Portion Sizes for Plates??

It depends. Some restaurants think of a portion as say 12oz. If you order BBQ alone, you get 12oz of it. If you order BBQ and smoked sausage, you get 6oz of each, or if you order BBQ, Smoked sausage, and beef brisket, you'll get 4oz of each. That way, a plate costs the same no matter what usually, unless you have a premimun item that carries a surcharge.

Or you could use say 8oz as your base portion(around her, most BBQ restaurants offer regular and large BBQ plates, usually 5 and 8oz respectivly), then add portions based on weight, with increasing prices as number of items goes up. Things like chicken and ribs in my opinion don't lend themselves to portion by weight usually, so get a good idea of your food cost and price accordingly.

I tend to think of 8oz as being a good starting point for a BBQ plate. Add another item and drop the BBQ to 5oz. If you add another item, I'd still leave the BBQ at 5oz and price the third item based on cost of highest possible option.

Some of your portion sizes will also depend on plate size too. Plate coverage is important for the customers sense of "value", so what you need to offer may depend as much on appearance as it does just feeding people. There can be a big difference between a 10" plate and a 9" plate.

Todd,
Thank you for this. I think it will help us too.
Peggy

I agree with Todd on the plate coverage. Looking at what size plates, or baskets you're going to use is very crucial. In my restaurant in Taiwan, customers want to feel they are getting good value for the money more than anything. I would rather have just a tad too much, than not enough. I always build in my cost into my portions whatever the dish. Whether they finish or not, you still make your margin. One thing I've found, if they take some home in a "doggie bag" the customers frame of mind is " hey that was good meal and a fair price "
take care all, Steve.

Some of the best meals are from the doggie bags. And if they take them to work for lunch the next day, you get a little advertising there! Word of mouth is a wonderful advertising tool.
Peggy

I think the 8oz. and 5oz. for 1 and 2 meat platters is a great jumping off point especially since we are probably talking about cooked product portions. The importance of Perceived Value is probably a subject that we could write a book about. BUT if you over portion for the sake of plate coverage, you have to make sure it is accounted for in your food costs. If it's not, then your customers will think that you're a great deal right until you close the doors. And then they'll say that they didn't see how could stay in business with those prices. It is a thin tightrope to walk.

just my .02
Mark

i want to add my thoughts to this...... i have been battling with it from day one. look at both sides of the coin. the most popular conception is heavy sides, heavy entres, you should look at your customer base before you decide. first, will your base have alot of regulars or alot of passerbys? second, will they have to travel far or short distance?. now you are probably asking why....... i will start with regulars: if they have to travel far, chances are they wont come often, so sell them the most you can each visit meaning heavy sides, heavy entre, even a dessert or 2. if they only have a short distance to travel to get to your place then only feed them lightly, and they will crave it more often and come back more frequently. makes sense, right?
now as for passerbys, look at what other businesses are around you and what they are selling. also, look at who is the busiest during lunch and afternoon. this will tell you what the crowd wants. if the are hitting the dollar menu then have a light meal light price for them. if they are doing the sit down restuarant then you can go the heavy meal ticket. when its all said and done, none of it means a hill of beans...
yea, i guess i think about this subject too much.
anyway, we decided to go with the heavy plate, as we are off the beaten path and get less often return visits. our average customer expenditure is just over 10 dollars, which means we do half the work of a place who is selling 5 dollar plates. yea, that means lower labor cost, higher yeild at the bottom of the p n l. ok, enough for now.......later