Why do restaurants serve salads before meals?

[Praetor]

I ate out at Lone Star today (steak house, good stuff!) for lunch. I ordered a simple 9 oz Five Star Filet (bacon wrapped) and some french fries. That's all I originally went into the restaurant for. I was asked what type of salad I wanted though.

My question is, what point does the salad serve?

Does it help digestion? Does it raise the price of the meal? Do they hope I'll fill up on the salad and be unable to eat the rest of my meal? (Would they then reheat the steak and serve it to someone else?!) Or, to continue the last bit, is it so I will get full off of that tiny piece of meat and stack of french fries they send out?

 

[UsandThem]

<< Does it help digestion? Does it raise the price of the meal? Do they hope I'll fill up on the salad and be unable to eat the rest of my meal? (Would they then reheat the steak and serve it to someone else?!) Or, to continue the last bit, is it so I will get full off of that tiny piece of meat and stack of french fries they send out? >>



It's to keep your from saying "Where is my $&^%# food! I am starving." The salad holds you over and keeps you distracted.

 

[prodigy]

I would think appetizer.

 

[pulse8]

I believe it's called a BALANCED meal. Maybe you should try it sometime.

 

[kru]

beats me. i'm strictly carnivorous, so i usually turn down the salad. or give it to someone else at the table.

 

[amnesiac]

I dunno. Blame the Frenchies.

 

[N8Magic]

I have always eaten salad before my meal. Maybe you're just weird.

As for why, it just adds some balance to the meal. You don't want to be eating meat and starch all the time. You gotta throw in some veggies to get some vitamins!

 

[RossMAN]

I like salad before my meal, whenever I eat out I get thousand island when I'm at home I use cucumber ranch delicious!

 

[Gillbot]

"filler" food, so when you get the puny steak you will be 1/2 full and won't notice.

 

[Russ]

I love salad. But, only if the lettuce is covered with mounds of ham, turkey, cheese, eggs, bacon bits and dressing. On second thought, you can keep the lettuce.

Russ, NCNE

 

[RossMAN]

I love salad. But, only if the lettuce is covered with mounds of ham, turkey, cheese, eggs, bacon bits and dressing. On second thought, you can keep the lettuce.

Now that's what I'm talkin about! I always fix myself a salad like that at Old Country Buffet, you got one of those up there?

 

[Praetor]

<< I love salad. But, only if the lettuce is covered with mounds of ham, turkey, cheese, eggs, bacon bits and dressing. On second thought, you can keep the lettuce.

Russ, NCNE >>



LOL Good one, Russ.

It's not that I mind the salad. I happily grazed on the greens without complaint, I was just wondering what was up with that.

As for going "wtf, where's my food?" I did plenty of that. I tore through the salad in a few minutes and was practically pounding my silverware on the table demanding cow.

 

[jjones]

Why do restaurants serve salads before meals?

it gives them a way to get rid of that green, leafy crap that keeps showing up in the kitchen.

 

[spidey07]

jeez - it is to help you poop. c'mon you knew that!

<---not kidding

 

[yoda291]

actually, this is what I was taught. Normally, in a multiple course meal, you'd have had a drink or two by the time the main course came out...so they set out some form of vegetable matter like sliced carrots or fresh mushrooms to nosh on shortly before they served up your helping of dead animal. The prurpose was that you wanted to clean up your palate so that you could taste the food that took so damn long to prepare. Over time, tho, this "ritual" has been americanized so that you actually screw up your palate with creamy dressings, ham, bacon product, etc.