NEW YORK - Downsizing has lately gotten a bad rap, but some restaurant operators are discovering the upside to downsizing by shrinking the size of sandwiches and burgers, Nation??s Restaurant News reports.

Smaller sandwiches and burgers, often called sliders, are appearing on a wide variety of menus across the country. From Boston Market??s Market Sliders to Jack in the Box??s Mini Sirloin Burgers, consumers are falling in love with tinier versions of their favorite hamburgers and sandwiches.

McDonald??s debuted its McMini sandwiches in its Canadian locations. McDonald??s says that these sandwiches are "building a loyal following among those looking for a smaller meal or snack option."

Small sandwiches are "the American grab-and-go version of small plates, our version of the great sampler," said Clark Wolf, a restaurant consultant. "It allows you to present attractive price points and allows you to build sales. And it allows people to sample things without making that big investment.

"We love the idea of samplers, but this is not an economy for tasting menus," said Wolf. "When there is a lot of money, things get a bit refined and fancy. When the money goes away, we do similar things but in a friendlier way. What??s more unpretentious than a slider?"

Wolf believes that smaller sandwiches will stick around for a long time. "You know how they say the Depression had an impact on people the rest of their lives. Well, hello. The Great Recession will have at least a 10-year cultural impact," he said. "People who are recalibrating their businesses to meet this new reality are doing the right thing. They are not following a fad. We are not going to whiplash out of it."