When people go out to eat, especially at a nice restaurant, the last thing they want is to be disturbed by noisy, rude, misbehaved children. And if fellow diners don’t care to be disrupted by poorly managed kids, then the staff definitely doesn’t want to be bothered by them, either. In fact, one restaurant owner in Italy had such a problem with kids running amok in his restaurant that he created a special discount for families whose children know how to act out in public.
Antonio Ferrari, who owns a restaurant named after himself, didn’t mind when families came to eat at his establishment. Although his place was more of a wine bar than a typical family-style eatery, he still welcomed children and would even allow them to order off menu items if they were picky eaters.
Not all of his young patrons are so deserving of Ferrari’s thoughtful gestures, however, and according to him, that poor attitude often comes from their parents. “When you get parents who are rude, the kids think they can do anything. They might climb on the tables with their shoes on, play in the bathroom and make a mess with the taps, or annoy the other customers,” Ferrari said.
After dealing with those kinds of kids all day, when a large family with six adults and five children came in, Ferrari was pleasantly surprised with how well behaved they were. Instead of bothering other diners or throwing fits, the kids just quietly colored and worked on their times’ tables. Ferrari was so impressed by their behavior that he gave the family a five percent discount, which knocked about 13 euros off their 261 euro bill. In return, grateful for the discount and pleased to have their kid’s good behavior noticed, the family added a 30 euro tip to the bill for their waiter. A win-win situation for everyone! Those parents must have been over the moon after they saw that bill.
Il titolare dell'enoteca che ha fatto lo sconto bimbi educati: «Guardarli era uno spettacolo» @Corriere https://t.co/ucJ5RttxWM
— elvira_serra (@elvira_serra) February 14, 2017
Ferrari says he will definitely be giving out the discount again, but it won’t become a permanent promotion since, as he said, “That’s not the point.”
