Restaurants are quite possibly one of the oldest forms of social setting. You get to indulge many pleasures at once – eating, drinking, conversations, romance, and you don’t even have to do the dishes afterwards. Modern times have ruined us though. Interaction takes place from the bright screen of a smartphone, begging for us to check our emails, just “quickly reply” to that instant message, or check-in on Facebook.

A Los Angeles restaurant has come up with a brilliant initiative to solve this problem. When diners are seated at Eva Restaurant, their waiter gives them the option to hand in their cellphones for the duration of their meal. Should the table opt-in, their phones are given to the waiter, who returns them when you get your bill along with a 5% discount on your meal.

The idea is so simple and brilliant, it leaves us wondering why this hasn’t happened sooner? The restaurant has said that the goal behind their offer isn’t to save other customers the from the chatter of ringtones and glowing screens, but rather that people sitting down for a meal should be focusing on each other. About 50% of people visiting the restaurant have accepted the offer, many welcoming the break from technology.

I wonder how long it’s going to be before a local eatery takes up an initiative like this? In the meantime, why not make use of the phone stack?

[Source: Fox]