response 24 of 55:

Jul 30 19:07 UTC 2007

Yep, and with the increasing size of portions being served, the prices
go up as well.   And many people can't eat the whole item/serving in one
sitting [without feeling like  you've over-indulged].  And at the end of
a meal, if you want dessert--who can eat it all  when the serving is as
big as the meal is [and often, big enough for several people to  share].
 Thus, who wants to pay that much for something you can't finish or take
home  with you [in the case of stuff like ice cream based desserts or
with sauces [think  caramel, hot fudge, etc] or whipped cream, because,
if saved til later, the underlying  item will be soggy and/or melted by
the time you get it home].  So servings SHOULD be  smaller and if ya
want more, you can order more.

And the cost of alcoholic beverages are outrageous, especially mixed
drinks. Often, the  prices of one drink is as much as the main dish or
meal.  [And when dining, I tend to  like to wash down my food with more
than one glass of fluid; hence, I rarely get  alcoholic beverages while
dining out. With the exception of an occasional beer.]  With 
non-alcoholic drinks that have free refills, those prices have really
gone up as well.

Hmm, I guess everything has gone up in price...