Los Angeles Eva Restaurant offers diners discount if they hand over mobile phones

• Los Angeles restaurant offers five per cent discount to diners who part with their mobile
• Owner wants customers to connect with each other rather than technology

By Sam Shead

PUBLISHED: 03:53 EST, 16 August 2012 | UPDATED: 03:53 EST, 16 August 2012

A Los Angeles restaurant is offering a deal to customers who agree to look at the person on the opposite side of the table instead of their mobile phone screens.

Eva Restaurant is giving a five per cent discount to customers who are willing to leave their mobile phones with staff when they are seated.

Owner Mark Gold told KPCC radio on Tuesday that the policy is an attempt to create an environment where diners connect to each other instead of technology.

Eva Restaurant is offering a five per cent discount to diners who hand over their phones to restaurant staff

The owner believes the new approach encourages diners to engage with each other rather than their phones

He added that the approach hasn't been implemented to satisfy restaurant-goers that get annoyed by phone chatter or the glow of smartphone screens.

Restaurant staff make the offer to diners when they introduce themselves at the start of the meal.

Gold claims nearly half take advantage of the discount, and many express gratitude at the opportunity to let go of their devices for a while.

Paying attention to your companion during a special meal out might be considered a basic courtesy.

But a survey earlier this year revealed that for 68 per cent of Britons, this is no longer the case, for they would happily take a mobile phone call during a dinner date – even if they know it is not important.

The study revealed the rise of ‘Rude Britannia’ since the proliferation of smartphones, with 63 per cent leaving their devices on the table while out for dinner with a friend.

A survey earlier this year revealed that 68 per cent of Britons would happily take a mobile phone call over dinner

More than a third of those questioned admitted they would struggle to live without their mobiles.

More than half (59 per cent) keep their phones with them at all times, and 16 per cent walk around with them in their hands all the time.

One in seven of the 1,000 people polled even take their phones to the toilet with them to send text messages or check Facebook.

'The British have always been synonymous with good manners and politeness,' said Hannah Bouckley of the mobile phone company Recombu, which conducted the study.

She added: 'The research shows we are shunning our manners due to obsessive phone addiction.

'It was only 10 to 15 years ago when high earners and business people were the only owners of clunky mobile phones. Now everyone from young children to pensioners relies heavily on a mobile phone.

'If we are not accepting calls and texts at dinner, we are playing games, watching videos or organising our lives with them.'

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