Restaurant Googles its Customers Before They Arrive
If you went to a restaurant and your server knew it was your birthday without you telling him, would you be thrilled or creeped out? New York City restaurant Eleven Madison Park thinks it's the former: maître d' Justin Roller extensively Googles everyone who comes into the restaurant in an attempt to discover their birthdays, anniversaries and other information, then uses it to personalize their meal.
For example, Roller says he looks for pictures of customers wearing chef's clothing or holding wine glasses, which could clue him in as to whether a chef, sommelier, or serious foodie is coming to dinner, according to an article from Grub Street, New York Magazine's food section.
MORE: 7 Ways to Lock Down Your Online Privacy
Roller gave even more specific examples of how he uses Google to surprise customers: "If I find out a guest is from Montana, and I know we have a server from there, we'll put them together," he told Grub Street. In another example, he said that if a customer likes jazz, he'll pair him with an employee who can talk jazz.
Roller added that if his Googling gave him the impression that an incoming customer is more private, he'll "let them introduce themselves to me."
Eleven Madison Park is an upscale restaurant in Manhattan's Flatiron District. It does not take walk-ins; customers must make reservations 28 days in advance, which is how Roller gets enough information to start Googling.
In its review, Grub Street lavished praise on Eleven Madison Park. "All that Googling pays off when the maître d' greets total strangers by name and wishes them a happy tenth anniversary before they've even taken off their coats" it wrote in its review. "There aren't many restaurants where this level of care and attention still exists."
But even if information like birth dates, hobbies and other interests is freely available online, it's easy to see how many regular customers might be unnerved by a stranger greeting them with personal information.
Last fall, comedian Jack Vale did something similar, using people's public social-media posts to glean information about them and then striking up conversations as if he knew them. Most of these people were horrified, despite having made all the information he used entirely public via Facebook, Twitter and more.
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