Adults Allowed

“IT SEEMS TO me that if customers are interested in lower-priced, smaller-portioned dishes that a restaurant already offers, they ought to be allowed to order those items, regardless of their age,” says Brett Anderson, veteran food writer at The New York Times.

Many people agree. In a survey conducted earlier this year by OnePoll, 77 percent of respondents said adults should be allowed to order from the kids’ menu. Twenty-one percent said they had done it.

Some major restaurant chains, such as Cracker Barrel, allow the practice, although you’ll find that many other eateries and chains don’t have a defined policy.

You’re Kidding Yourself

A THIRD OF respondents in the OnePoll survey said they had been denied when trying to order off the kids’ menu. Why? Kids’ menu items are priced low because they aren’t meant to be ordered as stand-alone products. Restaurants expect kids to be accompanied by adults who will order full-price entrées.

Don Caperton owns the Shack in Benton County, Tennessee, an area with a large population of retirees; more than 47 percent of residents within 20 minutes of his restaurant are 50 and older. Allowing adults to order from a kids’ menu would hurt his bottom line. “Operating costs [such as labor, equipment usage, utilities and prep time] are not significantly reduced when preparing smaller portions,” Caperton says. —Kevin Spain