The husband and I decided to go to Universal Citywalk for dinner last night. On the tram ride up the hill (we had taken the subway) I noticed the Saddleback steak house. I've never been there, but I'm always up for a good steak, so I asked if we could try it out. We made our way to the host stand and were told it was a 15 minute wait. No problem there. The host grabbed a pager and as I reached out to take it, she informed me there was a $20 deposit! Now, I kind of fell into a stupor and didn't really hear what she said next, but the husband told me later that she went on to say the deposit had to go on a credit card. So, not only did they want me to put up $20 for a pager they felt was necessary, but I had to give up my plastic for it. I said no way and we turned around and went to our first restaurant choice. Is this a new trend? Are other restaurants asking patrons to fork over dough for a pager? And what if I was paying in cash? Would I be turned away? I know these places have to deal with the foreign tourists, some of whom may not be up on the pager customs of American eating establishments. But I'm not going to give my business to any place that asks me to become financially responsible for something I didn't request. If the pagers keep getting lost/stolen, find another system.
And we had a very nice dinner at Karl Strauss, no deposit necessary.
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