The Chips And Salsa Mistake You're Probably Making At Mexican Restaurants

One of the best parts of going to a sit-down Mexican restaurant is the free chips and salsa. Foodies should feel equally as "free" to dig in. Eating-out is a treat, after all, and salsa always seems to taste better in a restaurant than at home. But, if you're filling up on the chips and salsa, you're doing it wrong. 

From a business standpoint, offering the complementary appetizer is (perhaps counterintuitively) a profitable tool. Tortilla chips and salsa sit at a uniquely advantageous intersection for restaurants: light enough to avoid dampening patrons' appetites, yet flavorful enough to stoke their palates and prime the taste buds for greater enjoyment of the meal to come. Still, there are roughly 286 calories per two-ounce serving of chips and salsa. Not enough to kill an appetite, but a substantial snack. Overdoing it on the appetizer might cause you to order more food than you need — which can be awesome if you love leftovers. "Hooray" for chimichangas two nights in a row! 

However, if not (or if you're going someplace after dinner, and won't be able to pop those leftovers in the fridge within a two-hour window), then over-ordering can be an unfortunate way to generate food waste. Those tasty chips and salsa are also a sly tool that helps restaurants upsell in the beverage department. After snacking through a whole basket of salty chips, patrons are more likely to order a second (or third) drink that they might not have ordered otherwise. 

"Osmotic thirst" occurs when the blood concentration of salts and minerals increases, thereby stimulating the brain to tell the body to drink something refreshing. In other words, after housing a generous serving of chips and salsa, the brain is biologically screaming that, yes, you really do need that second marg, actually. Don't get us wrong, we're all about splitting a pitcher with a friend during Happy Hour. But, if you're ordering multiple full-price frozen margaritas during peak dinnertime hours, don't be shocked when your bill is $20 higher than normal.

"Oh," says the budget-minded foodie, "No problem. I'll just stick to water." Not so fast! Water isn't effective for quelling the mouth-burn induced by spicy foods, like salsa. The active "spicy" ingredient is capsaicin, a chemical compound found in chili peppers, and it isn't water soluble. Chugging a glass of water doesn't actually clear any of that capsaicin out of the mouth. In fact, a gulp of water can actually further distribute those particles across the mouth, making the burn feel worse. Instead, acidic drinks like lime juice can effectively break down capsaicin. When the salsa spiciness gets uncomfortable, if there's a margarita or daiquiri within reach on the table, your brain is going to tell you to grab it over the water glass. By all means, chow down on those chips as you please. Just be prepared to leave room for the entree, and potentially to pay for an extra beverage.