Dinner experiences have changed since the introduction of the smartphone. Now when you look around a restaurant you can see multiple people using their smartphone for texting, tweeting,taking photos of their food, or posting a Yelp review on the restaurant. Some people believe that smartphones are ruining the dinner experience of getting to know one and another as they pose too much of a distraction. Others believe that they enhance the experience allowing them to look up a menu review or tweet a photo of their food to their followers. One restaurant in Los Angeles is looking to give customers an incentive to fork over the cellphone before dinner with discount.
Eve Restaurant, located on Beverly Boulevard, is now offering a 5% discount to customers that hand in their smartphones before the dinner arrives. According to radio station KPCC, owner and head chef Mark Gold is using it as a tactic to keep the distraction at a minimum: “”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. It’s about two people sitting together and just connecting, without the distraction of a phone, and we’re trying to create an ambiance where you come in and really enjoy the experience and the food and the company.” Nearly half of the customers have taken up the offer according to Gold
Smartphones have become unavoidable in restaurants in recent years and many restaurants have begun to appeal to the younger crowd by incorporating QR codes as well as Foursquare and the use of iPads as menus in some restaurants. I personally think it’s nice every now and then to put down the smartphone and enjoy dinner, not to mention a 5% discount can’t hurt either. Let us know your opinion on this restaurant’s smartphone policy in the comments section below.