Subscribe to the RSS feed?Oh heck yes. Well played sir/ma'am, well played.
I was at a nice local family restaurant the other night. I’m sure you know the kind of place. Good atmosphere, pretty good food and pretty good service. As we got seated and I took a look at the menu, I was struck by a short phrase placed next to the upscale pick-two (think surf and turf) combo meals.
“No Sharing, Please”
I was (and still am) baffled by this. Now I’m not a scientist, but I was pretty sure that when you purchased a meal, you were entitled to eat it how (and with whom) you pleased. Apparently not. I understand that sharing at a buffet is frowned upon due to the nature of the business model, but I don’t understand how a regular restaurant can justify not allowing you to split a meal with someone.
It doesn’t take much to figure out the reason for all this: money.
The point is that you really have to be careful what messages you are sending your customers, intentionally and unintentionally.
The line might as well have said “No sharing please due to the fact that we won’t be able to squeeze out as much money per person if you do.” It had the same effect.
At least they said “please”.
Well, as long as they let me order half an entree and I’ll pay 50% - I don’t have a problem with it! I mean, portion sizes these days are outrageous!
I agree with you on that one. But somehow I doubt that most places would be receptive to cutting their portion size and price in half. “That’s special treatment, and if we do it for you, then we have to do it for everyone…”
Choices, people.
If you don’t like the rules at that place, don’t go back.
Simple.
This is America and we have a plethora of choices.
Attitudes like this drive companies out of business.
Simple.
-Pete
I understand that no one is forcing me to go to that restaurant. And I do understand that in America, as with the rest of the world, there are a lot of other options for me. My problem was not with the place, but with the message. I don’t know how much sharing was hurting the bottom line and I’m not sure if there was some sort of “sharing epidemic” that caused this place to have to put that on their menu, I just wonder if they know the message they’re sending.