There was a time when visiting a restaurant with a friend meant enjoying a tasty meal together and having an engaging conversation. Thanks to the proliferation of smartphones, however, it’s now also about texting a friend between the starter and the main, taking a call from a co-worker mid-meal, tweeting a photo of the dessert, and firing off an email during the post-dinner coffee. Of course, a review of the eatery posted online even before you’re out the door is also obligatory.
If both of you are at it, no one gets hurt, but it kind of defeats the whole point of going to a restaurant with a friend, does it not?
Discount
One restaurant owner/chef in Los Angeles has decided to encourage people to once again enjoy the company of their fellow diners by offering a 5 percent discount on their check if they hand over their phone before the first course is served.
Southern California radio station KPCC reported that Mark Gold, who runs Eva restaurant on Beverly Boulevard, is hoping to create a more homely atmosphere by giving patrons the chance to enjoy their meal without the possibility of a handset interrupting the flow of the dining experience.
“For us, it’s really not about people disrupting other guests. Eva is home, and we want to create that environment of home, and we want people to connect again,” Gold told KPCC. “It’s about two people sitting together and just connecting, without the distraction of a phone, and we’re trying to create an ambience where you come in and really enjoy the experience and the food and the company.”
Gold added that so far just under half of the diners visiting his restaurant have taken up the offer, though he failed to mention whether anyone had broken into a cold sweat halfway through the main course, begging to have their phone returned.
Phone Stack
Earlier this year another Californian man, Brian Perez, also had an idea to get diners looking at each other again, instead of at their handsets, creating a game called Phone Stack. The idea is that after taking your seat, everyone places their mobile in the center of the table. The first person who grabs their device during the meal, regardless of the reason, has to take care of the check.
How do you feel about Mark Gold’s idea of taking your phone away for the duration of the meal? Could you handle it? Or does the thought of being separated from your handset for even just a few minutes fill you with dread?
[Image: Shebeko / Shutterstock]
I think people have to get over the idea that technology takes away from the “personal” experience and start realizing how much technology can ADD to the personal experience. Of course it’s all about how you use it, but I for one use technology to stay more social than ever before.
Not really a fan of this idea, especially when I have to give up my phone, with tons of sensitive and personal information on it, to strangers
This is a fantastic idea and hopefully it brings this man a lot of new traffic.
I love my smartphone just as much as well….everyone, and sometimes I can be guilty of being too attached to it at inopportune moments and will definitely look around on the train or bus and see almost EVERY single person staring a phone and feel slightly depressed by it. But when I’m with a group of friends I always go out of my way to keep my phone away from my reach or temptations. I even tend to yell out “Cell phone party!” when too many people I’m with are looking at their iPhones or texting their significant others every 6 seconds.
i would give up my cell for a discount. good idea.
I am going to visit these resturants now!
Good idea actually
Wonderful idea!
I would do it.
I like the phone stack game better, but if this is what it takes to get people to exercise some dining courtesy, so be it.
I really like that phone stack idea as well. Would make for much more interesting people watching, seeing who is on the verge of cracking the most.
great idea… but 5%?!… y not 10? =)
…why not Zoidberg?
Seriously though, it’s a great idea. I caught myself playing Angry Birds during lunch with my daughter at a local Italian joint the other day, and the subsequent shame washed over me like a tsunami.
Great Ideas! :D I know people have this insane need to be constantly connected to the internet umbilical, but it’s silly sitting at a restaurant with people all around you texting and whatnot… Only the other day I was wishing someone would make a park with an EMP beacon :P