Dining out can be a stressful experience for parents. A lot of times, parents cannot control their kids in public, which makes dining out an unpleasant experience for everyone present.
A restaurant in North Georgia did something no one ever expected: charging patrons a fine for ‘poor parenting.’ The Toccoa Riverside Restaurant outside of Blue Ridge has sparked a debate online: is it fair to charge parents for badly behaved children?
A customer on Reddit revealed their experience at the restaurant. They wrote, “The owner came out and told me he was adding $50 to my bill because of my children’s behavior… disappointed by the experience.”
A reporter contacted the restaurant and got their side of the story. The owner, Tim Richter, decided to tell the truth. He said while the restaurant added a surcharge during COVID-19 to cover costs, they did not charge anyone more than their bill recently.
He said he had never threatened anyone with the surcharge until a few weeks ago when a family had visited his restaurant with their nine children. He shared that the children were running around all over the place.
He said while he did give the parents a warning, he had never actually charged them the money!
“We want parents to be parents,” he simply said. The restaurant, tucked away in the mountains along the Toccoa River, is used to a calm clientele. The joint is quite popular and during meal times, cars stretch across the roadside.A customer named Laura Spillman, who was visiting the town from Florida said she could not believe the policy when she heard it.
“That is crazy,” she said incredulously. “For real? I don’t think you should do it because kids are cute.”
Anne Cox, who was having lunch with her family, said the fee could potentially encourage parents to control their children so they behaved better.She said, “Parents need to teach kids etiquette,” adding, “They need to teach kids to behave. There are other people in the world, so they should have fun in the right place.”
Federico Gambineri, who was at the restaurant with his toddler said this was the first time he had heard such a policy. He said, “This is the first time I’ve heard of that, and having a 20-month-old that maybe isn’t the best behaved at a restaurant, I’m hoping that I don’t get charged,” he added. “I feel that if I were charged, I would be very unhappy about it and probably never recommend the place to somebody.”
Jack Schneider, who is a regular at the restaurant, said he had never heard about this surcharge. “I have mixed emotions on that,” Schneider said. “At the same time, we’ve all sat next to tables where you say hey, do something with that kid. So I really think it’s more on the parents.”
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