An Italian restaurant has caused outrage for charging EUR 2 for providing a customer with an empty plate.
The revelation comes after Bar Pace in Gera Lario, a small town located on the northern shore of Lake Como, made headlines for charging customers EUR 2 (GBP 1.72) to cut their sandwiches in half.
Now the Osteria del Cavolo in Finale Ligure, on the Gulf of Genoa in the Province of Savona, in Liguria, Italy, has made headlines in the country for charging customers EUR 2 to provide them with an empty plate.
Netizen Selvaggia Lucarelli shared their receipt on social media as proof on 7th August before it was picked up in Italian media, saying: “Liguria. A plate of trofie with pesto, EUR 18 [GBP 15.52], the mother asks for a saucer so that the three-year-old girl, who has already eaten, can also taste some.
“They put EUR 2 on her account for the saucer. By the way, having already factored in the cover charge.”
Trofie is a short, thin, twisted pasta from Liguria, northern Italy.
The post even garnered a response from the Governor of Liguria Giovanni Toti, who thundered against the restaurant owners: “This extra charge is wrong to me.”
And as can be seen in the photo of the receipt, the total bill came to EUR 55,50 (GBP 47,92) despite the two main dishes ‘only’ costing EUR 20 (GBP 17.27) and EUR 18 (GBP 15.54), with the cover charge amounting to EUR 7.50 (GBP 6.48) and the one beer ordered by the table costing EUR 6 (GBP 5.18).
But the owners responded to the criticism, saying: “A table for three and they eat for one, then who does the dishes?”
The restaurant has been bombarded with negative reviews, but the 76-year-old owner, named as Ida Germano, said: “We made the lady who posted the receipt sit at a table for three, because there were two adults and a child.
“They ordered only one plate of trofie with pesto and one of fried anchovies and they asked for two saucers to share for both. So they had four saucers in all, not one, and we only charged for one because we pay for the dishwasher and the dishwashing too.”
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Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Central European News
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