Plate sharing

One of my biggest restaurant pet peeves (yes, I've got a whole list of them) is the shared plate charge. Why do restaurants think that it's okay to charge extra for sharing a dish? It's my food, and I should be able to allocate it however I gosh darn please.

I mean, really, what's it going to cost you to have me share my super-sized portion of pasta with my not so hungry friend - half a cent extra in dishwasher soap, plus another penny for wear and tear on the added plate? Why don't you just build that into the cost of the meal and let me share my food without a hassle?

Now I think it's ridiculous to charge anything for plate sharing, but I've seen some places ask for as much as 5 dollars extra, which is total crap. I'm not asking you for more food, so why are you asking me for more money?

I’ve tried the strategy of foregoing the extra plate and simply eating off of the same dish as my food-sharing partner, but sometimes even that doesn’t work. I was once reprimanded by an uppity waiter for eating food off of a nearby plate and not ordering a dish of my own. “You know, normally we charge for that,” he had said. Really? You’re going to charge me for eating off somebody else’s plate. Imagine if places actually did that.

“Hey Debbie, can I have a bite of your dessert?”

“Sure you can…I’ll just tell the waiter to add fifteen cents to our bill.”

I wonder if restaurants would be willing to waive the extra charge if customers agreed to bring in their own plates. I might try that strategy the next time I dine out and feel like sharing. Man, didn’t we learn back in kindergarten that sharing is a good thing? My how times have changed…