WEBVTT - Why can’t adults order from the kids menu? 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.400 I'm Manny, I'm Noah, and this is no such thing. 0:00:03.440 --> 0:00:05.800 The show where we settle our domb arguments and yours 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:08.680 by actually doing the research. This week we look into 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:12.360 a severely underdiscussed form of discrimination upheld by the food industry. 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:14.680 They can tell me no if the reason is like 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:16.800 we have to kill one kid, if we can. 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:27.000 No, There's no no such thing, no such thank such, Thanks. 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:32.839 Touch, thank touch, thank. 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:35.680 So. 0:00:35.760 --> 0:00:37.839 We have a fourth mic with us today. Kate Lindsay, 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:40.559 internet culture writer and co host of ic y am 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:43.680 I Slate's Internet culture podcast. 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:45.320 Slate's Internet culture podcast. 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:47.400 Welcome to the pod, Kate. 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:48.960 Thank you so much for hiring me. This is a 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:53.040 dream come true, mostly because of the topic I like. 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:55.240 No one's ever allowed me to speak on it before. 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:58.319 Yeah, now's your chance. So this week's topic came from 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:00.440 a conversation we had when we first launched the podcast 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:01.160 a few months ago. 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:02.560 I can tell you what happened. Shall I tell you 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:03.400 what that? 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:03.680 So? 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:07.520 Two years ago, three years ago, a dune was out. 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:14.120 I can't say which one, but I know I was 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:15.160 in a movie theater. 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:16.160 To see a dune. 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:17.839 You're watching, Timothy, Yeah. 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:19.720 Yeah, it was one of those places where you could 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:21.560 order food by writing out a card and get like 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:25.040 full meals, like you know, way beyond the whole popcorn thing. 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:29.440 And so they have a very expansive menu. And I, like, 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:32.600 Manny grew up as a picky eater, and so there 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:36.600 are some foods that us picky eaters know just like 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:39.720 really hit different. And one of those meals is chicken fingers. 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:41.440 Yeah. 0:01:41.440 --> 0:01:46.760 And so it was either that the adult menu did 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:49.760 not have chicken fingers at all, or they had some 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:52.680 version of it that was like kind of an abomination, 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:55.080 Like it was like Dorito crusted. 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:56.640 Yeah, yeah, like not what I wanted. 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:59.680 But I saw on the kid's menu they had just 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:04.040 your bog standard chicken tenders and fries, and so I 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:08.600 wrote my little card kids chicken tenders and fries, and 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:10.760 they took it. They went off, and then like a 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:14.440 minute later, someone came back and they kneeled down. 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:17.920 In front of me. Yeah, they didn't even write it. 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:21.560 They kneeled down and said, that's like that's from the 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:24.800 kids menu. We we can't serve you that. And I 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:28.720 was like okay, and I got something else, but like 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:30.760 I mean, at that point, the rest of Dune was 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:31.519 out the window. 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:32.080 For it was ruined. 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:33.280 Did you push back at all? 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:41.760 No, because that's not my personality. The movie was playing right, 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:43.040 and so it's like, yeah, I didn't want to like 0:02:43.080 --> 0:02:44.760 start it, and like I'm much more of the vibe 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:47.320 of like I'm just gonna really resent that for years 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:48.920 and years and then talk about a podcast. 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:52.960 But it was just like humiliate. 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:56.040 It was like that's for little kids and you're a 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:59.280 grown up, and and I just felt so dumb, and 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:02.760 it just more so started a larger type of crisis 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:04.840 for me of like why can't I do this? I 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:07.040 felt very libertarian all of a sudden. I was just 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:10.639 like I don't understand the reasons. More so, I don't 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:13.120 understand why it's inconsistent in terms of whether or not 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:15.200 you're allowed to because there are some places that don't 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:16.280 care because it's on the menu. 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:17.440 Other places care. 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:21.400 But now, because of that experience, I am so scared 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:25.280 to do it again. And ever since then, it's just 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:28.519 been it's just been in my brain all the time 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:31.600 because sometimes either they don't have it on the main menu. 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:33.840 It's like something really simple that you want that you're 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:36.600 like perfect, or you know, you just want a kid's portion, 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:39.720 because sometimes you're not there for a full meal, but 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:40.520 you want a little something. 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:44.160 You would think that you are giving an establishment X 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:47.040 amount of money. Yes, you just get something from their kitchen, 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:49.600 no matter you know what, however they label it, you can. 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:50.840 Believe I've thought about every which way. 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:53.000 I really try to make sense of this, because it's like, okay, 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:55.760 maybe it's less expensive, but I could show up in 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:57.680 order just an appetizer that's allowed. 0:03:58.000 --> 0:03:59.120 Yeah, and so it's. 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:00.560 Not like a price thing. 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:02.280 Yeah, and I. 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:04.040 Want to give you my business. 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:07.160 And because I think, to me, the reason, I can't 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:09.600 figure out what the reason would be other than someone 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:11.640 who's like, well that's all grown up, and I don't 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:16.320 I don't understand, right, right, just give me a little 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:18.320 bit less Like at a certain point, I'd be like, okay, 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:19.640 can I pay for the adult verd? 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:21.040 You give me the kid? I don't know. 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:26.159 It's just it's there, it's available. I don't have to 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:28.719 order anything, but I want to order this. 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:29.239 Yeah. 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:31.640 It just feels like an infringement of some right, But 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:33.440 I haven't really been able to nail down which one 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:34.680 and make a real kid. 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:36.680 Yeah. 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:38.680 Yeah, they are not answering me when I email them. 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:40.600 I feel for you deeply. 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:45.400 I'm somewhat of a kid's menu connoisseur, so to speak, 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:50.080 like like I go I'll go to Thankfully the coffee 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:53.280 shops aren't saying no to me. But I'll buy a coffee, 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:55.000 iced coffee or whatever, and I'm just like, can you 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:55.880 just fill it up halfway? 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:56.320 Right right? 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:58.719 I don't want to drink this whole thing. And I 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:00.839 know it's crazy because I'm paying for the whole thing. 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:01.919 I never drink it. 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:04.279 A small coffee filled that half. 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:06.880 I'll just feel like, you know, I've done this. 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:08.680 I don't. I'm not going to drink it, give it 0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:09.320 to someone else. 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:11.800 I've done this. I've done this with wine. 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:14.000 I've been like, can I just get like a half 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:16.599 glass I should take? Can I get a kid's size? 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:22.760 And I'm not asking to pay less? I'm not so yeah, 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:25.000 because I'll put it in the fridge or whatever and 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:26.880 I won't drink it. I'll just sit there for days 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:27.920 and I have to toss it. 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:32.800 Your coffee mm hm oh what that kids menu stuff? 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:33.320 Do you get there? 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:33.960 Kids? 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:35.240 Men order from the kids menu? 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:35.400 Ever? 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:39.159 Yeah, I do, I would, and I do. It's separate 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:43.800 from wanting the kids item, it's what it speaks to 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:46.039 what Kate wants. Yeah, it's like this portion, I just 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:49.800 want a smaller amount. And so for at Chipotle, for example, 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:53.599 I'll get the kids menu tray and it's just like 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:57.560 a tinier portion size of their regular item and it 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:00.799 costs less for this. But yeah, at at fast food places, 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:05.000 this portion size, the kids size is filling me up 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:05.760 and it's cheaper. 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:09.960 Yeah, And if it's something just have different things. And 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:12.480 I don't like the insinuation that my palette should be 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:15.400 more evolved and offering it to me, they're like, no, 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.200 you don't get this because it'll always have like Caesidia 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:22.600 mac and cheese, chicken tenders, like all the hits, quite frankly. 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:25.880 And then they're relegated to the kids menu and if 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:28.280 you get an adult one, they've fucked with it in 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:31.080 some way. They've like they've added something to like make 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:34.000 it more evolved. Yeah, and it's like I don't want that. 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:36.440 I want like you got me all excited I saw 0:06:36.480 --> 0:06:39.000 them on the menu. No, I can't get it. 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:41.960 Devin, do you ever want to do this kid's menu stuff? 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:42.760 The only time? 0:06:43.040 --> 0:06:44.120 No, I need to go. 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:49.960 The only time I have thought about doing it, but 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:52.040 I'm too embarrassed to do it. Is at an ice 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:52.880 cream place. 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:54.880 Oh, I will tell you right now. 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:57.760 An ice cream place is, in my experience, the only 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:00.000 safe place to do it. They will give you kids, 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:02.240 no question asked that they don't go do you have 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:06.800 the kid waiting outside? Yeah, they will just give it 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:09.920 to you, And right they don't. They don't give it 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:11.760 to me and then come back and whisper. And actually 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:17.080 they allow that they understand. But I find that anywhere 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:20.600 where it's like a sit down restaurant, they will not 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:25.880 do it, even though I can see right there that 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:29.280 they have the ability to. And so to me, it's 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:33.640 like it's the lack of understanding why because it seems 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:36.160 to be based I can't figure out in what way 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:38.960 it would be a business reason, and so it seems 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:42.440 to be on principle, and I don't like that. Again, 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:45.160 in a libertarian sense, I don't know why they get 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:46.440 to say that about what I eat. 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:50.520 If you've felt like you need a reasoning on why 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.400 would you feel better about them telling you now? 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:55.400 Or I guess it depends what the reason. 0:07:55.280 --> 0:07:55.920 They can tell me. 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:58.200 No, if the reason is like we have to kill 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:01.840 one kid if we get like if it's that, then 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:02.800 like sure, okay, I. 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:03.240 Won't get it. 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:05.200 Yeah, I'll consider it. 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:07.600 Yeah, like every time we give a kid's menu item 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:10.280 to an adult, we have to kill one kid. 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:12.320 I'd be like, all right, I'm amazing. 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:16.440 It's a cost things in because they're usually cheaper and 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:18.120 they just want to force you to order something that's 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:18.760 more expensive. 0:08:18.840 --> 0:08:19.920 Yeah, because you're the adult. 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:21.520 But that brings me back to like I could just 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:22.400 get an appetize them. 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:24.520 They're not coming over like you need to get a 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:25.320 made advertizer. 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:29.400 Yeah, but I will say, just to play Devil's advocates 0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:34.800 to the thing, I literally just said sorry, if you 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:38.079 get just an appetizer. They some some places are certainly 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:40.079 annoyed that you're if you. 0:08:40.040 --> 0:08:42.200 Go to a let's say, sit down restaurant and you 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:43.320 just order French fries. 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:46.520 Yeah, I think it's a capitalism thing because if people 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:50.880 realize they don't if I if they let me do it, it's. 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:52.000 The news is going to spread. 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:56.800 And then and like big big Food wants us to 0:08:57.040 --> 0:09:01.440 think that we have to order a huge portion and 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:03.880 that's our only option, and there's we can't get anything cheaper. 0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:06.280 We have to do the most expensive thing and maybe 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:07.240 OURFK is right. 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:09.520 You guys back to that episode. 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:13.080 No, it's people are already mad about us our case. 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:17.520 Listen, listen, I don't care someone's behind all this about 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:22.840 us needing to get like huge portions and absolutely no compromise, 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:24.760 even if like you have the ability and I have 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:28.000 the money and the palette for it. I think we've 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:30.800 established a certain price and portion size that if people 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:33.280 were to realize they could scale back that. 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:35.240 Restaurants are scared. They're scared of me, and they're scared 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:35.960 of what I have to say. 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:46.800 Scared. So I'm not a kids men you guy typically, 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:50.320 but you know, in preparation for this this past week, 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:53.000 and I did go to a mall. Oh wow, I 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:56.840 went to a an ally a popular family restaurant chain 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:01.360 by myself, saddled up to the bar with the mission 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:02.680 of ordering off the kids menu. 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:07.079 I'll reveal the results of this later, but it was 0:10:07.160 --> 0:10:08.000 quite an experience. 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:11.559 Yeah, for now a man alone. 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:14.560 Well, I'll say this. I wasn't the only one, believe 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:17.840 it or not, but after the break, I go behind 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:21.160 the scenes of the kids menu industrial complex to find 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:24.080 out how the youth monopolized the small portion chicken tender market. 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:35.720 All right, so we're back. I talked to a few 0:10:35.720 --> 0:10:38.960 people during that ad break. One is an anonymous server 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:42.319 at an undisclosed dining movie theater chain which may or 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:44.480 may not have been the one that showed Dune those 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:45.040 years ago. 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:55.920 I am a server at a i'd say popular dining 0:10:56.040 --> 0:10:59.559 movie theater. So the kids menu stuff is pretty standard fair. 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:05.360 You've got like tots, chicken fingers, burger pizza, and almost 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:08.880 call it like snack bar concession type food, nothing too crazy. 0:11:09.200 --> 0:11:12.400 At a certain point in the evening it becomes adult only. 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:14.920 They want to be, and I think they are successfully 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:17.960 a place where you can go get a drink, watch 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:21.559 you know, a cultured movie you're going to not see 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:24.000 like a bunch of families or a bunch of kids. 0:11:24.000 --> 0:11:25.880 It's something a little bit more elevated, a little bit 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:30.040 more adult for the interestrections ages twelve and under. And 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:32.680 then we stop serving it around APM. I'm pretty sure 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:36.520 that like the POS system that's used, that'll like when 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:39.280 it's actually like eighty six, it'll just stop. Like you 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:41.640 I literally couldn't put it in if I wanted to. 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:45.440 One part is it's to discourage people from bringing their kids, 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:47.880 and that helps to do that if we say, like, hey, 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:50.520 the menu is just adult food, don't bring your kid 0:11:50.520 --> 0:11:53.560 because there's not going to be that sort of food available. 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:56.920 But the other is that the standard menu offerings are 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:00.640 one I would think say better, want to push you 0:12:00.679 --> 0:12:03.000 to those ones that where more time and thought and 0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:06.360 care has been put into those menu options. Just for 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:09.160 the nature of them being more popular and more consumed 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:12.840 by adults. It's also actually more profitable for the theater. 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:16.000 That's the other reason is that it's it's not they 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:17.880 just don't make as much money on the kids food 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:19.760 as they do on the standard adult food. 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:22.640 Some role play. Sure, it's five pm, I'm going to 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:28.480 catch sinners solo. I want the kids tots. I write 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:30.040 that down on the thing. You come by to pick 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:33.439 it up. Yeah, how does this go? I might recommend 0:12:33.440 --> 0:12:35.240 something during the greed. If they're like, oh, I want 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:38.160 the kids burger, I'd be like, oh, well, we could 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:41.240 we have this adult burger. You know, it's got X, 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:42.760 Y and Z. It's a little bit nicer, it's a 0:12:42.760 --> 0:12:45.040 little bit more elevated, and might try and push them 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:48.079 towards that. But if they're you know, writing on the card, 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:51.040 it's what they want. It's before we've liked the policy, 0:12:51.160 --> 0:12:52.520 then I don't have a problem with it. 0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:54.720 But if you're going to make a really crazy sting 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:57.600 about it, and you know, i'd probably got the manager 0:12:57.679 --> 0:13:01.599 is something if you're being really rude or completely unreasonable. 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:04.920 From a business perspective, the policy makes sense from like 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:07.240 a personal perspective, like now you should you know, whatever 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:12.000 you want, it's fine, no moral judgment. If you are 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:15.280 five year old and you want, I know, that's totally 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:16.960 there's nothing wrong with that. 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:25.560 It seems like it's very like employee to employee. And 0:13:25.600 --> 0:13:29.760 by the way, I know working there sucks, so like, uh, 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:32.240 I it's you know, I know, I know it's not 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:32.839 their fault. 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:35.040 I know it's like it's someone else's. 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:39.760 But I would say the delivery of my rejection was 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:42.719 not like, hey, it was it was it was delivered. 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:44.560 Like a personal problem. It was yeah. 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:46.040 I think if they had said, like, we don't serve 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:48.360 it right now, that would be fine, But it was 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:51.560 like you can't, you can't have it. 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:53.280 I didn't like if there was a kid next to you, 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:54.559 they could have maybe right. 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:57.520 Right, that's the thing, and so I would I would 0:13:57.520 --> 0:13:59.760 have been seeing with him, like it doesn't work, Like 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:03.400 who am I to lose my mind? But the thing 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:08.240 it was making me think about, weirdly is the changes 0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:10.560 people want. It it comes to like phones and social 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:12.360 media and tech and like kids on phones. 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:14.319 But like the thing that would be better. 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:17.840 For the people is the thing that's less profitable for 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:21.040 the companies, which is like basically to scale back, Like 0:14:21.080 --> 0:14:23.000 we're in like and there's a real need to scale 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:25.520 back and they're never going to do it. 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:26.680 So now that this. 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:29.520 Feels like the same problem where like we've gone so 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:31.320 big and like that's what we're known for, and now 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:33.840 people are coming up against you, like actually I don't think. 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:36.560 I don't think I want to eat this much. But 0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:39.360 now it's like, you know the business reason. I'm glad 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:45.040 to hear he personally has no problem with it, because 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:48.600 I do personally have a problem. 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:52.240 With the movie feat. The thing's complicated because obviously you 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:54.640 don't need to get any It's it's tricky to use 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:57.200 this as example because they obviously want money from the 0:14:57.240 --> 0:14:59.360 food too, that's part of their model. But like you 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:01.520 can easily go to one of these places all the time, 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:04.560 and not have any food. It's not their primary function obviously, 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:08.360 so it's interesting that even they have kind of these restrictions. 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:12.160 And I appreciate the effort that he was saying about, 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:17.600 you know, discouraging kids from coming, because every kid, every 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:19.600 kid except for the one I eventually will have, is 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:22.520 the worst thing in the world. So like, I do 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:25.000 appreciate that, But it's like what draws me, Isn't that 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:28.480 it's for children draws me to right, that it's the 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:31.920 smaller and so I'm like so like like, yeah, it's 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:33.800 like call it something Colone else. 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:34.200 I don't know. 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:39.880 Yeah, I like the mini bite size like munchkins. 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:48.600 Yeah, I can't remember. That's the service perspective. Now our 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:52.640 deep throat pointed is something very important. Just follow the 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:57.040 money touched upon earlier. So next up, I spoke with 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:01.320 Laurie Rakozzi. She's an associate principle at TECH covering the 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:04.040 restaurant operator in food service industry. She's gonna help a 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:07.440 zoom out a bit and how the numbers actually crunch out. 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:15.680 So first up, I wanted to know if kids menus 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:16.560 have always been around. 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:23.160 They really kind of started popping up around prohibition. There 0:16:23.240 --> 0:16:25.880 was maybe some incidences where there were kids menus before that, 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:29.120 but in Prohibition, operators were looking for a way to 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:31.960 make up for those lost profits, and so they decided 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:35.120 they might open their restaurants more to families and children 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:38.080 and women, and so that also started popping up back 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:42.960 then at places like the Water for Storia, Marshall Fields 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:44.920 here at a kid's menu, So it was just some 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:49.200 some way to really get more restaurant traffic from a 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:50.160 wider audience. 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:52.240 Do you have any idea on what those menus would 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:53.200 have looked like back then. 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:56.640 Prohibition arrow and the kids' menus first started popping up. 0:16:56.800 --> 0:17:01.120 They were typically mirrord what the adults reading to smaller portions, 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:03.760 so you might have seen a very sophisticated menu at 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:05.760 the time. You might have seen like pork chops or 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:09.640 layup chops and chicken, and it just served in smaller pieces. 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:12.560 And today we see a parallel. 0:17:12.600 --> 0:17:15.320 So restaurants use kids menus as a marketing tool to 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:18.199 bring in families and boosting their check averages. Last year 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:20.280 there was a seven point one percent year over year 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:23.520 growth in kids' menus, so more restaurants are offering more 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:28.480 kids menu items. So here's where it gets tricky, like 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:33.000 our anonymous server said, and Laurie confirmed that these items 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:37.000 are often lost leaders. There's gonna be a tough pill 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:37.439 to swallow. 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:41.439 So even though they may be actually you know, lost 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:43.680 leaders in a way to have a kid's menu, they 0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:46.639 may be you know, at margin or maybe even be unprofitable, 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:49.320 they're actually bringing in They're relying on parents to come 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:51.760 in and then spend that money, or research shows it 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:55.280 tends to be either at margin or you know just 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:57.920 you know, slightly under just assuming the kids aren't coming 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:00.359 in on their own buying kids meals, there are going 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:02.520 to be parents there, and so they're willing to take 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:05.040 that risk because the parents the adult meals are going 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:07.960 to subsidize, you know, whatever losses they're on the kid's side. 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:12.040 So it's really economic and business strategy for why adults 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:14.640 can't order from kids meals. I mean, kids mills are 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:19.000 typically priced either at margin or maybe even at a loss, 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:22.720 and so if adults are allowed to order from the 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:25.280 kids menu, that's going to be the loss of profits there. 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:27.320 So a lot of times the kids adult menus are 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:30.879 really subsidizing the kids' menus, So you're letting an adult 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:34.160 order would really risk profitability and risk losing money in the. 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:37.440 Restaurant, so they're unprofitable. So while the restaurants offer the 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:40.439 items for the restaurant to survive, they need parents to 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:43.399 be ordering some parent food too. And they're very lucky 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:46.080 that ten year olds don't usually go to restaurants by themselves. 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:50.840 Okay, so basically all right, they're offering the kids menu 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:54.680 knowing that it's not making money to a like be 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:57.160 nicer to the community or whatever. Offer the stuff for kids, 0:18:57.160 --> 0:18:59.080 but be because the adults are coming. 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:02.240 Yeah, it brings like if you have you've got two kids, 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:04.719 and you're either going to not go to the restaurant 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:08.639 or go yeah you know so, and then that means 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:12.480 you need to order some real food otherwise it's a 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:13.239 total wash for them. 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:15.040 What happens when I bring my kid and we're both 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:17.280 getting kids the doors. 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:20.560