Question: why is lunch cheaper than dinner?

[Sully]

I recently took a position at a 4 star hotel in catering and I've
noticed the universal fact that lunches are always cheaper than
dinners, even when you are using the exact same menu. My clients will
often ask why they will be paying more for the same menu at 6pm than
they would at 2pm, and I have yet to come up with an acceptable
answer. Does anyone know why? My guess is that it's a service issue,
but no one at work knows either.

[GOBOjoe]

I would say that you are right about the service issue. Not that when
we work during lunch, that we don't give good service, but that the
majority of customers coming in are normally business people. They
want to get a good meal that comes fast and doesn't cost a fortune. It
is quite possible because of having lower prices on your lunch menu,
that the restaurant actually makes more during lunch than at dinner.
That would be interesting to find out...(I'm not sure if any of that
made sense)

[Ratdog]

Typically, lunch is a "quicker, lighter" meal. Dinner being a more "formal"
affair. There are also usually less courses during lunch. Check the portion
sizes. It may be the exact same dish prepared the exact same way but it is
more than likely a smaller portion being offered on the lunch menu.

Post by Sully
I recently took a position at a 4 star hotel in catering and I've
noticed the universal fact that lunches are always cheaper than
dinners, even when you are using the exact same menu. My clients will
often ask why they will be paying more for the same menu at 6pm than
they would at 2pm, and I have yet to come up with an acceptable
answer. Does anyone know why? My guess is that it's a service issue,
but no one at work knows either.

[GOBOjoe]

Some of the items on our lunch menu are the same items that are on our
dinner menu, but the portion is 1/2 the size and the price is only a
dollar ($1) cheaper! But people still buy the lunch portion... I try
to upsell them to the dinner portion, but for some reason people don't
see that they actually save money in the long run...