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Comment by matwood | Hacker News Reader

I disagree. If we're talking about restaurants and not fast food, it's portion size that's typically the issue in the US. Oddly enough, the higher end restaurants start to move in the other direction and shrink portion sizes.

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>I disagree. If we're talking about restaurants and not fast food, it's portion size that's typically the issue in the US.

i think you are right.

i have always seen big portion sizes in restaurants when i have gone to the US.

also, very recently, i saw a youtube video in which a french person says the same thing. they said that even though the French eat a lot of fat, their overall portion sizes are smaller than those of the US. so overall, they end up eating less calories than US people.

also the French tend to walk a lot, while the US people tend to drive a lot.

it's a generalization, i know.

My own impression from a week in Paris is that you're right: if you get the "menu" at most restaurants (appetizer, entree, dessert), you walk out full but not stuffed.

The weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, supposedly make you feel like that. I haven't taken them myself. It's like you don't really want any more.

Americans seem to feel entitled to two meals for the price of one, and they may or may not eat them both in the restaurant. (If they don't finish, they take the rest home with them)

>Americans seem to feel entitled to two meals for the price of one, and they may or may not eat them both in the restaurant. (If they don't finish, they take the rest home with them)

yes, when my parents used to go to the US, a few decades ago, they told us kids about this practice called using doggie bags. apparently people used to ask for the uneaten part of their restaurant orders to be packed in what was called a doggy bag, under the euphemism that they were taking the extra food home for their dog.

I don't know whether the practice is still followed.

I don't know that anyone has ever used "doggy bag" to mean/imply an actual bag for dogs in my lifetime (I'm 39), but yes it's still common to get the rest of your food in a container to take home. These days your waiter/waitress will usually ask "do you want a box" instead of referring to a doggy bag, but everyone knows what you mean if you ask for a doggy bag.

If my trips to the cheesecake factory are any indication, then yes, too much food, and let's doggy bag the rest of the yummy.

I don't think the term is all that common today in the US. But, counter my pervious comment (though I hadn't been active that day and it was quite hot), a few of us were having dinner and most of us took something home (for us, not a dog)--and I just had a starter! Considered quite normal. Good food but there was just a lot of it and I didn't have much of an appetite.

I do know a few places that are sort of known for having portion sizes that are oriented towards people taking leftovers home.

I searched just now in my YouTube downloads and found the video I was referring to above:

https://youtu.be/9QyQmL-mlV0

The French Paradox: How rich food and wine could help you stay healthy | 60 Minutes Australia

I submitted it as an HN post here, in case anyone would like to discuss it:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40980964

See:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_paradox

It is a generalization but maybe I know it's because there's often a lot of relative filler in entrees and I often gravitate towards one or two starters/apps. That said I mostly don't find portions in Europe (including France) to be especially small.

Interesting ...

I guess it varies between restaurants, and everyone is talking based on their own experience.

apps?

Appetizers. In my experience the term is fairly common in the US.

I think some of it is that many restaurants have a lot of fairly inexpensive filler (potatoes, rice, etc.) with entrees that I probably sort of tune out and don't really try to finish a lot of the time. This is probably less true of some countries/cuisines than others.

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