Myth #5: The breakfasts are fattening and unhealthy.

[Samster]

My response:
Too hard to do a poll on this one, but fattening and unhealthy are in the eye of the beholder. I don't do cook to order breakfasts, and I don't do low fat options. I am not a dietition, I cook for 12+ people at once, and unless an allergy, they get a delicious homecooked breakfast. If they want to add butter to their pancakes, that is up to them. .

We don't do 'healthy' and we've been told that by guests who are on strict rationing of calories. You're not getting a low fat, low carb, low sugar hunk of cardboard on the plate here. We believe in flavors, fats, sugar, fruit! If you're 'dieting' or 'don't eat that' then don't eat that!
I've seen scathing reviews going both ways...'health food crap' and 'a plate of carbs and butter'. We've been told our portions are too large and not enough and just right.
C'mon people, you're on vacation. Relax the rigidity for 2 days already.
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Speaking of rigidity... of course you have the right to serve whatever you want in your B&B, but what about bending the rules a little bit to accomodate guests? You can have different options, so even the uptight, health food lovers can have their share.
A little bit of this and a little bit of that would be the perfect balance - even in the personal diet, I believe. Nobody needs to either starve with tasteless food or eat 3 pounds of bacon every day
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Sometimes innkeepers will ask if I'm on a certain diet/food concerns. Yes, I'm diabetic ...AND THEY SERVE... cinnamon rolls, regular French Toast with regular syrup or bread pudding as the main course...!
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And then there are the innkeepers like most here who do their level best to provide a beautifully presented, tasty, healthy breakfast for whatever dietary restriction the guest has and they don't touch it but wolf down the yummy (insert whatever they shouldn't eat here) instead. It is a conundrum. You just have to do the best you can do!
I had many diabetic guests clean out the complimentary candy dish in the common area after I went to the trouble to have lovely gourmet sugar-free turn down treats on their pillows... ;-)

 

[Samster]

We serve a big hearty breakfast, but it's not anything fancy that you'd see in a magazine or guest chef column. We have alot of people tell us that they are able to skip lunch because the breakfast lasted them all day - that's a compliment and added value as we're saving them money in our expensive little town. And for the most part we get back empty plates.
If someone asked for just toast, I'd see that as a food-cost savings and one less plate I'd have to prepare. On a full day we have 16+ at the table at once, so one less is nice when we're scrambling to feed everyone.
I, too, believe that they're on vacation so they expect to break diets. I'd definitely give healthier versions of what everyone else is getting if I was asked ahead of time..

Toast only throws a spanner into the mix. a deviation. I buy the food for the guests, so it is not a cost saver for me. I had an email today asking for grits. They are here one night on this holiday long weekend and want grits. I don't serve grits.
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I can't believe that you don't serve grits!

We didn't serve them that much, but people always asked about them. I never served grits as a hot cereal type of thing. Fancy cheesy grits as a side.
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Samster, you must be in the South. We served grits (hubby insisted) and the guest refused them. Nobody has asked about them. Not that they aren't good. I've never developed a taste for them, but probably wouldn't turn them down.
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Not just the South, MM, the Deep South! My husband is from the NE and he still doesn't understand what grits are. He is not a fan. Haha...
When I served them, if guests just gave them a try, that was OK by me. Many folks just want to sample what the local fare is. ;-)

 

[Generic]

No gluten, no dairy, etc. I get all the time. I can not remember the last time I had someone ask for a 'healthy' breakfast. I'm not exaggerating....it's been at least 5-6 years!.

About 5-10 percent ask for healthy. Hubby usually gives them a full breakfast anyway. Fruit course, bread course which may include fruit, and meat with two sides.
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We have guests who say they want to eat 'healthy' and I have to wonder WTH that means? What do they want? I have no idea. Makes me crazy when people aren't specific.
We had a bunch of vegans a few weeks ago who went out of our way to cook for but, of course, at dinner they ate what they wanted. Diabetics are another group we have trouble with- some adjust their meds to compensate, some look at me with withering contempt when I put a bowl of fruit in front of them, some say, 'I'm on vacation, I'll eat anything!' How are we supposed to know which kind of diabetic we're getting? I have one who brings her own food. Another who announces her blood count at the table before telling me it's either ok or not to have a pancake.
Lactose intolerant is the same. Some people compensate, others mean they can't drink milk but it's ok cooked in food, others say no dairy products in any form.
Guests have to be more specific if a food will cause them distress. Last year we started pinning guests down during the booking process...'What does that mean in terms of breakfast food?' And, of course, the 'other' person was making the rez so they didn't really know what it meant. We go over it again at check-in.
But we still get the ones who turn the food down at the table. Those who never mentioned a thing about not liking eggs get served eggs. Can't eat bread? You're gonna get pancakes, it's almost a given you're going to get what you can't eat if you don't tell us!
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What drives me crazy are the people who say they are lactose intolerant but don't actually know what is low in lactose and what isn't. The higher the fat, the lower the lactose. And fermented items (as long as milk solids aren't added) are low lactose as well, so yogurt is usually fine. But we go out of our way to get them coconut milk or almond milk yogurt. We even get them lactose free milk or almond/rice milk.