I was in Orlando at theme parks for the past week and I had no trouble ordering from the kids menu. I just said I had surgery and could eat very little. If my companion said they could finish my meal as well (teenager!) I would order from the adult menu. Everything was fine until the airport. We had time so we went to Ruby Tuesday since it was the only table service place in our gate area. They gave me the kids menu but said they would charge me $2 to order from it. I asked if the quantity was the same. Yes. So the only difference was my age. Yes. Sounds like age discrimination to me. The manager confirmed the charge but he couldn't produce it in writing. I've left messages with Ruby Tuesday's corporate office but it is the weekend so I don't expect to hear right away.

Has anyone else run into a charge for ordering from the kid's menu?

My doctor gave me a card (at my pre Op appt) that requests us to order from the kids menu or order 1/2 size entree at no additional charge. It's on the back of his business card and also states to please call the office if there are any issues with this request!

Restaurants can honor the card for a half portion or let you order off the kids menu as a COURTESY, but they aren't obligated to do so. There isn't any law that says bariatric patients get special consideration from eating establishments. They are free to set their own policies.

It's not "age discrimination", lol. You aren't 12 or under, right? People go out to eat more when it's not going to cost a fortune to bring their kids along, hence the kids menu.

Eating establishments are free to set up any specials they want in order to draw in more business or please their customer base. Ladies Night, senior specials, kids menu, two-for-one, etc. What they can't do is charge fat people double, etc because that's discrimination.

I was in Orlando at theme parks for the past week and I had no trouble ordering from the kids menu. I just said I had surgery and could eat very little. If my companion said they could finish my meal as well (teenager!) I would order from the adult menu. Everything was fine until the airport. We had time so we went to Ruby Tuesday since it was the only table service place in our gate area. They gave me the kids menu but said they would charge me $2 to order from it. I asked if the quantity was the same. Yes. So the only difference was my age. Yes. Sounds like age discrimination to me. The manager confirmed the charge but he couldn't produce it in writing. I've left messages with Ruby Tuesday's corporate office but it is the weekend so I don't expect to hear right away.

Has anyone else run into a charge for ordering from the kid's menu?

I went to Sam's St Johns and was told I couldn't order off the kids menu. It was in the evening and they said I could order of the seniors menu but you have to pay $1.50 more after 4:00pm. Money is more important than customers. They also said it was a family run restaurant.

UPDATE....

I received an email back from Ruby Tuesday corporate office and they said...

"We have consulted with our corporate officers and agreed that we had a pricing structure policy in effect that is outdated and needs to be changed.

We will honor the children's menu pricing to any adult that would like to choose an item for the same portion. Please accept our sincere apologies."

I am happy with their quick response and their realization that diners want more options these days. And on the other plus size, my teen-age child who was with me at the restaurant realizes that one person can make a difference. She is anxious when there is conflict, but I showed her all I did was make a request and when it was denied, thanked the manager for his time and took the issue to where it could be fixed. I explained to her that when something is wrong we need to speak up.

They offered me a gift certificate but I don't think we have that restaurant around here so perhaps they will honor a request to comp a meal for a soldier or some other sharing program.

I look over the kids menus at different restaurants and can't find anything I could eat if I wanted to! Everything is fried and the grease kills me! Grilled cheese sandwich (can't have bread), corn dog (fried), macaroni and cheese (can't have pasta), spaghetti (pasta), French fries (no potatoes, no fried), hot dog (no bread), etc....

So, I end up ordering a grilled chicken Caesar salad and eat about 1/3 of it, or a bunless hamburger and also eat 1/3.

That's a lot of trouble to go through to save $2.00. My advice, just pay the $2.00 or go to a different restaurant.

Restaurants are in business to make money and if it were me, I'd charge a sharing fee or more for an adult, even if they have had surgery.

Order from the main menu and have them box half of it before it comes to the table. I'd never ask to order from a kids menu, I'm not a child

UPDATE....

I received an email back from Ruby Tuesday corporate office and they said...

"We have consulted with our corporate officers and agreed that we had a pricing structure policy in effect that is outdated and needs to be changed.

We will honor the children's menu pricing to any adult that would like to choose an item for the same portion. Please accept our sincere apologies."

I am happy with their quick response and their realization that diners want more options these days. And on the other plus size, my teen-age child who was with me at the restaurant realizes that one person can make a difference. She is anxious when there is conflict, but I showed her all I did was make a request and when it was denied, thanked the manager for his time and took the issue to where it could be fixed. I explained to her that when something is wrong we need to speak up.

They offered me a gift certificate but I don't think we have that restaurant around here so perhaps they will honor a request to comp a meal for a soldier or some other sharing program.

I am glad it worked out. That was nice of them to reply right away and get it straightened out. It never hurts to ask, I applaud you.

Yes it was. Normally I would have ordered from the adult menu but since I was at the airport and would be flying then driving for hours taking leftovers wouldn't work. And since we were at the airport this was the best of the food options. However since I travel prepared I pulled out my blender bottle and made two protein drinks while my companion ate. And as the saying goes, it is not the $2, it is just wrong. Since this restaurant isn't in my area I would never visit again but I wanted them to rethink their policy. Which they did.

Good for you!

If you understood the failure rate for restaurants and the extremely low margins - you'd gladly pay the $2.

The vast majority of restaurants fail and if you read the news, you know that includes large chains. Restaurants are extremely price sensitive and don't charge more than they need to in order to survive for the most part. Massive chains are struggling right now and thousands of people are in jeopardy of losing their jobs. I read that Ruby Tuesday lost $22M in just the first quarter of 2014. Currently they recovered a bit and operate at a little over a 5% margin. I don't think they were trying to steal from you by charging you as an able paying adult.

They had that policy in place for a reason. They don't make money, and possibly lose it, on kids' meals that are in place only so that parents will come and eat there. In addition, service staff also makes their living on tips. A tip of 20% of nothing is nothing. Yet the server did the same amount of work for that cheap child's meal. Servers are some of the lowest earning hardest working people on the planet.

As for going back to them? I don't think they really want your business. They have a professional customer service department that is trained to respond the way they did. If they have too many customers like you, they'll be bankrupt by next year.

The manager at that store probably works the industry average of 70 hours a week. He is responsible to maintain his stores "numbers" including customer discount percentages. He probably got a nice little "Merry Christmas" message from corporate, too, just to make his day.

Customers in restaurants, in my opinion, shouldn't eat there if they can't afford to pay the asking price. Complaints should come from rude service, poor quality or unsanitary conditions and not "purse allergies."

I apologize if I am coming across as harsh or even rude. The restaurant business is super tough - and I think asking for special treatment as if we are disabled or something because we had an elective surgery is unfair to all of those working in it at all levels.

You

This is why I'd never order off a kid's menu (and yes, I have the card and will never use it.) I'm an adult and will order accordingly...whether I eat 4 bites, or the entire plate like I used to.

If every person who had WLS, or just wanted a "light meal" order off a kids menu, where would that leave the restaurants? Also, as a former server, I assume most people tip off the final bill...the bill with the kids items and tip from that.

It's NOT discrimination. That shouldn't be thrown around when there are serious, sometimes deadly issues, of discrimination in this country far outreaching a simple restaurant policy.

For me, personally, I don't want to be treated any different for having WLS, a surgery I elected to have, anymore than I wanted to be treated differently before the surgery.