Restaurants Banning Food Photography

Looks like one of my two peeves of FB photos is going away :D The other one is where people post pics of themselves drinking.
 
threeclaws said:
You can always spot the classless assholes by who has their phone out as soon as the plate hits the table. If I'm paying hundreds on dinner for two, which is the price range of the restaurants in question, I don't want someone having a photo session next to me.

That being said it is rare for me to see people doing this, in these kinds of restaurants, so this can't be inconveniencing that many people.
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And those people are paying hundreds of dollars to eat there as well, why are you more important than them? Get over yourself. If they drop a few hundred bucks on a dish and want to photograph it, they don't need to clear it with you.
 
Rizen said:
And those people are paying hundreds of dollars to eat there as well, why are you more important than them? Get over yourself. If they drop a few hundred bucks on a dish and want to photograph it, they don't need to clear it with you.
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Well said. People really need to learn that once they're out in the world, they don't get a 20-foot radius of personal space.
 
I haven't had any folks taking pictures of my food that I've noticed. I suspect it's more of a coast thing. However, I have experienced an even more bizarre behavior (at least to me). When did it become normal to go into a restaurant to check out their food before eating? REALLY? You're going to drive to a restaurant, check out the food and, THEN, decide if you're going to eat there? I talk to most of my guests and there is little difference in expectations between the folks who eat and the folks who go elsewhere. Basically, they don't come in looking for anything specific, they're just "window shopping."

Have television ads and giant photo shopped pictures over the counter become a real factor in eating? I'm not talking about fast food places but, full service restaurants. About half these people who decide to eat elsewhere, come back and eat another day. WTF?
 
The only time i did this was for a dish that was served Flambe'd (on fucking fire)....the camera's interperatation of the flames was a ghostly blue flame, which looked stunning.
 
What if you take that same food at home and take some pictures there. Still illegal? :D
 
When looking up restaurants on Yelp, I actually like seeing pictures people post. Have never done it myself, but I'm glad others do.
 
Rizen said:
And those people are paying hundreds of dollars to eat there as well, why are you more important than them? Get over yourself. If they drop a few hundred bucks on a dish and want to photograph it, they don't need to clear it with you.
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Because they are disrupting my meal. You must be a smoker though because they are the only ones who push that "I can do what I want/fuck everybody else" attitude.
 
threeclaws said:
Because they are disrupting my meal. You must be a smoker though because they are the only ones who push that "I can do what I want/fuck everybody else" attitude.
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Disrupting your meal, really? Now who's the one sniffing their own farts.
 
Magnus said:
I haven't had any folks taking pictures of my food that I've noticed. I suspect it's more of a coast thing. However, I have experienced an even more bizarre behavior (at least to me). When did it become normal to go into a restaurant to check out their food before eating? REALLY? You're going to drive to a restaurant, check out the food and, THEN, decide if you're going to eat there? I talk to most of my guests and there is little difference in expectations between the folks who eat and the folks who go elsewhere. Basically, they don't come in looking for anything specific, they're just "window shopping."

Have television ads and giant photo shopped pictures over the counter become a real factor in eating? I'm not talking about fast food places but, full service restaurants. About half these people who decide to eat elsewhere, come back and eat another day. WTF?
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That is weird, I've looked at menus when they are posted outside of the restaurant but never felt the need to go inside to check out the food.
 
obs said:
Disrupting your meal, really? Now who's the one sniffing their own farts.
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Dimly lit restaurant and some asshole has a flash going off a table over OR someone getting up and standing on their chair to get a better angle, yeah that's a disruption not just for me but the whole restaurant.

If people were being discreet this wouldn't be an issue.
 
threeclaws said:
Because they are disrupting my meal. You must be a smoker though because they are the only ones who push that "I can do what I want/fuck everybody else" attitude.
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Taking out your phone for ten seconds is now equal to blowing carcinogenic smoke at other people? Goddamn, I hope I am never near you. I might have the temerity to breathe.
 
Do people even use a flash these days? Even with LED "flashes" on phones, I hardly see them in these kinds of pics. It's always some ultra shitty quality picture in low light. LEDs aren't exactly the most distracting flashes anyway.
 
Rizen said:
And those people are paying hundreds of dollars to eat there as well, why are you more important than them? Get over yourself. If they drop a few hundred bucks on a dish and want to photograph it, they don't need to clear it with you.
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I don't need anybody to clear it with me but if the establishment doesn't want you doing it then why do you continue to do so? Do you talk on the phone in the movie theaters even though they ask you to please refrain from doing so? Why can't someone just respect the requests of the restaurant? If, as a patron, don't like that policy then don't frequent it. You are in another person't place of business in the end.
 
striker444 said:
Only have done this once, and it was with sushi for a table of 8 VERY hungry friends, one who got 6 rolls alone. It was a spectacular feast and the presentation was amazing, they put color changing LED's in the garnishes, birds made of different fruits, awesome placements of the sushi and the color made cool designs. It was a work of art.
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OMFG that sounds incredible. Now I'm fiending some Edison rolls >_>...

MikeTrike said:
The only good reason for a restaurant to do this, is if their food is shit... Otherwise I'd take all of the free advertisement I could get.
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Exactly. These restaurants should take pride in their work and somebody uploading pictures of their delicious creations and spamming Instagram, Tumblr whatever is nothing but free advertising. WHO doesn't want free advertising?
 
DaRkL3AD3R said:
Exactly. These restaurants should take pride in their work and somebody uploading pictures of their delicious creations and spamming Instagram, Tumblr whatever is nothing but free advertising. WHO doesn't want free advertising?
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Restaurants with chefs that don't care about presentation.
 
Stiletto said:
Taking out your phone for ten seconds is now equal to blowing carcinogenic smoke at other people? Goddamn, I hope I am never near you. I might have the temerity to breathe.
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Stiletto said:
OHMIGOD that flash that lasted for a twentieth of a second just ruined my whole meal!!! :eek:
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Thanks for proving my point, you people are the reason restaurants have to make rules like this.
 
threeclaws said:
Thanks for proving my point, you people are the reason restaurants have to make rules like this.
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You sound ridiculous. If someone snapping a picture a few feet away from you is enough to drive you mad and ruin your dinner, you've got problems. You either need a reality check or a better social life.....
 
threeclaws said:
Because they are disrupting my meal. You must be a smoker though because they are the only ones who push that "I can do what I want/fuck everybody else" attitude.
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Completely different. Cigarette smoke disturbs peoples breathing and lungs, and makes the entire restaurant smell. A camera flash lasts a split second. Seriously, this bothers you? I don't even notice this stuff.
 
Geez get with it people. Someone standing on a chair two tables away is akin to someone standing on your check impeding your ability to breathe.
 
threeclaws said:
Thanks for proving my point, you people are the reason restaurants have to make rules like this.
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I suppose it's just like those who sit in movie theaters and start talking on their cell phones or texting. People have to make rules because of inconsiderate jerks causing problems for others.
 
Kenworth said:
I don't need anybody to clear it with me but if the establishment doesn't want you doing it then why do you continue to do so? Do you talk on the phone in the movie theaters even though they ask you to please refrain from doing so? Why can't someone just respect the requests of the restaurant? If, as a patron, don't like that policy then don't frequent it. You are in another person't place of business in the end.
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I don't think taking a picture at dinner is comparable to talking in a movie theater. People take photos at restaurants all the time, e.g. birthday dinners or whatever. It's not really disturbing anyone else. It's a public, social atmosphere. Movie theaters are not.

That said, if there was a sign posted that said no photography, I'd probably just shut off my flash.
 
Rizen said:
It's a public, social atmosphere.
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That's my thought. If you are seriously so bothered by people taking pictures of their food at the table next to you that it disrupts your meal in any meaningful way... I hope I never meet you and have to have a meal with you.

Of course if it's the rules of the establishment that you can't, that's up to them. Personally I'd have no desire to eat in a place that has such rules in the first place. Not because I like to take pictures of the food I eat, in fact I don't think I ever have, but the people who frequent or run a place that feels the need to institute such rules are not the sort of people I'd want to eat with anyway.
 
Rizen said:
Nope. I've done this too. Sometimes you eat at cool places or get cool presentations of the food, especially at Sushi or Thai restaurants.

Why is this such a big deal?
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Might be true but it looks extremely tacky. I've been to restaurants like Tao in NYC many times and although the architecture and food presentation is great I wouldn't whip out a camera and start going TMZ all over the joint.
 
What happened to America? What happened to freedom? Will taking pictures at a birthday party become a piece of history? I can understand no pictures in washroom/restroom, but not even at a restaurants? Will it soon become no pictures in public area? I will be very surprised if you never took pictures with friends and/or families in restaurants in your life. Oh yeah, you can't do this anymore.
 
Rizen said:
Completely different. Cigarette smoke disturbs peoples breathing and lungs, and makes the entire restaurant smell. A camera flash lasts a split second. Seriously, this bothers you? I don't even notice this stuff.
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Cigarette smoke can also alter the taste of the food as well.

If we were talking about people taking 30 pictures of a dish when they get it like a paparazzi with incredibly high flash, then that's annoying, but not going to really change your meal.

Do you want to ban people from bringing children to a resturant too? I've noticed they are quite annoying too, but I get over it.
 
TheMadHatterXxX said:
Might be true but it looks extremely tacky. I've been to restaurants like Tao in NYC many times and although the architecture and food presentation is great I wouldn't whip out a camera and start going TMZ all over the joint.
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Well I just use a cell phone, and I've only done it a few times. I don't really care what other people think :p
 
No pictures of your children either, it violates their rights that they aren't old enough to contractually waive.
 
Phoenix333 said:
I suppose it's just like those who sit in movie theaters and start talking on their cell phones or texting. People have to make rules because of inconsiderate jerks causing problems for others.
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It's really not the same thing at all. Do you yell at people in a restuarant for talking while you're trying to eat? Restaurants are often loud anyways. It's not a fair comparison at all.

A movie is a visual and audio experience, whereas at a restuarant, the visual and audio experience is far from the primary experience. I'd imagine it's supposed to be a taste and smell experience, and some visual flair as well.

A better comparison for someone talking and texting in a movie theatre is someone farting on your food while you're trying to eat it.
 
The only time I've ever taken a picture of food at a restaurant is when i gashed the roof of my mouth on a jagged chicken bone that had mysteriously found it's way into a vegetarian burrito.
 
Stiletto said:
A piece of electronics primarily used for playing video games versus a meal prepared by top-grade chefs in an upscale, high-class environment. Get a grip. If people will spend 500-1000 bucks on a video card or a processor, then call people douchebags for spending three figures on fine dining, they're oblivious hypocrites.
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To answer your previous question, I would not spend $500+ on a video card, I think the most I spent on a video card was in the $200 range, ditto on the processor. I'm not anywhere close to [H]ard like some (most??) of the people on this site.

Spending $150 pp for a meal with no massive bar tab on that IMO is a colossal waste of money (for me), there is no food, there are no ingredients, there are no chefs on this planet that can be make something that is that delicious that would make me want to do spend that kind of money on a single meal (unless said money was for a charity), and while I wouldn't consider myself rich by any standards I could probably dine at a place like that on a weekly basis without having to tighten my belt anywhere else except maybe a little less into the retirement account each month. Now if others want to do it and refer to it as "fine dining" that's their prerogative, I say it's douchie not because of any sense of "you could feed a family for xxx days.." or anything like that, but people who think that high of themselves that that is "worth it" for a single meal are "douchie" (and I apologize to everyone who's offended that I just called them a douche, but you are :D)

And to turn it back around... I can take pictures with my video card and no one gets their silk panties in a twist. SHAZAAM!

Fun fact, just found a place in San Francisco that charges $498 per person, how's that for opulence!? At least tax, tip and alcohol is included in that price though.
 
I can foresee a law suit coming of this because once the transaction is made, the food no longer belongs to that restaurant. A consumer can wear it as underwear if they wanted to. Now, if you haven't paid until you've finished consuming and checked out, then yes, there is a possibility for that.
 
wgm3446 said:
I can foresee a law suit coming of this because once the transaction is made, the food no longer belongs to that restaurant. A consumer can wear it as underwear if they wanted to. Now, if you haven't paid until you've finished consuming and checked out, then yes, there is a possibility for that.
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It still is a private business though, and they can dictate the rules that they want in their business as long as it doesn't violate the constitution... although I could see someone claiming freedom of the press it would not apply in a situation like this.

I know a lot of pet shops I've been in (usually fish related) have postings about photography being prohibited mostly because they don't want it know how crappy their livestock is kept, but AFAIK it's perfectly legal to make it policy not to take pictures in a store.
 
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