5 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:The Chinese restaurants here that do it limit their losses by serving it family-style, but when the dish is empty, it's empty. Order another. Western restaurants that serve family style will refill the bowl until everyone gets satisfied.
What? No Western restaurant I've ever been to has operated like that. Western restaurants deliver a fixed amount of food to your table for a fixed price and then generally don't care what personal arrangements you make after that. Some will impose a nominal surcharge for shared plates but that's about it. We tend to get creative when we go out, ordering 5 appetizers and a main to come out at the same time, for example, or ordering dessert alongside the main, and by and large, every restaurant we've been to accommodates us uncomplainingly.
Most western dishes aren't explicitly designed to be shared but they can be shared with very little effort. I'm generally very sad when a member of our party isn't ok with eating family style and most of the people I hang out with are sharers. I've been known to rope more people into a group just so we can order more of the menu in a single trip. It's never been an issue at any restaurant I've been to.
