I find it hard to believe that mid-level restaurant desserts don't have a healthy profit margin. Most desserts in these restaurants are food service cheesecake, topped with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle, and marked up to $7 or $8.
in practice, a slice will get ordered by up to five people and then extend the meal up to twenty minutes.
If you were selling time on that table it would be more like $10 for twenty minutes. Hence the problem. No one is arguing that the markup is huge, its that it comes at a cost.
on the other hand, an appetizer does not extend the meal and has a similar margin.
$30 entrees? $20 desserts? And those are mid-level restaurants?
I thought the US was cheap, and Netherland was expensive, but I eat in excellent restaurants and often pay less than €20 for a main course, and never more than €10 for dessert. A 3 course meal for less than €40. Unless I'm somewhere really fancy that aims for (or has) Michelin stars, of course.
Also, in most restaurants, you fill the table for the whole evening. You need to start really early to be finished in time for late eaters to be able to fill the same table.
And much of the time in restaurants is actually spent waiting for the next course. If the restaurants are really in such a hurry, they could just bring the food sooner. In fact, I think desserts would be more suitable for that, since they can often be prepared in advance.
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 15.7 ms ] threadIf you were selling time on that table it would be more like $10 for twenty minutes. Hence the problem. No one is arguing that the markup is huge, its that it comes at a cost.
on the other hand, an appetizer does not extend the meal and has a similar margin.
I thought the US was cheap, and Netherland was expensive, but I eat in excellent restaurants and often pay less than €20 for a main course, and never more than €10 for dessert. A 3 course meal for less than €40. Unless I'm somewhere really fancy that aims for (or has) Michelin stars, of course.
Also, in most restaurants, you fill the table for the whole evening. You need to start really early to be finished in time for late eaters to be able to fill the same table.
And much of the time in restaurants is actually spent waiting for the next course. If the restaurants are really in such a hurry, they could just bring the food sooner. In fact, I think desserts would be more suitable for that, since they can often be prepared in advance.