Talk about taking some ideas too far
Over the past few years, bars and restaurants around the world have implemented gentle to strict children bans, sometimes with weirdly specific parameters. In 2013, Houston's La Fisheria banned children under 8 after 7 p.m. In 2014, Old Fisherman's Grotto in Monterey, California discouraged the attendance of babies not by enforcing an explicit ban, but by barring the use of strollers and high chairs in the restaurant.
If you happen by chance, to be in Georgia, USA and you have children who are energetic and loud, avoid going to the Toccoa Riverside Restaurant which is located in Blue Ridge. On the other hand, if you are one of those who hate dining with noisy children nearby, maybe that’s the place to head to for a quiet meal.
Apparently, the restaurant owner is scolding families with overactive children at the table,. Not only does he do that, he also charges them a $ 50 fee for ‘bad parenting’.
One family who visited the restaurant with four other families said that they were hit with ac $ 50 charge for dining with 11 children aged between 3 and 8 years old. "I remember thinking, 'No way is this real," Lyndsey Landmann told of the episode, alleging that the owner came over to their table to explain the fee and began talking to them in an "alarming" manner. "I looked around the restaurant and everybody was frozen watching this show he was putting on.
Landmann said that the children at the table were “well-behaved” and “quiet” and that the fee was completely uncalled for. The owner it seems did not digest her claim. In his defense, he said “We want parents to be parents,” adding that he never even threatened to charge someone until “a couple of weeks ago” when a group with nine kids dined at the restaurant.
It doesn’t stop there. He adds absurd lists of fees that include a 20% gratuity charge to parties over six persons, or when separate checks are requested for, $3 as an additional charge when people share a dish and a 3.5% non-cash adjustment when one pays with a credit card.
Talk about taking some ideas too far. Incidentally, the restaurant’s Wi-Fi password is a tongue-in-cheek ‘sillybeans’.
In another incident in Southern California, a diner was surprised to see a charge on her bill – one that she hadn’t’ seen previously – a 5% “employee health fee”. When she enquired about the charge, staff informed her that the funds went toward employee health care. Heck, not only must the customer pay a handsome tip to subsidize the employee’s salaries, they are now called upon to pay for their illnesses as well.
Is that normal or the new normal? Especially when no restaurant that was open during COVID ever did something like that.
Source: External
|
|
|
|
