teachs, how old are your two girls?

You're most likely right about the tip, walkinaround. Abolishing tips altogether would be fine with me.

I'm puzzled how 3 main courses among 4 people is injuring the restaurant in any way. (aside from the annoyance of not having things done a standard way, and life is like that)
If 3 of us went, we'd most likely be seated around a table with room for four. Is the restaurant going to shoehorn in another person to maximize income? Unless it's packed, with people lined up out the door, I feel that we have already done them a bit of good by buying food from them.

<I'm puzzled how 3 main courses among 4 people is injuring the restaurant in any way.>

Call me crazy, but I think restaurants might make the assumption that each person seated planned to eat a meal!

I'm curious - is it acceptable practice in the USA to have four people sit down in a restaurant and order meals for three? If it is it would save us wasting so much food next time we go to America (the portions are so much bigger we never finish all the food on the table).

Over here, if your girls are young I wouldn't think restaurants would mind them sharing an adult main course; if they're teenagers the restaurants will probably be a little bit surprised.

As has already been mentioned, if you go to self-service restaurants you can buy as many or as few portions as you want.

Yes, but there's a difference between somehow harming or cheating the restaurant and doing something they don't expect. I don't order my life around the expectations of those I pay for a service, and I can endure raised eyebrows if I believe I'm acting ethically.
Don't people in Europe sometimes go along just for the company of the others, even when they're not particularly hungry?

"Don't people in Europe sometimes go along just for the company of the others, even when they're not particularly hungry?"

I can't speak for the whole of Europe, but in my experience the usual answer is no, not in restaurants - if a group of adults go into a restaurant in the UK the normal routine is for everyone to order something. Obviously there will be exceptions.

But when you go out in a group of adults and only some people want to eat, in my experience the group goes somewhere that food is available but not compulsory; usually a wine bar or gastropub.

papagena,

Yes, our restaurants in the USA always give us too much. That's why we have "doggie bags." It's not for the dog of course, it's my lunch the next day Nowadays most restaurants will give you a styrofoam container and you fill it yourself with whatever is left on your plates.

<Don't people in Europe sometimes go along just for the company of the others, even when they're not particularly hungry?>

I don't know about Europe, but that's not something I do in the United States... go to a restaurant with no plans of eating, that is.

I do not go to a restaurant when I am not going to eat. I just cancelled a luncheon date with a good friend as I have had a virus and I know that besides a glass of wine and perhaps some bread I just could not tolerate a full lunch this week.

For children, not knowing their ages I would think in any restaurant there would be side orders that would be appropriate for young children that do not have a large appetite. A salad and french fries perhaps? In Italy a plate of pasta? We never had a problem when taking our daughter to a restaurant even when she was little as there was always food that could be ordered. And if she didn't eat all of it we didn't worry about it.

"Don't people in Europe sometimes go along just for the company of the others, even when they're not particularly hungry? "

I can only speak for myself, but in that case the answer is no. Not to a dining place, in that case we would go to a pub, café or a wine bar.

I would say that at local eateries and more casual places (along with anywhere else you choose to dine) you'll be just fine. Don't even worry about it.

Bonjour,

In a lot of modest French restaurants and most "brasseries", you may choose to have the "menu enfants" (menu for kids) provided your daughter is under 10/12... It is often composed of a "steak-frites"/steak and chips and icecream and is served in small quantity.

If your dd is older or, like our son when he was a little boy, hated being served the "menu enfants", using the expression one of the forumites suggested : "nous partagerons parce que ma fille ne mange pas beaucoup" (we'll share because our daughter doesn't eat much) should be OK. Cordialement. Marie (France)

Could you help me make this sentence of mine more idiomatic, please ? The absence of an "edit button" makes things difficult for me, lol !

"If your dd is older or is like our son who hated being served the "menu enfants" when he was a little boy..."

Merci d'avance ! Marie

Your original sentence is quite good! Just a couple of changes from this American English teacher:

If your dd is older or if she hates being served from the "menu enfants" (as was the case with our son when he was little), use the expression one of the forumites suggested...

Only the added "from" and the change to "using" is absolutely essential.

Your English is excellent! A+

Oops! I meant "change to 'use'"! Sorry...

In France and Italy, we've had no problem sharing, but each person does order a main course. We share appetizer, salad, or dessert (not a pasta course).

In pizzarias at lunch we've ordered a pizza, wine and large salad with extra plate for sharing. No one frowned on this.

Lastly, someone above mentioned "cafeteria sytle". These are very common in Italy, usually a small storefront with the goodies on view from the sidewalk. Pizza slices, pasta dishes...all yummy looking and piping hot. They usually have a good pastry selection as well. Something like this would be a good choice for all appetites.

Marie's sentence with the word "using" was fine. I believe Cimbrone didn't notice the entire sentence when he corrected it: "...using the expression...should be OK."

Hi Nikki. "Using" is definitely not fine. The sentence needs a main verb. Since the beginning of the sentence is a subordinate clause, "use" needs to be the main verb, in this case a command. "Using" is either a participle (an adjective) or a gerund (a noun), which, as I already noted, would leave the sentence without a verb in its main clause.

Oh, I see what you were thinking, Nikki. "Using" would be okay if there were no colon which, for all practical purposes, indicates the end of a sentence. So use "use" or get rid of the colon and add commas around the phrase in French.

Oh good, a grammar disagreement. (Seriously, I really enjoy them.) Hmm, I am not sure I see your point, but I am willing to be convinced. Are you saying that the sentence "Discussing grammar should be encouraged" is incorrect? Or "Going to Paris would be fun"?