Appetizers Before Dinner

Jules

Jules

SF VIP
Do you serve appetizers before dinner very often? I will do it if I have company. It doesn’t seem necessary, just a custom that makes extra work.

There are a few people I know who do this every evening, often with a cocktail. They tend to eat later in the evening.

If we go to a restaurant, we never order appetizers. Our family always do and then they never eat their full entree. It sure does drive up the cost at the end.

When I belonged to some groups or clubs, the most popular potluck was appetizers. I do love them, just don’t make them often.
 

I don't have that issue because I don't entertain. :LOL: The last time I did anything close was when my husband and I hosted an informal Sleepy Hollow Season 2 premiere party. In attendance was my son, oldest grandson and a friend of his who was also a staunch fan. My appetizers were individual bags of a variety of chips. Dinner was "catered" by my husband as he brought home individual dinners from his take out restaurant. This is a "dry" house, so we had sodas and water.

As far as your question, I guess it would depend on your guests. If you know they could care less about appetizers, especially if the meal will be big or heavy, then it's alright to skip that part. Then again, if the meal will be served later (or is late due to some unforeseen circumstance, then appetizers would be nice. My sister used to host parties and Sunday dinners all the time. I don't remember her ever serving appetizers but sometimes I'd have to eat something when the wait was extended because well.."diabetic lady has to eat".
 

I like appetizers but it's either an appetizer or a meal for me. I can't eat both and I tend to see them as a way for a restaurant to make extra money.

It's been years since I served them at home for guests and only when alcohol was going to be served. I don't serve alcohol anymore or entertain either. Life does get easier as I age. :ROFLMAO:
 
Yes, I like appetizers before a meal if I'm entertaining. Especially when guests are drinking cocktails, it helps so they don't get snockered before dinner is served. I would serve a little appetizer, even if it was just for my husband and me, if dinner was going to be later than usual, so the poor man wouldn't starve to death waiting for it.

I rarely order an appetizer or dessert at a restaurant unless I know they serve small main portions. I mean, how much can I eat? Besides, desserts often look better than they actually taste.

When going out with a group of friends, to save on the overall dinner bill, we'd meet at my house, have a few appetizers, and have one drink before heading out to the restaurant. After dinner, we'd head back to my house for coffee and dessert. People seemed to like that and appreciated not having to order everything from soup to nuts. Most had to hire a babysitter for the evening, so it was nice to be able to cut down on the cost of dinner out.
 
We don't have appetizers at home because I couldn't cook things like the fried calamari, onion rings or fried pickles we order when we go out. We typically eat most of the appetizer, then take half the entree home to eat at another time. As for preparing dinners for company, I haven't done it in years. We have wine, crackers, cheese, etc. at the house while we catch up... then we go out for real food.
 
seadoug said:
We don't have appetizers at home because I couldn't cook things like the fried calamari, onion rings or fried pickles we order when we go out. We typically eat most of the appetizer, then take half the entree home to eat at another time. As for preparing dinners for company, I haven't done it in years. We have wine, crackers, cheese, etc. at the house while we catch up... then we go out for real food.
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Oh man, you mentioned fried calamari, I gotta story to tell about that- went to a cool little place on Hospitality Lane called the Rice Bowl. Saw Tempura(fried) Calamari on the menu ordered it and it was outstanding. Light, crispy, not greasy. Well, later on I spotted some frozen Calamari at Trader Joe's, I'm thinkin'- I can do this! Grabbed a package of the Calamari, found some Tempura batter mix and headed home.
What a mess, I followed all the instructions to a "T", but I think the downfall was that my Sunbeam deep fryer wasn't getting hot enough, should have been 375 F, but only got to 325 F. 🤨 Tossed it all in the trash...had Jack in the Box for dinner. :rolleyes:
 
I'm going back to very early days, when we met up with a couple of friends at a night restaurant. In those days they always served two bread rolls with the meals. We'd usually start eating the rolls and never heard of appetisers and then got stuck into the main course. We could hardly finish it off. I never ate dessert. The guy's got stuck into the drinks, I don't know how they
could drink so much.
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