By Angelina Caruso

It’s one thing to enter into a final exam and be asked to place your cell phone in a basket at the front of the room. You don’t even question it twice. It’s obvious that a cell phone can provide means of cheating, but it’s also evident that this exam needs your full attention. No distractions. So when you walk into a New York City restaurant and are prompted to engage in the same act, are you as willing to participate?

In recent years, food blogging has become a booming industry. Even if it’s not your full-time job, you’ve probably taken a picture of at least one meal simply because it looked good. As a self-proclaimed foodie myself, I get excited when I’m served not only a delicious meal, but one that is aesthetically pleasing. Like many of my friends, I scope out destinations online beforehand, thoroughly investigating Yelp! pages to see what looks good. This is a trend of the present. My parents don’t even think twice about this factor. When choosing a restaurant, I find myself swayed by food bloggers who have captured beautiful experiences that I long to recreate.

As a generation, our technology addiction has certainly acted as a barrier for cultivating interpersonal relationships. Most interactions take place behind a screen, in pure isolation. Our worlds are growing smaller and yet we’ve never been further apart. This is an observation that many of us have noticed but don’t do much about.
Enter a handful of restaurant owners, ready to tackle the issue head on. Meal times should be social encounters. Going out to eat with a group of friends is an opportunity to build stronger relationships and memories. However, with the prominence of cell phones, going out to eat has turned into a group of friends sitting at a table, each scrolling through their own separate feeds with little genuine conversation taking place.

While in the minority, a small collection of restaurants around the world have implemented cell phone policies into their dining experiences. These can range anywhere from mere encouragement to refrain from cell phone use for 10 percent off the bill to something as extreme as a mandatory collection of phones at the beginning of the meal. For example, Hoboken-based Sushi Lounge awards 20 percent off the bill for diners who leave their cell phones in a box for the duration of the meal.

The motive here is to cultivate memories and encourage bonding among friends and family at meal time. I stand by this fully and commend those acting in favor of such a task in the face of a global technology addiction. However, I fear that this could have negative consequences for participating businesses. Going out to eat is part of a healthy social life. Interacting with friends and family and sharing a good meal with them strengthens relationships. It forces you to sit, slow down and be in the company of others. However, if everyone at the table is focused on their screens, this element is lost. If people are encouraged to put their phones down even for just an hour, I feel this could be enough to remind diners what they can truly take away from a night out with good company.

Restaurants that are enforcing stronger bans are harder to agree with. In an age where many of our jobs are heavily reliant on being reachable around the clock, it is unrealistic to expect all diners to comply with a complete ban. Businesses that take this route face the potential of losing clientele due to their obligation to work.
The hit these restaurants might take can be extended even further. Circling back to food blogging, many eateries draw in diners with their social media and online presence. While owners can provide content, much of it comes from diners themselves. I depend heavily on Yelp! to choose places to eat at. It’s simple: where the food looks better, I’m more willing to try. If restaurants were to ban cell phones completely, they would lose the unintentional advertising their diners provide for them. As of 2017, 70 percent of Yelp! reviews come from mobile devices.

In other words, more than half of the reviews come directly from the table itself, reaching an estimated 65 million mobile users a year. Depending on the restaurant, it may be a lot to sacrifice.

I deeply respect the motive behind cell phone policies in restaurants and stand by principles of nurturing relationships and engaging in real socialization. However, the path to doing so is slippery. Instead of complete bans, policies that depend on incentive may work best. That way, regardless if the customer participates or not, they are at least made aware that their cell phone could potentially be a negative presence at the meal. They won’t feel forced to act or to change their ways, much like they would under a non-negotiable ban.

Next time you’re out to eat, be mindful of how many times you silently scroll at the table. Finding a time that is convenient for both you and your friends, especially as busy college students, is rare. Take advantage of it. Make memories, share a good meal and maybe bring a basket of your own for your cell phones. You may find that you actually enjoy socializing more than social media!

Angelina Caruso, FCRH ’20, is a communications major from Bridgewater, New Jersey.