This LA restaurant will discount your meal if you don’t touch your cell phone during dinner

A restaurant in Los Angeles is boldly going where no restaurant has gone before: incentivising customers to leave their phones at the door in exchange for a 5% discount off their meals. Eva Restaurant owner Mark Gold told Southern California Public Radio (89.3 KPCC): “It’s about two people sitting together and just connecting, without the distraction of a phone, and we’re trying to create an ambience where you come in and really enjoy the experience and the food and the company.”

In the world we’ve created for ourselves – always being connected through our gadgets – I must admit, sometimes it’s nice to just disconnect. If you follow me on Twitter, you might notice my weekend tweet volume is between very light and none at all. That’s the time I spend relaxing and spending time with my friends and family. That’s when I escape from the chimes, dings, buzzes, and beeps of my digital life, to better enjoy time in my analog world. With this discount incentive, Eva Restaurant is trying to create the same thing – even if just for an hour of your evening.

Eva Restaurant’s dinner menu offers choices between $13 and $69. Breaking that down, riding solo without your mobile will put anywhere from $0.65 to $3.45 back in your pocket. Now the question goes to you, dear Internet: What say you to Mr. Gold about this incentive?