re: If you owned a restaurant, how would you handle a request for a 1/2 sized entree

So she waited for the plate to arrive at the table and asked for 1/2. GTFO

It's one thing to ask beforehand, but there's no takebacks once the plate arrives.

She's just trying to increase her Q-rating.

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If you want a 1/2 serving of gumbo for 3/4 of the full price, I can do that for you all day.

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Great, so youre open to doing this then.

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Because you didn't suggest that and many menu items can't just be "halfed". Where do you draw the line?

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Have we lost all common sense as a society? Do we no longer possess logic and reasoning? Seriously, one 5 min round table meeting per week with your chef would allow you to determine which meals could be offered in a smaller portion or not.

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Have we lost all common sense as a society?

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Do you not see how much easier it to serve a half portion of a soup/gumbo compared to other things?

It's certainly not about entitlement, it's about service. As a person who makes the 1/2 sized request on occasion, I can tell you that you quickly find out which restaurants care about customer service and which ones hire wait staff who have no critical thinking skills. I never ask for a half-sized entree of some pre-portioned protein item--I understand the difficulty in dividing a steak, or a piece of fish. But it requires very little effort to downsize a pasta entree, or a stew/soupy type item. A decent waiter will understand and appreciate the kitchen's abilities and limitations, and he/she will often say, "no, I can't offer 1/2 of X, but the kitchen can offer you 1/2 portions of Y or Z." I can promise you, places that cheerfully accommodate my requests do indeed secure my repeat business and referrals. If a charge is associated with splitting an entree, or if the 1/2 size portion incurs an upcharge, the waiter has an opportunity to tell me.

If this is hard to figure out, then perhaps the waitperson and kitchen staff should find a new line of work...seriously. It's called the hospitality business, people. Ultimately, all you can do is ask politely, and all the waiter can do is to respond in kind. Hostility, eye rolling, and ugliness are completely unnecessary. Especially in fine dining....I don't want a Cheesecake Factory portion in a place attempting to sell me 3-4 courses of food.

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For fatties. I often can't finish an entire entree so a woman who isnt a cow would def have trouble

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Blanket statements are cool for discussion.

I don't always finish my plate, but you'd be surprised how many do and it's not always fatties.

And I also can't start putting out half plates all day long and just slash prices in half. Hard enough for most restaurants to turn profits as is. Getting 1/2 the revenue from each customer would definitely not be an easy pricing strategy to implement for profitability.

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Especially in fine dining....I don't want a Cheesecake Factory portion in a place attempting to sell me 3-4 courses of food.

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This is a good point. I think some of the differing PsOV in this thread may converge if we decide what type of restaurant we're talking about. A meat and three or Cheesecake Factory type of place is one thing. A fine dining place that puts an emphasis on service may be another.

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Do you not see how much easier it to serve a half portion of a soup/gumbo compared to other things?

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Of course it is. I never said the entire menu has to be cut in half. But when people start saying asinine things like "well how will they sell half a steak....duhhhh". Um, cut the damn thing in half. Of course a duck leg confit over polenta wouldnt be plausible, but people are asking about chicken breasts .

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Do we no longer possess logic and reasoning?

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Honestly, I just wouldn't want to complicate my kitchen even further to put a revenue reducing option on it. It's not just, hey we have a half order of XYX. Inventory, plating, pricing, etc.
Soups come in cup/bowl for a reason. They are easy to half. Most entrees just aren't and it doesn't make sense.

I can't just say hey at the end of Shift X I have all these left over halfed tuna steaks, now I can make tuna tartare. No I have to consider inventory and do I need to run to the market at 5 AM to get extra ingredients so that I can accommodate these half used tuna steaks eaters as well as the prep time to make them and do I have a cook I can use to spend the time prepping this extra item.

So now what happens to the other half of a 12-16 oz steak? Are we assuming someone else is going to order it? Doest it go to waste? What if it was aging?

Ive already answered this.

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No. That's not what she did.

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Missed where it stated "neighboring table". Pardon me.