Customers Spot Cutbacks

[Food Network Fan]

Customers Spot Cutbacks

Many restaurants are responding to the ongoing recession with cost-cutting tricks. So we asked AOL users to share examples of what they are seeing when dining out.

Click through our gallery to see the money-saving maneuvers they reported: some sneaky, some forthright and some just plain disgusting. Keep in mind that these are individual claims of personal experiences and may or may not be reflective of the actual policy at any of the restaurants mentioned.

First Up:Shrinking Bread Basket

[Bentley Green]

There's this Chinese restaurant in Newton that a friend and I go to about two or three times a week. He had invited me to go there with him last night for a few drinks after we ate dinner at a BBQ place in Brookline.

I was going to go there with him, but then I thought about what they did there the night before. They've been skimping back on the heat - calling themselves saving money, I guess. In the meantime, people are practically freezing themselves half to death there because they keep on turning off the heat, but they leave the fan on whith brings in cold air, making it so unbearable there!

They got an ancient antiquated heating system that needs to be replaced, but they're not going to spend the money for it! Pennywise, pound foolish.

The bartenders gather in a corner at the back of the restaurant and gab, leaving the customers without service for long periods. The food is great, but the service leaves much to be desired.

But anyway, I just got so sick and tired of them playing games with the heat!!

[BerryBaby]

I just wouldn't go back there. Why put yourself through the aggravation?

[Pluff Mudder]

There's this Chinese restaurant in Newton that a friend and I got to about two or three times a week.

Two to three times in one week?!? That's about what we eat out in a whole year.

[BerryBaby]

When do find time to use all those appliances?

[Pluff Mudder]

Maybe that's why they last so long (like the mixer). They don't get much wear and tear.

[Bentley Green]

That's mainly to hav a few drinks - once a week to eat there. But I was thinking about waiting for the warm weather, maybe in the spring where it's not so blasted cold.

And BTW, the 1st K'Aid Mixer DID get a real roughhouse workout for most of its 22 years that I had it, and it's STILL working great. I just used it the other day to make a batter for banana bread.

[Gabriel Miller]

Wife and I went to the California Pizza Kitchen last week. The Avocado club rolls we get as appetizers had almost not avocado in it and the BLT Pizza had bare lettuce with almost no dressing.

We go there every few weeks and order the same thing quite often so the change was obvious.

Not as much of a change but we have both started to order water with our rinks. $2.49 for a glass of iced tea or diet Coke is a rip-off no matter how many times they refill it for you.

[Bentley Green]

A friend and myself usually spend weekends in Providence.

And at the bars, it costs just as much for a glass of Coke as it does for a drink made with alcohol!

[bakerman]

Wife and I went to the California Pizza Kitchen last week. The Avocado club rolls we get as appetizers had almost not avocado in it and the BLT Pizza had bare lettuce with almost no dressing.

We go there every few weeks and order the same thing quite often so the change was obvious.

Not as much of a change but we have both started to order water with our rinks. $2.49 for a glass of iced tea or diet Coke is a rip-off no matter how many times they refill it for you.

We do the same thing, order water. Most places here are well over $2 for a soft drink which is insane. There is one Chinese place that charges $1 I will order a sweet tea there.