Tourist in Italy charged extra for cutting sandwich, TripAdvisor pauses reviews after viral post

The Italy restaurant owner said they would have removed the amount from the bill had the customer objected to it then and there. (Representational image)

A restaurant in Italy’s Lake Como region allegedly charged a diner two euros extra after getting a sandwich he had ordered cut in half so that he can share it with his friend. The tourist’s narration of the incident on TripAdvisor was viral, following which the platform temporarily suspended publishing new reviews for the restaurant.

The unnamed person said he and his friend went to the restaurant named Bar Pace in Gera Lario, on the northern side of Italy’s Lake Como, New York Post reported. He ordered a vegetarian sandwich which came with a side of fries.

After sharing the sandwich with the friend, he was shocked to find an additional two euros in his bill. Though he paid the amount without complaining to the restaurant staff, he took to TripAdvisor later to post a damning review of the restaurant.

“Unbelievable but true,” the customer captioned the photo of the bill online.

The bill in Italian listed a vegetarian sandwich (Toast Vegetariano e Patatine) for €7.50, Coca-Cola for €3.50, water for €1.50 and€ espresso for 1.20. Along with this was an €2 for “diviso da meta”, or cutting in half”.
The diner reportedly gave a one-star rating for the restaurant which has over 100 reviews and an average rating of 4.5 on TripAdvisor.

The owner of the restaurant, meanwhile, stood her ground and defended the extra charge.

“It wasn't a simple toast, there were also fried potatoes inside. It took us some time to cut it in two. And the work pays off,” Cristina Biacchi told La Repubblica, an Italian newspaper.

"We would have explained to him that each additional service must be paid for. We had to use two saucers instead of one and the time to wash them doubled, and then two placemats.”

She said no one objected to the additional fee at the time of payment and that the restaurant would have removed the amount from the bill had the customer objected to it then and there.

"I repeat, if he had said it immediately, he would not have paid this supplement. And all this would not have happened,” Biacchi said.

TripAdvisor, put out a message on the restaurant’s listing, saying posting reviews were paused. “Due to a recent event that has attracted media attention and has caused an influx of review submissions that do not describe a first-hand experience, we have temporarily suspended publishing new reviews for this listing. If you’ve had a firsthand experience at this property, please check back soon - we’re looking forward to receiving your review,” it said.