Posted on 04/19/2026 2:44:43 AM PDT by Libloather
Diners at a growing number of restaurants and bars are being asked to stash away their phones — or even lock them up — as part of a push for more memorable nights out.
The trend is gaining traction across the U.S., with more spots experimenting with restrictions, incentives or locked pouches, Fox News Digital recently reported.
Charlotte cocktail bar Antagonist places guests' phones in locked pouches for about two hours, while Delilah, an upscale supper club with locations across the country, has a no-phones, no-posting policy, according to Axios.
Even Chick-fil-A has tested the tactic with a Maryland location offering free ice cream to families who keep phones off the table.
The trend is especially common at high-end, curated spots like listening bars, supper clubs, cocktail lounges and restaurants offering tasting menus, said Ben Tannenbaum, New York-based vice president of partnerships at nightlife company LineLeap.
"The driver isn't really an anti-phone sentiment," he told Fox News Digital. "It's that guests are going out less often than they used to and spending more per visit when they do, so operators are trying to make sure the visit delivers."
The trend has been building for years, experts say, and it's picked up steam as more people recognize the downsides of constant screen time.
"The phone-free dining trend began prior to COVID, but it's increased in momentum in recent years, especially as people have come to understand the negative impacts of overuse of personal devices," Amanda Belarmino, a hospitality professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told Fox News Digital.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
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If you have to dine by yourself while traveling, would you allow a kindle? A book?
Some people used to bring newspapers to the diner to read over breakfast.
“How did we even live prior to cell phones?”
How did we ever let our kids walk to school, play in the street, ride bicycles without helmets, or not know where they were after school as long as they came home for dinner.
ANSWER: We’re not supposed to remember the pre-Soros America, when, among other things, we locked up the crazies, and our supermarkets didn’t look like the UN. Because if we do remember that country, we’d NEVER vote Democrat, or even sit out elections, again.
Gen X for the win! We will survive.
I’m for it. Many cell users are very rude, in particular when they get a call and talk in an elevated voice so the whole damn place can hear them and are annoyed.
And to some a cell phone is an addiction, seriously, I had a shrink tell me about those she’s treated with it. These people will get clinically depressed if they do not get a certain amount of texts per day.
Several times we’ve watched a couple sitting in a restaurant on their phones the whole time not saying a word to each other.
We’ve had guests that take each call like it’s a life or death thing. I find it rude as hell and never want them in our home again.
And if these restaurants are making a profit by banning those things, more power to them!
“The only place you should put away your phone is somewhere that requires listening to a speaker (like church, or movie theater).”
Restaurants create an atmosphere, and low IQ inconsiderate animals using speakerphones to listen to crap is not that atmosphere. I don’t want to hear you scroll through facebook or babbling with your bestie.
Use an earpiece or get out.
“What business is it of yours how I choose to occupy my seat and eat your overpriced dreck?”
The solution is simple, just don’t go to businesses than ban cell phones. It’s not that tough of a decision.
With people like you not being allowed creates a better dining atmosphere for those not addicted to those things.
Books and periodicals. While this thread is about tables, I've always brought a magazine or small book into bars to hang around for a couple hours and have a couple of top shelf cocktails. I like the energy of the places, but don't always want to engage in conversation. Or sometimes a good looking woman will inquire about what I'm reading, and there's my opening...
The proprietors and service staff never complain because I tip very generously.
No video recording of customers trying to enjoy themselves at the bar. Defund the Karens!
“BS, this is so the Instagram Foodies can’t post ‘live’ reviews of their proprietary slop and give them low-star ratings.”
I wouldn’t be surprised by that.
Well I wouldn’t darken the door of a place like that. What if the babysitter is trying to reach me?
Total crap. Me quietly using my phone while sipping coffee and waiting for my meal bothers nobody.
Good point.
Oops. Html error. I mentioned that some restaurants can get rather noisy after a few rounds of adult beverages..
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I hate those super loud restaurants. What happened to restaurants quiet enough to actually discuss something?
Phones aren’t going anywhere they’re here forever the only issue is how YOU choose to live or live without one.
It’s like any tool.
It can be used for good, and it can be used for bad.
We were happy to have ours in a restaurant when someone broke into our home and our security company called us so we could meet the police.
I think that Sis, Mom’s healthcare proxy, was in a restaurant when Mom fell and broke her hip and immediate decisions had to be made.
Good question. My elderly parents belong to a country club. My mom likes going to the formal dining room because she can't hear anything in the sports bars even with hearing aids. The formal dining room isn't so formal anymore, but does require slacks and jackets for males.
Like there’s not enough videos of Laquisha screaming and yelling in restaurants, now your going to tell her to put her phone up. That will work out real good, I’m sure.
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