Restaurants have long offered smaller servings through children’s menus, appetizers or “shareable” dishes, but an Associated Press review of recent menus shows that the smaller-portion approach is spreading into broader selections for more kinds of diners. The trend is driven by customers watching both budgets and waistlines, and in some cases by people using GLP-1 weight-loss and diabetes drugs who say they are not hungry enough for typical restaurant portions.
Menu Matters president Maeve Webster linked the new menus to evolving consumer thinking about what counts as value in food spending. Webster described them as “really driven by, I think, changes in the way people are thinking about their relationship with food, the way they spend money on food, what is a good value and what’s not,” adding that the shift goes beyond a single type of diner.
In Connersville, Indiana, Beth Tipton, co-owner of Daniel Girls Farmhouse Restaurant, said she introduced an eight-item Mini Meals menu last fall after customers asked for smaller portions. She said the menu includes daily specials such as a half piece of meatloaf with green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy for $8, and that it now accounts for about 20% of the restaurant’s orders.
Tipton also pointed to the restaurant’s older clientele as a key reason the menu resonated. She said older adults make up about half of the customer base and that some told her the regular menu was a budget stretch, and she said her own experience with weight-loss surgery shaped what she believed was needed. Tipton said she wanted the option “to be available to all without the word ‘kids meals’ attached,” and she added that because adult customers often can’t order from children’s menus, the Mini Meals format gave people another way to eat out at a smaller scale.
Several restaurants have also tailored menus to GLP-1 users by aiming for nutritionally dense plates in smaller portions. AP reported that last fall, Barry Gutin ran into two friends who said they were taking GLP-1s and struggling to find meals that fit their dietary needs and smaller appetites, and he connected with a weight-loss specialist and with Cuba Libre’s culinary director, Angel Roque.
Gutin and Roque worked with a focus on dinner service, building what the restaurant calls the GLP-Wonderful menu. Roque said the pollo asado on Cuba Libre’s regular menu has nearly 1,000 calories, while on the GLP-1 menu it is slimmed down to about 400 calories with protein and fiber, and he said it was also important to keep the meals flavorful and colorful to “stimulate appetites.” Roque added, “Many times when people are on those kind of regimes, they feel that they can’t do the same as everybody else. So we wanted to show them, yes, at Cuba Libre, you can.”
Gutin said the menu has brought in additional business and estimated that 10 to 20 groups at each location each week request the GLP-Wonderful menu. He said, “People say, ‘Thank you for serving us’,” describing customer feedback he receives.
Large chains have pursued smaller-portion ideas as well, using branded “lighter” menu sections rather than fully separate offerings. Olive Garden, for example, rolled out a seven-item “Lighter Portions” menu nationwide in January, and Darden Restaurants president and CEO Rick Cardenas said GLP-1 users were one consideration. Cardenas also said in September during a conference call with investors that the company was seeking to appeal to patrons pursuing healthier diets or more affordable meals, and he added, “There is a consumer group out there that believes in abundance, but abundance is different for everybody,” while stating, “So consumers can choose. We’re not changing our entire menu to make it a smaller portion.”
Other restaurant groups have introduced similar options, including P.F. Chang’s, which began offering medium-sized portions last fall, and The Cheesecake Factory, which added smaller, lower-priced Bites and Bowls last summer. AP also reported that TGI Fridays recently began testing an “Eat Like A Kid” menu with smaller portions.
Webster said the appetite for smaller meals can also be understood as part of a longer change rather than a sudden fad. She said the trend is not tied to a particular cuisine and that consumers are thinking more about food waste than they used to, arguing that smaller portions can reduce concerns about leftovers that do not taste as good later. Webster said, “I think it is a core need that consumers have, and a demand that has been lingering under the surface for a long time because restaurant meals, particularly at chains, have become so large,” and she added that while taking leftovers home sounds appealing, they “never taste as good.”
A smaller-portion concept can also appear as a way to manage dining schedules and prices. AP reported that during a recent visit to Shelburne, Vermont, Jack Pless, who said he is in his 60s and used to own a restaurant, said he was pleased to see Barkeaters Restaurant’s Teeny Tuesday menu because he said he can’t eat as much as he used to at meals. Julie Finestone, co-owner of Barkeaters, said she introduced Teeny Tuesday last month to bring in more weekday business during the winter, and she said she was concerned about costs when offering lower-priced items such as $12 reuben sliders.
Finestone said the decision brought in more business than she expected and that she is “pretty confident Teeny Tuesday will become a year-round fixture.” She said some diners want smaller portions for dietary reasons, while others have smaller appetites or do not want to overindulge in the middle of the week, adding, “I think that it just spoke to people.”