Diners shocked to discover real reason why restaurants share free bread

I’m sure you, dear reader, are well aware of how restaurants work, but just in case there are any of us who haven’t been to one since the pandemic and have rather forgotten how it works, they often offer you free bread at the beginning.

Getting a roll and butter so cold and hard it tears your bread helps tide you over until your real food arrives, because everyone knows the worst part of eating out is that horrible dead space between ordering and eating.

It’s nice of a restaurant to offer you a little snack to keep you going, but on the other hand, there are other reasons why a place that exists to sell you meals might give away food for free.

The latest person to talk about it is a TikToker who goes by the name @cowgirl.crystal.

She explained that eating bread means “your blood sugar spikes and so you’re very hungry.”

A bigger appetite might help tip the balance between whether or not you order an appetizer, and the social pressure of not all sitting around a table while one person enjoys their antipasto might prompt the rest of the guests to order more dishes than intended.

If you want to avoid this, you should eat your damn vegetables, that is, stock up on foods rich in fiber.

The TikToker wasn’t the only one explaining the scientific reasons why restaurants give you free bread.

On Food Republic, they explained that gorging on bread and salty butter can also make you thirstier and lead you to order an extra drink.

Meanwhile, they added that even if you eat bread ahead of time and feel like you’ve stuffed yourself prematurely, that feeling will wear off in about an hour “just in time for you to be hungry again for dessert.”

There have been many a meal where the table has collectively agreed to forgo dessert, only for a second hunger pang to set in and lead you to decide that yes, you will have the sticky toffee pudding with a scoop of ice cream on the side after all.

“Hey, ever wonder why they give out free food?” “Shut up and pass me the butter.” (Getty Stock Photo)

Of course, this goes beyond simple biology, as a restaurant that gives you something for free is more likely to make you feel happy and think well of that place.

It’s a topic that’s been discussed a lot over the years, and one person who worked in a restaurant said it was because customers were “a little grumpy” when they were hungry, and it just helped to calm things down.

Someone else who had worked in the industry said that people who ate the bread were likely to “throw a little wine on it”, and that the profit margins on wine were greater than on a bun.

However, many people commenting on the TikTok video insisted that the idea didn’t really work for them, as it made them feel “full” and “barely able to eat their meal” if they were full beforehand.

Do you believe in the so-called scientific and psychological theories behind the free bread distribution in restaurants, or do you believe that there is no such thing as a free meal?