This seems counterintuitive. So why do restaurants do this?
There are several theories. The most compelling one has to do with tradition. When restaurants and bistros served only one meal with expensive proteins, allowing customers to eat bread meant they would eat less of the more expensive entrees. When menus began to offer more variety, people still wanted bread.
That tradition continues to this day. At the Cheesecake Factory, tables are constantly filled with their "black bread," an increasingly popular sweet concoction that is eventually packaged and sold in stores.
Others speculate that restaurateurs wanted to keep consumers from getting hungry while waiting for their orders to arrive, a slang term for the irritability associated with hunger.
A more plausible culinary explanation is that offering bread is an opportunity for restaurants to combine hospitality with freshly baked bread as an introduction. "I've always liked to bring out the bread and water right away, and I think it's an opportunity to make a really good first impression," Portland chef Chris Israel told Star Chefs in 2011. Israel added that the cost is amortized by repurposing leftover bread in the form of bread cubes.
Restaurants may not care much about customers eating bread. You'll notice that most bread baskets are white and unrefined. White flour is a simple carbohydrate that may actually increase hunger.
In recent years, some restaurants have abandoned this practice, concerned about food waste and the unnecessary expense of uneaten bread. (Other restaurants may simply factor the cost of the bread into the menu price.)
However, it's unlikely that any uneaten bread at the table will be recycled for use at other tables. While some notorious restaurateurs may do so, it would violate local health department policies. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also prohibits the retention of unconsumed and unpackaged food due to possible contamination issues. In a world more concerned about the spread of viruses, the idea of repurposing bread may not be considered.
Some places opt for more savory snacks, like fries, a trick bars have used for years to get people to order more drinks.
Finally, restaurants just want to be hospitable. Some Cheesecake Factory menu items are more than 1,000 calories each, and one or two slices of bread don't make much difference.