After receiving several complaints from loyal customers, the owner of an upscale Italian restaurant in Mooresville, North Carolina, has taken the controversial decision to ban children under 5. And, despite facing some backlash on social media, he claims that business has grown significantly.

    Caruso's describes itself as a "traditional, classy, intimate" restaurant but young children crying, screaming or playing on iPads at full volume and disturbing the other diners apparently didn't fit in too well in that picture. So the owner, Pasquale Caruso, adopted a "no child under 5" policy in January 2017, to ensure that his upscale eatery lives up to its reputation.

    "I had several customers complain, get up and leave because children were bothering them, and the parents were doing nothing," Caruso told the Mooresville Gazette. "It started to feel like it wasn't Caruso's anymore, that it was a local pizzeria instead."

    Caruso added that he didn't like taking this kind of decision, but in the end, he had to do what was best for his business. "I try to please everyone, and create a nice atmosphere, keeping the restaurant elegant. I want it to be a place where couples and friends can have a nice evening out," he said. "I was starting to lose money and customers, because I had very young children coming in, throwing food, running around and screaming."

    Yoshi Nunez, the restaurant's manager, told the Washington Post that the final straw was a little girl using an iPad with the volume on high. Despite repeated requests from the staff, her parents refused to turn down the device, so they had to ask them to leave.

    In January, Caruso's made the decision to ban children under 5. Since then, people have been voicing their opinions on the restaurant's unofficial Facebook page, with many labeling the policy as a form of discrimination.

    Pasquale Caruso claims that despite the discrimination charges, the number of reservations has risen significantly since words got out about the restaurant's no-child rule, and the number of patrons has gone from 50 a day to around 80.

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    强烈抵制

    qiángliè dǐzhì

    backlash

    an antagonistic reaction to a trend, development, or event

    披萨饼店

    pīsàbǐng diàn

    pizzeria

    an establishment where pizzas are made or sold

    餐厅禁五岁以下儿童入内 生意火爆

    美国北卡罗来纳州穆尔斯维尔市的一家意大利高级餐厅在收到老顾客的不少投诉后，店主做出了禁止五岁以下儿童入内的决定，这一新规引发了争议。不过，尽管这一决定在社交媒体上引发了一些网友的强烈抗议，但店主却声称客流量有了大幅增长。

    Caruso's餐厅对自己的定位是“传统、高档、私密”，但是儿童的哭喊、尖叫、全音量外放平板声明显会影响其他顾客，这破坏了餐厅的理念。所以2017年1月，店主帕斯奎尔?卡鲁索制定了“五岁以下儿童不得入内”这一规定保证他的高档餐厅名副其实。

    “因为熊孩子打扰了别人，父母又不管，所以我的一些客人就投诉或起身走人。”卡鲁索告诉《穆尔斯维尔报》，“让人感觉Caruso's餐厅变了，变得跟普通披萨店没什么区别。”

    卡鲁索还说，其实他也不想做这种决定，但是最后为了餐厅，他不得不采取行动。他说：“我希望所有的客人都开心，给他们创造一个精致的氛围，优雅的环境。我希望情侣和密友能在这里享受愉快的晚餐。之前有很多小孩子，他们乱丢食物，跑来跑去，大声尖叫，很多客人都不来了，收入也少了。”

    餐厅经理廖申?努涅斯告诉《华盛顿邮报》，他们最终决定采取这个措施是因为有个小女孩在餐厅里用平板电脑，声音开得特别大。工作人员提醒多次，但小女孩的父母不愿调低音量，所以工作人员请他们离开了餐厅。

    1月份的时候，Caruso's就决定禁止五岁以下的儿童入内。自那以后，人们就在餐厅的非官方脸书主页上留言，很多人给这条规定贴上了歧视标签。

    帕斯奎尔?卡鲁索说，虽然有人指责他们搞歧视，对儿童的限制政策传出后，预约人数大量增加，以前一天有50位客人，现在能有80位左右。