Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/08/17/restaurant-chain-apologizes-fo.html
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Oh man. At first glance I thought they were weighing people before eating to get a tare weight. Then they’d weigh them after their meal and charge them based on the weight of food they consumed. Which would be… awesome?
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From the Hitchhikers Guide…
A fabulously beautiful planet, Bethselamin is now so worried about the cumulative eroision by ten billion visiting tourists a year that any net imbalance between the amount you eat and the amount you excrete whilst on the planet is surgically removed from your bodyweight when you leave: so every time you go to the lavatory there it is vitally important to get a receipt.
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while men weighing more than 80 kilograms (175 pounds) were recommended dishes including braised pork belly.
Not sure I could stay angry at someone who offered me braised pork belly…
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Come for the beef, stay for the fish head.
RIP, Bill Paxton.
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Reminds me of High Wycombe, where they weigh the aldermen. One of Queen Elizabeth’s better suggestions.
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Obvious downsides for this system:
- You could end up paying more for the water you drank than the food you ate
- Using the bathroom during your visit to the restaurant would ruin the system
- “Oops, did I forget that rock I carried in with me under the dining room table? How did that happen?”
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Came for this, left satisfied.
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Where I go they usually just weigh my wallet
Surely the larger people are more likely to finish their food? I don’t really get this.
Beaten to the HHG2G reference so…
I want to say the place was called “Charlies” in Kitchener and I believe it wasn’t there last time I looked, but…
It was in an old warehouse and at the entrance they had a very big commercial scale built into part of the floor. Sure enough, every now and then one of the group would unknowingly step on it as everyone else tried to nonchalantly step off… 
Have they tried gavage feeding? A surefire solution to picky eaters and unwanted leftovers!
You beat me to it (hence the deleted reply above).
That’s the beauty and egalitarianism of credit cards - they all weigh the same.
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Growing up, I recall going to the Ground Round where there was a “pay what you weigh” promotion.
ETA: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/12/15/fine-dining/
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In Summerland California, formerly know for radon gas, as a spiritualist community, and as a place where one could drive a pipe in the beach and light the gas released, there was a restaurant known for weighing children,
The Big Yellow House “ For many years, kids meals were priced “by the pound” - not the food, but by the weight of their youngest customers; children under 10 would be weighed on a great scale and their meal priced accordingly.”
In reality, stopping to eat there was a humiliating experience. My memory was that below a certain weight, your food was free. Above a certain weight, you were an adult. The scale was large and the whole family, as well as others could watch in the entry hall.
The building is historic monument, a testament to Summerland spiritualist past as well as being the most famous from a restaurant in the town. It currently sits derelict after failed attempts to use the spot for other things like a bank, because the building is pretty ill suited for a restaurant. It also is a reminder to kids that their weight mattered a great deal.
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Not unprecedented, though. I’ve been to two restaurants, one in France (Flunch!) and another in Brazil where you paid by weight of food. By measuring the weight of your tray, not your body.
Flunch was cafeteria style and kind of meh (especially since in France), but the meal in Brazil was one of the best I’ve ever had.
I’ve heard a story about a group of Vikings who selected their leader based on who could completely fill the (oversized) throne in their hall. The idea was that this would either give them a giant who would lead them to glory and plunder in battle, or a fat merchant who would make them rich through trade.
Can’t seem to find it (or if it’s real or fictional), though.
Man, people need to lighten up.
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