This link has a pic of the fish I was talking about. There is usually a nice specimen on a bed of ice greeting the diners as they walk in. 
My husband and I have long joked that you could hand us a menu from any restaurant and we would pick the same entree 90% of the time. We just like the same kinds of food. And while we are happy to eat family style or share small plates if thatās the style of the restaurant, we donāt typically share at most restaurants. So in our later years we go with āorder what you want to eatā. We love tasting menus where we get to try a lot of things, but we both are having the same thing.
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My strategy used to be to order entrees containing black olives, because Iām the only person in my family who likes them. It was my way of making sure I got to eat my leftovers.
Unfortunately it doesnāt work anymore - H and I had personal pizzas recently. He ate his entire pizza, I only ate half of mine and looked forward to the leftovers. Guess what - H has decided that black olives on pizza arenāt that bad, after all, and ate my leftovers!
If we get small plates to shareā¦I ask the servers to please bring serving utensils for each item.
We are the total opposite, when we order Chinese, Thai, Greek, Indian, sushi - always family style. Iād rather have a few bites of everything than a whole plate of one thing. It also cuts down on waste, with 7 of us there would probably be a lot of leftovers.
Our favorite restaurant only has a tasting menu, my husband and I order different things and split them in half. When we all go out to eat itās a tasting free for all. We all eat pretty much everything.
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Lol I went at least 10 years without eating a donut, but my online grocery order had a mistake and gave me 6 assorted donuts instead of bagels. I immediately ate a quarter of 1 and left the knife do others could eat quarters, I donāt think Iāve ever had a whole donut (but definitely 4 quarters of different ones, over a period of time). I remember doing the same back in the day when I worked in offices.
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Im happy to share at the restaurant but any leftovers I bring home are hands off!!
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We order what we like and share if we want to. We eat out a lot, so thereās no set rule other than when we travel we canāt eat anywhere we could eat at home (restaurant chains). Weāre quite adventurous eaters, so rarely eat anything we could get at home if weāre in a different area of the planet. Besides sharing food, weāll also share drinks and utensils, so are the opposite of some on this thread.
Another complete opposite was a person I met at a beach recently who had come to Puerto Rico (first time) and stopped at McDonaldās for breakfastā¦ To come so far for a trip to waste a meal on McDonaldās baffles my mind. There are oodles of typical fast food places here. Weāve been here for over two weeks and havenāt stopped at a single one. We have discovered a fair number of small gems though!
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When I was a kid, I used to get maple nut goodies and boston baked beans from the candy store so I wouldnāt have to share.
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These threads are really good ones to know who should or shouldnāt travel together if we ever arrange a CC travel group!
No āgroupā is wrong, but we sure are different. Humans have a lot of variety.
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While my kids and I like sharing -or at least tasting - I always make it clear and ok for anyone to opt out and have their own order/dish! But to be honest, sometimes the amount of food served is so much if we each get our own entree that there is so much food leftover. Ok, if youāre taking it home but if traveling and at a hotel or whatever not always convenient and can be wasteful.
We each order what we want and generally each eat our own. Occasionally if I canāt finish and we arenāt going to be able to refrigerate leftovers any time soon I ask H if he wants to finish mine. When weāre at a new place and order different things as soon as the meal arrives I look over his meal to see if I wish Iād ordered it instead, which happens sometimes. Then I sometimes ask if I can sample it.
Not exactly the question asked but, usually the friends we go out to eat with each couple or single pays for their own meal. Sometimes we order appetizers for the table and whoever ordered will pay with us roughly taking turns or just someone being generous. H and I know our budget and order accordingly. Recently we went out to eat with relatives we donāt see often and they ordered alcoholic drinks (we never do), appetizers and a couple of us ordered dessert (I ordered a lesser priced entree because I wanted to order dessert). Then they suggested we just split the check by 3 (3 couples). So the next day when we went out together again I ordered wine and the pricey entree I wanted since I knew Iād only be paying for 1/3 of it. 
But, I prefer the split by what one ate personally method.
Normally, I offer whomever is at my able a taste if my food before I have started eating. Most of the time thatās it. H and I will often split a salad and each have our own entree and split dessert. If there is interesting appetizers, we may order separate appetizers and split them split entree and depending on dessert menu, split of each have our own.
Invariably for Chinese food itās family style unless folks make it clear by their order they arenāt sharing (eg bowl of soup with wonton and noodles, etc). Normally they will say something beforehand, since it would be exception instead of the norm.
With my female relatives and friends, we always discussādo we want to split two entrees of do our own thing? Often we choose to split and order one salad-type enteee and one hot main course type.
Iām happy to share and we do it when dish arrives, before anyone has started eating it.
While my husband and I are both adventurous eaters heās more adventurous than I am, heāll go straight for the pigās cheeks, the chicken feet, the sweetbreads etc. I encourage him to order the weird stuff and I always get at least a taste. We tend to order different things and trade half way through each course. For things like Chinese, Indian or sushi we always share - and ditto with our youngest and his wife. (Our oldest is such a picky eater that we let him order something he think he can eat and let him eat it by himself.)
Iām not offended if you think sharing is disgusting especially outside of the immediate family.
My H eats gluten-free, and we also do not mix meat and dairy (our eating habits are vaguely kosher 
), so sometimes we end up eating different things that are incompatible for sharingā¦ But everyone in our family PREFERS to share, so we usually try to order compatible things (everything GF, and either all vegan + dairy, or all vegan + meat).
We own a restaurant. Many places will have several signature dishes they are known for. We always recommend first-time diners try those dishes. Also, when we eat out, itās a question we will ask our server.
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We donāt mind sharing. I usually have a weekly lunch date out with my husband and we almost always share. At one place we get one entree split and a side split. At that place we will split a cookie for dessert. Another regular spot is a local Mexican restaurant and we get two different things and split. If we are dining out in a large group we will usually split a salad and each order an entree.
Lol about the donuts. My husband is very careful about what he eats and Iāve never seen him eat an entire donut. I on the other hand could eat several. We joke that his idea of a birthday dessert is one cupcake cut into four pieces.
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Iāve never thought about any of this stuff when I go out to eat. I order what I want without consulting anyone else. If youāre interested in what Iām eating Iāll be happy to give you some. But I probably wonāt want to try yours because I got what I want. I might have a glass of wine but I might not. Iām unlikely to have dessert unless you want to stop at Andyās on the way home.
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Oh, I mean Iām cutting the donuts into quarters but I can also manage to eat plenty of quarters! (Lol, at least 4 to equal a full donut!)
Good donuts are probably a top 10 food for me.
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