Ericka Kammerer > wrote:

>Steve Pope wrote:

>> I'm very unconvinced plate-sharing charges
>> actually solve any economic or operational problems for the typical
>> restaurant that imposes them. I think it's more of an irrational
>> reaction to a restauranteur's belief that diners are under-ordering.
>> And I don't see how it affects over-lingering at all. I would
>> think the customer who pays an extra fee would feel entitled
>> to stay at his table longer.

> It may or may not be effective. That's likely
>something that varies from location to location, and even
>by the type of restaurant, depending on the clientele.
>I suspect it is very successful in some cases and not very
>successful in others. Nevertheless, it is certainly a
>business cost to have a table occupied for the space of
>a dinner and bring in below average revenues. There
>are limited things that restaurants can do if they perceive
>this as an issue in their business, and a sharing fee
>is one thing they can do (might work, might not, but
>if they've been doing it a while and remain successful
>it's probably working for them). They also lose money
>if you just drink water, but it is not perceived as an
>option (outside of a bar with a cover charge) to require
>you to order drinks.

Yes, I agree - for some situations it's probably advantageous
for the restaurant to add such a charge; for others it is
a sign they don't know what side their bread is buttered on.

It creates goodwill to not charge a split plate charge.
There's an Italian restaurant here in Berkeley, where two
of us frequently eat, ordering a salad, a pasta, and a
secondi all split and served in sequence. They do not charge us
for the three split plates, we order drinks/wine along with
this (and it sometimes even seems they've made the total amount of
food larger because we're splitting them, in any case it's
enough food), we are not rushed, and we leave a good-sized tip.
This restaurant takes reservations but it does not fill the
entire house with reserved tables, to reduce the chance of
a lingering party delaying a reserved party. This is a well-run
restaurant that has been in business almost 25 years.

Steve