Asked not to eat food from elsewhere

[moogoom]

In an independent burger bar tucked away in the corner. It is 7:30 and just finished some shopping with kids in tow. DD has decided burgers are another thing she cant eat anymore so we quickly called next door for a kids sandwich and popped back to previous tucked away seat. The owner comes along and tells me to ask my daughter to put the sandwich away if we are eating in. But loudly so the customers can hear, which they all did. So would you call this pernickety behaviour or her prerogative?

They are paying for rent , electricity, tax, salary, a space in the shopping mall. In exchange customers pay. Why should they provide a seat for people who are not buying the food.

I assume that the op and other kids were eating burgers purchased there. So I think it's a bit mean not to let one kid eat something else - there might be any number of reasons why the kid can't eat a burger and are they supposed to not eat anything while everyone else does? Though it would have been better if they'd asked someone before going and bringing other food in and maybe the response would have been different.

I’ve never known any food place that allows outside food to be eaten on the premises. Their whole business is to sell food, why would they?

Possibly because I have one very fussy child (and one not overly fussy) I'm with the op on this - she bought food from the burger place. How much does it really cost him to have one non-paying child sit at his table compared to the money he did get from the 2 who were eating?

Ah crossed post, so you were eating. No issues.

ABVU I own a restaurant and if we let everyone do this I'd be out of business.

No one owes you their business though, so i you get fussy with someone who has bought two meals and a sandwich from outside your establishment. They just won't come back, you'd soon go out of business that way.

It certainly wouldn't make any difference to your bottom line if they'd asked first

YABU. If you had at least asked first it might have helped.

I’ve never known any food place that allows outside food to be eaten on the premises. Their whole business is to sell food, why would they?

Because they rather sell two meals than no meals?

I've done this countless times, never had anyone say anything. It' stupid. Some money is always better than no money, it's why shops offer coupons and sales!

YABVU I own a restaurant and if we let everyone do this I'd be out of business.

If you had a customer purchasing 2 full meals but let one kid eat something not bought there, you'd go out of business? The alternative for OP would probably be next time they all eat else where (it's what I'd do). Surely that's more likely to send a business bust?

How old is your DD?

I'm guessing about 10 from your other threads?

Far too old to get away with the "picky little girl" who can't eat off the menu thing to be perfectly blunt.

I realise i should have asked first now. I dont know why I didn’t. I genuinely didnt think it would make any difference. It was quiet and not in plain sight of other customers

Saucyjack yes she is 9 and quite a madam!

Absolutely her prerogative!

Yabu. You should have let your child eat her sandwich outside first, or afterwards, or all got takeaway and eaten outside.

At the very least you should have checked with the manager before assuming it was ok.

Few restaurants allow you to do this. Unless it's a weaning baby etc.
Maybe the picky one should've just had a side instead of being pandered to. She might be less picky then.

Of course YWU. It's not only incredibly rude, it's also common, standard practice that you don't eat food in a cafe / bar / restaurant that you didn't buy from that place. And your 9-year old madam should go hungry if she won't eat what's on offer.

I assumed your daughter was going to be preschool which I would think was understandable, but at 9 that's just cheeky. She could have had chips or something.

As you’ve clarified now that you bought 2 full meals there then I’ve changed my mind and thing they were BU.

YABU. You should have all eaten from the burger van if you wanted to sit down. By taking up spaces and not eating from the van, you would be denying her custom.

If you allow one person to eat their own food because two have bought something, where do you draw the line? One person buying and two not, or what if they only bought drinks and their own food? There needs to be a blanket rule because there are too many variables to make it discretionary.

There was nothing your 9 year would eat at all? Then she would have waited until we had eaten if she were mine. Pandering to her above the livelihood of the business owner is not a good message imho.

A toddler then NBU
A 9 year old refusing a burger then YABU

Ah ok my bad haha 😂 well i just won’t be giving them my custom again. More for the way she did it like an announcement for the rest of the cafe.

You were rude and cheeky. How would you have liked her to tell you if not by speaking to you? Semaphore?

Judging by the four friends she has over, none of these girls would have eaten anything either. They all live on fresh air