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Japanese Restaurant Charging for Uneaten Food
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 9, 2008
Modified Dec 9, 2008
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By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 9, 2008
Modified Dec 9, 2008
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Hayashi Ya, a Japanese restaurant on the Upper West Side, charges $26.95 for their all-you-can-eat menu, but if you don't eat every last bite, they slap on a 3% charge. This raised eyebrows at WCBS, and reporter Kristin Cole trooped over there to measure the outrage. Only everybody seems pretty okay with it; diners insist it "helps with their waistlines," and the manager says it helps "with the restaurant's bottom line." Er, anyway, compared to the penalties at other restaurants—like that place in The Great Outdoors that was going to charge John Candy the full price of a 96-ounce steak if didn't eat all the gristle and fat—3% of $26.95 seems reasonable. Plus, according to WCBS, one in six Americans can't afford enough food, while an estimated 27 percent of all food in the country ends up in the trash. To get involved locally, here are links to the Food Bank For New York and City Harvest.
Tagged
Hayashi Ya
surcharge
sushi
uneaten food
Upper West Side
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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