The Real Reason Restaurants Put Bread and Alcohol on Your Table

Renowned American neurobiologist and psychiatrist Daniel Amen, owner of the Amen Clinics network, warns against falling for restaurateurs’ marketing tricks. His warning is especially relevant during the winter holiday season.
People visiting restaurants over Christmas and New Year’s often don’t think twice about the little traps that can end up costing them.
According to Dr. Amen, most patrons have grown used to waitstaff offering bread and drinks before taking orders. He says that’s more strategy than convenience.
The problem is that eating bread and drinking alcohol before a meal affects the brain and makes it harder to control impulses. Both bread and alcohol trigger serotonin release in the brain and also raise blood glucose. As a result, guests feel happier and more relaxed, the Daily Mail reports. But over time serotonin levels fall, and customers, less able to manage their appetites, end up ordering more food and drinks than they planned.
As Dr. Amen explained, serotonin released after eating bread and drinking alcohol suppresses frontal-lobe function.
The frontal lobe handles higher-order skills such as planning, problem-solving, motivation, judgment, social behavior, and impulse control.
“When you come to a restaurant, the first thing they [the waitstaff] do is put bread on the table and ask if you want alcohol,” Dr. Amen said. “Both of these increase the likelihood that you’ll order more and spend more money.”
Another effect of eating bread before a meal is a sharp spike in blood sugar followed by a rapid drop. The result is similar: it makes a person feel hungrier and prompts them to order more.
In other words, bread and alcohol can cloud your judgment, Dr. Amen noted. Alcohol relaxes you and impairs critical thinking about risks and decisions. So alcohol is a trap for another reason: it can push a tipsy guest to spend significantly more.
At the end of the day, restaurant hospitality is a business. One rule of that business is to make customers feel like valued guests and encourage them to spend money at the establishment.