Bans

Italian Restaurant Draws Predictable Ire After Banning Kids Under 5

Adults only.
Adults only. Photo: JGI/Jamie Grill/Corbis

The owner of a popular seafood joint in Rome is infuriating families with a sign he installed that casually drops this BTW, complete with pictograms, at the front door:

“Due to some unpleasant incidents caused by a lack of manners,” it reads, “children under 5 are not allowed in this restaurant.” Marco Magliozzi, the owner of family-run La Fraschetta del Pesce, has other choice words for the toddler set, which include “little uncontrollable terrors.” His biggest slam seems to be the one he gave La Repubblica: “They run slalom among the tables,” he told the paper. “They throw olive oil on the floor, they upturn the water, they send the salt [cellar] flying across the room, they try to dismantle the furniture, they shout, they cry and above all,” his withering blow concludes, “they hate fish.” La Fraschetta’s fish are caught fresh by Magliozzi’s son, so that can’t help.

Staffers haven’t shied away from enforcing the ban, either. A man who left a scathing review on TripAdvisor wrote that he was “left speechless, without words” after La Fraschetta turned him and his 2-month-old baby away. The Telegraph adds that police finally stopped by on Tuesday to discuss the sign: Italian law requires restaurants to admit everyone unless there’s “good reason.” It appears Magliozzi disagrees, and he’s so far suggested the people who are complaining are simply “not able to understand what was written on the door of the entrance.” Maybe not, but they likely got the message from those detailed pictures.

[Telegraph]

Italian Restaurant Bans Kids Under 5