Restaurant Offers Discount If You Put Down Your Cell Phone
Eva, a restaurant in Los Angeles, is offering five percent off the bill to any diner who hands their phone over to the staff before being seated. A discount for not having to listen to the person seated next to us yakking on during our meal? We'd pay the restaurant for that privilege!
The eatery's goal in this promotion isn't the rather noble one of protecting its patrons from Miley Cyrus ringtones and one-sided conversations about bad dates. Instead, the idea is to get diners to get even more up in each others' space.
Eva owner Mark Gold wants customers to interact with each other, rather than technology. Meaning patrons are encouraged to eat with random people and get to know them without the distraction of the smart phone.
In other words, Gold wants you to talk to a stranger without the lifeline of pretending to check your messages if the conversation goes stale. While this sounds sort of awkward to us, so far about half have taken advantage of the discount.
What do you think? Is five percent off your bill worth the temporary loss of your phone and a seat by a person you don't know? We guess it's a good way to meet somebody new to call the next time you have a bad date.