Sadly, we have news about a popular restaurant trend that doesn't involve tasty new foods.
Have you noticed that your favorite local eatery has stopped offering dessert specials? Or your server just seems really reluctant to ask if you want a slice of cake after your meal? It sounds paranoid, but you could be right.
The reason behind this weird behavior is desserts just don't make money for most restaurants. And there are a number of reasons why.
First and foremost, customers love to share a small dessert, and any menu item with the cost split between two people is bad news for a restaurant owner.
Economics professor Tyler Cowen also told the Washington Post that people have a very tight mental limit for how much they'll pay for dessert.
"Dessert needs good ingredients to taste good, but you can't psychologically convince people to pay even $20 for dessert," he explains.
Ordering dessert can also double your meal time, and the restaurant business demands tables "flip" to new customers quickly, to keep money and tips flowing.
More and more restaurants are eliminating dessert from their menu entirely, but there's a good reason they shouldn't.
Not only is dessert going away, the meal's unpopularity is driving restaurants to serve worse dishes.
Since the kitchen space, money, and time to create high quality dessert isn't worth it, more and more chains and local restaurants have switched to serving frozen cakes and pies by the slice.
But there's a worthwhile reason to keep dessert around: romance.
Studies by Purdue University found that people have a more positive feeling about their relationships while eating something sweet or sugary.
If you're on a first date, it's not a bad idea to enjoy a coffee and share something sweet after your meal. Of course, you may have to bug your server to make them hand over the dessert menu.
Do you order dessert when you go out for a meal?
[H/T: Washington Post]