When I eat dinner at my house or my family's house or a friend's house, we never eat salad before the meal.  And for good reason:  Eating something before the main meal ruins (actually it satisfies) your appetite, and eating cold food before hot food means the hot food will cool down before you start eating it (obviously undesirable).  But at restaurants, eating a salad before the meal is the norm.  Why?  Who knows.  Meals at restaurants are oversized as it is.  Why should I half-fill my stomach with leafy vegetables and garlic toasted bread cubes, and then try to fit a meal-for-two in a stomach-of-one?  It's just stupid.  A solution to this problem is to ask for the salad after the meal.  I usually get a weird look from the waiter followed by a "No problem" because waiters know that extra questions mean a smaller tip.  A different solution to this problem would be to offer smaller portions.  Maybe I don't eat quite as much as the average fat American (though I try my hardest).  I wouldn't mind paying 3/4 the price for 3/4 the amount of food.  That sounds like a fair trade to me. #food