Nash: Smaller restaurant meals help waistlines and budgets, but are hard to find

As my father got older, he took to negotiating his restaurant orders with the waiters. My dad wanted half-size meals, even of things that don’t typically come in halves, like hamburgers.

“Just put half the burger on the plate and leave the other half in the kitchen,” he would say. “I’ll pay for the whole thing.”

This usually required some back and forth about how he really, really didn’t want the other half wrapped up to go.

Watching my dad negotiate, say, an appetizer portion of pasta brought as a main dish in an Italian restaurant run by a strict chef who wasn’t about to allow such a thing was a lot like watching Jack Nicholson playing Bobby in Five Easy Pieces (1970). When the waitress told Bobby that yes, they had bread and a toaster but no, he could not order a side of toast, Bobby/Nicholson went into full-on crazy man mode: “I’ll have a chicken sandwich on wheat toast. No butter, no lettuce, no mayo. Hold the chicken, bring me the toast and give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich.”

My dad never tore up the joint like Bobby did but going out to a meal with him could still be painful.

Then I hit my mid-60s. My days of ordering a double-double at In-N-Out Burger are behind me. If my partner and I go out to breakfast, we split whatever the restaurant’s equivalent is of the Denny’s Grand Slam (2 eggs, 2 rashers of bacon, and 2 pancakes). A friend and I recently shared two sliders for dinner — today’s version of a half hamburger each.

But, depending on the meal and the place, ordering a smaller portion can be challenging. When I traveled solo to San Antonio recently, the waitress at the Menger Hotel had to get the manager’s OK before letting me order a kids’ breakfast instead of the gargantuan all-you-can-eat Texas breakfast buffet. In San Francisco, the Pine Crest Diner flatly refused to bring me a half-order of scrambled eggs. I’m sure my father would have prevailed, but I did not.

As we get older, our metabolism slows. Our bodies need less food. As a result, many older people just don’t need or want to eat as much as they used to.

Appetite aside, limiting portion sizes both at home and when dining out makes good sense. Multiple studies have shown that modest calorie restriction can improve longevity, reduce cardiovascular risks and fight inflammation. My colleague Tony Hicks recently wrote a column suggesting that people in Japan live longer in part because they eat 80% of the calories consumed by the average American.

Ordering less food at restaurants helps the budget as well, especially given today’s prices. For older adults on a fixed income, dining out is a luxury, and paying full price for super-sized meals may be prohibitive. Taking home the leftovers is an option, but only if you’re near home and not if you’ve had to order a diner-size breakfast of multiple eggs and a mountain of hash browns. Eggs don’t travel well.

Then there are environmental impacts. According to ReFed, a nonprofit working to reduce food waste, restaurants and other foodservice providers generated over 12 million tons of food waste in 2022. Almost 70 percent of that came from customers not finishing their meals. Food dumped in landfills releases so much methane into the atmosphere that reducing food waste is a major component of the EPA’s recommendations for slowing climate change.

Restaurants need to make money — and smaller portions can cost more.

From the restaurant side, serving smaller portions may be easier said than done. Restaurants have to make money to stay in business. Waiters deserve tips for serving two people and bussing two sets of plates even if the customers only order one meal. Letting older people order from the kids’ menu (assuming a kids’ hot dog or pasta with butter is really what they’re after) might defeat the purpose of offering special meals to the 12-and-under set as a loss leader to bring in the parents who will order full meals off the regular menu.

Some restaurants try to walk the line by levying a “split-plate” charge, which can backfire with customers who just find that annoying.

Many restaurants in Mendocino County are rising to the challenge. Since 2021, Mendocino County, in partnership with Adventist Health, has been part of the Blue Zones Project, a nationwide initiative that aims to help people live longer, healthier lives. Blue Zones has given its seal of approval to several local restaurants that offer smart choices rather than the typical 1,000-calorie entrée.

One of those restaurants, Café 1 in Fort Bragg, offers a “small size” salad for about 2/3 the price of the regular. Another, the Jyun Kang Vegetarian Restaurant in Ukiah, offers substantial appetizers at a reasonable price (think eight homemade vegetable dumplings for $8.95). A third, The Munchery in Willits, serves a variety of small plates (like coconut shrimp and mac & cheese) that can make a full meal for many diners.

Even places that may not be in the running for Blue Zones status are offering some moderate options. Although Jumbo’s Win Win in Philo advertises with a walking hamburger hailing a large french fry, it also offers half-size salads and specials like an overstuffed but healthy $5 chicken taco. At the Mendocino Market in Mendocino, many of the giant deli sandwiches can be ordered in half-sizes. At Coast Cinemas in Fort Bragg, anyone can purchase the “kiddie combo” — small popcorn, a drink and a small candy — for $6.75.

And at Denny’s, if you don’t want to split the Grand Slam, the 55+ menu offers several options with smaller portions and lower prices.

Sometimes portion control is really about self-control, which can be difficult. Every now and then I still go for the jumbo burger and fries. But, at the risk of turning into my father, I usually try to ask for split plates or smaller servings. For the waiter who can make that happen, I leave a generous tip.

What does a longer lifespan mean to you? Two talented columnists tag-team every Friday to tackle the challenges that inform your choices — whether you’re pushing 17 or 70. Recent Stanford Center on Longevity Visiting Scholar Susan Nash looks at life experiences through an acerbic personal lens, while longtime writer and health reporter Tony Hicks takes the macro view to examine how society will change as the aging population grows ever larger. Check in every Friday to expand your vision of living the long game and send us your feedback, column suggestions and ideas for future coverage to newsroom@baycitynews.com.