Smaller schnitzels might be served up to diners in an Adelaide restaurant trial aimed at reducing food waste.

Keep South Australia Beautiful (KESAB) chief executive John Phillips told 891 ABC Adelaide the State Government had reacted positively to the idea.

"We have to be innovative and look at good ideas, and this is one that's come up," he said.

Mr Phillips said talks were about to start to find a dining precinct suitable for the trial.

"Sometimes I watch the body language of people when the meal comes out — their jaw drops literally when they see the size of some of the meals and a lot of the product is left on the plate," Mr Phillips said.

"This is about educating people to look at their habits or behaviour so they can take a personal responsibility."

He said the government-funded agency had the role of reducing waste and landfill, and this was part of that responsibility.

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Diners who rang 891 ABC Adelaide suggested options other than mandating smaller serves.

"When we go out for a meal, we know the size of the serves so why not ask for a half serve?" Mike from Ingle Farm said

"It means that I can still have the one that I want but she can have a half size one."

Steve from Happy Valley also thought diners should make the decision, rather than a waste reduction agency.

"Just take a small size and hopefully pay a bit less, then you don't have to worry about the waste people intervening."

Ian Horne from the Australian Hotels Association said he doubted KESAB would find much support for a trial of smaller schnitzel serves.

"It's a bit harsh to blame the poor schnitzel for all the woes of landfill — I think that's an overstatement," he said.

"I think it would be commercial disaster for a venue to go out and market themselves as saying 'we provide smaller portions'.

"Where do you draw the line? Do you start setting a standard for how many seeds and grains must be in a multigrain roll?"