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This restaurant will give you a free bottle of wine if you hand in your phone before your meal

Home> News> Tech News

Published 12:59 18 Apr 2024 GMT+1

This restaurant will give you a free bottle of wine if you hand in your phone before your meal

Would you be willing to try this?

Prudence Wade

Prudence Wade

Ever been on a date where they just won't stop checking their phone? It's not exactly conducive to great night out.

One restaurant in Italy has hit this problem face-on, offering every table the chance to get a free bottle of wine with their meal by putting their phones in a lockbox at the front desk.

If they do so, they get given the key to the box, and showing that key to their waiter earns them their free booze.

Vlad Serbanescu / 500px / Getty
Vlad Serbanescu / 500px / Getty

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Al Condominio is a new addition to the restaurant scene in Verona, Italy, having opened in March, but its unique idea has helped grab it quite a few headlines.

Explaining the tactic, the owner Angelo Lella told The Guardian: "We wanted to open a restaurant that was different from the others. So we picked this format - customers can choose to renounce technology while enjoying a convivial moment together."

It's a common complaint from restaurants all over the world - that people are far too preoccupied with their phones or taking photos of every dish to enjoy the experience.

As Lella puts it: "Technology is becoming a problem - there is no need to look at your phone every five seconds, but for many people it is like a drug … This way they have an opportunity to put it aside and drink some good wine."

Handily, at least one person has declined the offer to lock up their phone, because a TikTok video of Al Condominio shows what looks like some really great food.

This isn't even the end of the restaurant's ideas - when you hand in your key to get your phones back out of the box at the end of your meal, you're given the chance to write a review on paper to replace in the box when you leave.

It would seem that each night the best review left behind earns its author a free meal the next time they come to the restaurant, which is quite the incentive.

While that might sound ever so slightly like bribery for good reviews, you can hardly blame the management given the challenging economy they've opened a restaurant in.

Lella says it's all going very well so far, too: "The response has been very positive. Ninety per cent of customers have opted to leave aside their phones in exchange for wine. It really is a beautiful thing to see people embracing it. They are talking to each other rather than looking at photos or responding to messages on their phone."

So, perhaps this will catch on and we'll all soon be ditching our phones to enter a hot new food spot.

Featured Image Credit: DjelicS / d3sign / Getty
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