7 Tricks Most Restaurants Use to Make Us Spend More
Kate Gitman
When going to a restaurant, we usually plan to spend a little amount of cash, but often end up paying more than we should. Why? Because many restaurants use some nifty tricks that make us eat more and spend more. While it’s always better to have a dinner at home, there are several situations where you can’t avoid eating out at a restaurant. In such a situation, look out for these seven tricks most restaurants use to make us spend more.
1. Serve you up the salty complimentary snacks
Many restaurants serve up complimentary snacks when people are waiting for their dinners to be ready. It’s great, right? However, the problem is those snacks are so salty that you will quickly order some drink to quench your thirst. No wonder, your bill is so high. Avoid eating complimentary snacks and order a glass of water instead. Not only will you save some cash, you will also trick yourself into eating less.
2. They confuse us with numbers
Have you ever found it difficult to compare the prices of dishes or drinks in the menu? That’s because restaurants center align the price of the meal or drink underneath it, though it should be at the end of the line. Most restaurants don’t use $ sign to trick you into spending more.
3. They make simple dishes sound more expensive
Nowadays it’s popular to use French or Spanish terms to describe meals. There’s nothing wrong with it. But when a restaurant uses those terms to describe simple and cheap dishes and drinks and the prices of them are ridiculously high, it’s a red flag. You will end up spending more on a dish you can easily make at home.
4. Place the most expensive meals at the top of the menu
When looking at a menu, you usually look at the top right hand corner where the most expensive dishes and drinks are placed. Although they know that you probably won’t order those meals, they are trying to trick you into thinking that other meals are cheaper. Watch out for this trick next time you go out for a meal.
If you are one of those people who is ashamed of ordering a bottle of wine from the end of wine list, no wonder you always pay more than you expect. We all know restaurants bring the most expensive bottles of wine to the top so we usually pick the third or fourth bottle to save on drinks. Actually, you won’t save anything, because many restaurants price those bottles too.
6. They trick you into drinking more
Most people don’t notice this, but they spend more cash on drinks than on meals. In fact, restaurants gain more profit from beverages than from dishes. When your server fills your wine glass, watch out, he will try to get you and your partner or your friends to finish that bottle faster and order a new one. That’s a reason why I prefer to order wine by the glass.
7. Specials are not so special
Avoid specials at all costs. Specials are usually the dishes that are made from leftovers or ingredients that a restaurant needs to use before they go out of date. I have always believed that specials are the chef’s speciality dishes or those dishes are made with some gourmet ingredients, however it’s not always true.
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Restaurants use many other tricks to make people spend more and the reason is obvious. If you are on a budget though, you may be more alert and attentive at a restaurant. Have you ever noticed any of these tricks or some other tricks? What’s your way to save more cash at a restaurant? Share your experiences with us, please.
