Dine and Chat

September 26, 2005

A new restaurant, Landmark, located in Lincoln Park, Chicago offers a private nook for cell phone chatting. Customers no longer have to refuse calls and can always accept important ones without interrupting the entire restaurant. Customers just need to excuse themselves to the cell phone nook.

The cell phone nook is just off the main dining area in an alcove. The walls are covered with faux leather and the room features other fabrics such as snakeskin and features a leather banquette. The nook accommodates three customers at a time. The owners hope to add cell phone chargers to the nook but need to work out the details so that customers don't steal them.

“In this day and age, I don't know one person that doesn't have a cell phone,” stated co-owner Rob Katz, “And we live in a city where the weather is crazy. Why should people have to run outside to talk on the phone?”

While many restaurants are adding cell phone friendly areas, about 20% of upscale restaurants have rules against cell phones in the dining area. Jeffrey Ward a spokesman for Tru, an acclaimed dining spot in Chicago stated, “To have a ringing cell phone would be like bringing a camera crew into the dining room.”