like every new restaurant in Boston is of the small plates format. I figure it can't be a unique trend.

Part of the fun. Hell, I asked "wanna try some o' me steak for some o' yer pasta?" on the first date with my fiancée!

second that. We eat roughly half a dish and switch plates. I've seen the Non Indian waiters looking at us in disgust.

In what country are you getting disgusted looks for that? Neither my wife nor I are Asian. We do it all the time and never get bad looks.

It happened to us a few times. We are asians. Interestingly, one time we got the disgusted look from an Asian waiter in an Italian restaurant.

Also we started to bring our children to good restaurants of different cuisines when they could sit through dinners. (Of course, no restaurants that explicitly say "no children".) We shared all the dishes. Well, it is more that we encourage our children to try our orders. They have developed very good tastes on foods and the appreciation on different cuisines. They both started ordering "adult" dishes at 9 years old. No more chicken tenders, mac and cheese, etc. It is really one of the best family time that we sit together and all enjoy trying local cuisines when travel aboard.

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