Joseph Battista, Editor

Going out to eat and ordering one dish that costs at least $20 sucks. American dining has it wrong, and let me tell you why.

It’s that night, the type of night where a fancy meal perches the mind, as if an oracle willed it. You must make that meal, for the prophecy requires it. So off to the store you go, gathering all the ingredients needed, and going home to cook. 

The results: a nice dinner with maybe a veggie and carb, at least an hour’s worth of time sacrificed for preparation and cleaning and handfuls of organics just itching to rot. Satisfied, yet feeling bittersweet with the results, a decision is made: “next time, I’ll just go out to eat. I can get more than just one food without the hassle, and I won’t have to figure out uses for the leftover ingredients.”

That is the beauty of restaurants. You get the food you want with zero hassle: No preparation, no dishes, no need to shove extra ingredients into other meals. Big dinner desires strike again. This time, instead of going to the store, you follow your resolution and find yourself seated comfortably in a booth with a sultry gaze tracing over that sweet laminated menu.

There are so many choices, all equally tasty, yet one entree is filling and expensive enough. The wallet, nor stomach, can handle the glutinous goblin ordering two entrees. Being realistic, you pick one and order. The food was enjoyable, but that sweet summer child, being your second or third food choice, lingers.

The life you could have lived if you had both dinners, they were so close to your grasp. Yet the American dining etiquette, being ordering one oversized meal, kept you apart. Cooking two different dishes at once back home is an insurmountable feat, unless you want to drown in extra vegetables and dirty dishes.

A restaurant is the perfect place to order multiple dishes, yet they’re served so large. Shifting to smaller portions or plates, meant to be shared, begins a feast of variety. Sure, a counter-argument is to order appetizers or share entrees. The appetizer idea falls apart when the usual suspects of most American restaurants are potato skins, boneless wings, and house soup. Entrees themselves you could share, but many are catered toward one eater. How does one split a chicken cutlet or burger? Who chooses the bigger piece?

Restaurants are best equipped to cook a variety. They have the resources and demand to do so, unlike a home. All that is needed is an industry shift towards smaller entrees. Keep the menu the same, if desired, just make it feasible to order more than one entree. 

European and Asian cuisine have the small plates game down. It gives dining out a more fun, experimental feel. American cuisine simply needs to distance itself from the big burger and embrace the little-guy sliders.