Tourist furious after restaurant in Italy adds €2 charge for cutting sandwich in half

Tourist at Lake Como charged extra at restaurant for cutting his sandwich in half.

 

A recent dining experience at an upscale Italian restaurant turned sour for a tourist who found himself unexpectedly charged for a seemingly innocuous request – having his sandwich sliced in half.

 

The incident, which unfolded at Bar Pace in Gera Lario, a charming town located at the northern tip of Italy’s renowned Lake Como, has ignited a debate on culinary pricing practices.

 

Sharing his experience on a Tripadvisor review, the unnamed traveller explained that he ordered some drinks and a sandwich to share with a friend.

 

Nestled among the listed items on the bill – a sandwich priced at €7.50, a Coca-Cola for €3.50, water for €1.50, and an espresso for €1.20 – was an enigmatic entry. A fee of €2 had been added, attributed to “diviso da meta” or “cutting in half.”

 

Posting a photograph of the receipt online with the words “Unbelievable but true,” the British tourist gave the restaurant a one-star review in contrast to its overall average rating of four and a half stars derived from a pool of more than a hundred reviews.

 

“There were two of us and we asked for a toasted sandwich to share at the table. We have to pay because the toast was cut in half?” the review says.

 

In defence of the fee, Cristina Biacchi, the owner of Bar Pace, explained the rationale behind the surcharge in an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

 

“Additional requests have a cost,” she said.

 

“We had to use two plates instead of one and the time to wash them is doubled, and then two placemats.

 

“It wasn’t a simple toasted sandwich, there were also French fries inside. It took us time to cut it in two.”

 

Biacchi also noted to the publication that the customer did not complain or question the surcharge at the time.

 

As news of the sandwich slicing fee spread, the restaurant faced a deluge of online attention. In response to the influx of reviews that did not directly reflect first-hand experiences, Tripadvisor decided to temporarily suspend the publication of new reviews for Bar Pace.

 

The website stated: “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.”