Restaurant's $99 kid's meal option shocks customer

A restaurant that has listed a $99 kid's meal has explained the menu option with a stern notice.

The notice was shared by a customer who was surprised at the exorbitant price for what is usually an affordable option for parents of hungry children.

"I was so confused seeing a $99 kids meal," they wrote on Reddit's Kitchen Confidential thread.

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"We no longer offer kid's meals (see description)," the restaurant has titled the notice.

"Too many inconsiderate adults were taking advantage of our inexpensive kid's meals.

"For those who don't know, restaurants generally offer kid's meals at or below cost, meaning they generally lose money on each kid's meal they sell.

"So, when inconsiderate adults ignore the rules and order themselves a kid's meal they're stealing from the restaurant.

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"When the restaurant is a very small business, like ours, it hurts our business."

They ended the post by saying: "We're very sorry for the inconvenience and we hope you understand why we made this difficult choice."

The customer didn't identify the restaurant in question.

Their post triggered a passionate debate about kid's meals among Redditors.

One wondered why the restaurant didn't simply increase the cost of them to cover the cost instead of removing them altogether.

"But.. why not just take it off the menu?" one said.

"Or adjust the price," another added.

"Orrrrr charge more?" agreed another Redditor.

"Like, here's a thought...stop selling them at a loss?" another said.

"Telling your customers that it's their fault that you sell at a loss and also their fault you've had to remove items from the menu ... instead of explaining why kids meals are now double what they were, just put a rant with a $99 price ... like ... how many customers do you plan to alienate, with a kids menu that no longer exists...?"

"I am willing to pay more because sometimes as an adult I just want an appetizer size plate of chicken tenders and fries and it wasn't my intention to scam anyone - a restaurant's prices are up to them, not me," one customer said.

One chef commented: "But most of us also understand that a lot of families won't come to a place where there isn't something smaller that may not break the bank."

Another explained that the issue is with "online ordering".

"Happens at my place, there's no way to police it, we sell kids meals at cost so parents can go out to eat without breaking the bank but people will always take advantage," they said.

"We don't allow customisation at all for the kids stuff though. I think that helps discourage people ordering it online (since those orders tend to be the most picky/customised)."

One customer explained they preferred the kid's meal due to the serving size.

"Honestly a normal entree is about thirty percent too much food for me," they said. "I don't need a burger the size of my head plus eight pounds of greasy fries I'm gonna crap out thirty minutes la that'll leave me with an upset tummy for hours.

"Let me split an entree with my wife, or just let me order off the kids menu if I'm by myself."

Another customer shared: "Once had a restaurant tell me that my wife and I couldn't split the $25 fajitas as a quick bite in the afternoon because 'only the $40 fajitas are for two.' Walked out. If you think profit/time losses suck, with food, have fun busing and resetting that table because that is what a loss looks like."

"Why is the restaurant treating a kids meal as a loss leader to begin with? I don't think the adults of a family are going to spend more because the kid's meal is less," one Redditer said.

"They aren't going to spend more, because the kids meals are cheap. But having a kid's menu makes it more likely people won't avoid the restaurant altogether, because the kids won't have something to eat," added another.

Another concluded: "I don't think accusing your own customers of scamming you just for ordering off the menu is very valid. Seems like the owner has a very unhealthy passive aggressive relationship with their customer base. I feel like a lot of people will roll their eyes and consider eating elsewhere.

"They should just take it off the menu if it's not profitable. 'This is your fault for trying to cheat me out of money' is not a good pr move."

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