D.C. restaurants ask diners to ditch their phones
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Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
Everyone's buzzing about Minetta Tavern's opening near Union Market. But there's a reason why the famous Black Label burger and "secret" upstairs bar aren't popping off TikTok: a no-phone policy.
Why it matters: If you're annoyed by camera flashes, cheese pulls and "phone eats first," there are a growing number of places encouraging phone-free experiences.
The big picture: No-phone policies have existed — especially in fine dining — since we graduated from Nokia flips, and the phenomenon is gaining steam globally. Ironically, it makes scrollable headlines when an Italian restaurant offers free wine for no phones or a secretive NYC club slaps a sticker on patrons' cameras.
- Remember when long-gone Shaw tasting room Rogue 24 made national news in 2011 for making diners sign a two-page contract that banned phone and camera use over three-hour dinners?
Meanwhile, U Street's decades-old Saloon still hangs a "no-no board" over the bar advertising no TVs, standing, martinis or cell phones.
Zoom in: Most places, like Minetta, are less extreme. Upstairs at the Lucy Mercer Bar, named after FDR's mistress, the tongue-in-cheek messaging reads: "Lucy Mercer's dying wish [was] that this room be kept completely phone-free. Please respect this." Asked what happens to violators, owner Keith McNally joked to Axios: "Death by firing squad."
- Downstairs, patrons are asked to "kindly refrain" from phone use, "except for occasional or necessary short conversations." ("It's more of a courtesy to other guests," one manager told Axios.)
- In short: No one will go Alec Baldwin on your camera if you sneak a pic (you'll see plenty on Insta). But it discourages tabletop paparazzi.
Flashback: In the early days of Instagram, businesses designed dishes, drinks and even whole spaces with social media in mind (and many still do).
- When famed D.C. cocktail bar Columbia Room reopened in 2016, owner Derek Brown told me that Instagram "radically changed our approach" to everything, from the drinks to the look.
- He worked with designers to install tight, illuminating lights over each seat and added photo-enhancing placemats so cocktails were posed perfectly for the camera.
The intrigue: The pendulum is swinging in the opposite direction, though some are subtle about screen time. You won't find a no-phone policy at Shaw's French bistro Petite Cerise. In fact, it's the opposite in the bright room, where elaborate croissants are a viral social media sensation. (Even if chefs balk at phones in dining rooms, Insta is usually their top marketing tool.)
- But upstairs, at night, chef Jeremiah Langhorne has a different vision: "I want people to put their phones away and create an experience where people will dig into a meal and enjoy it," he told Axios this summer.
Langhorne's team implemented some "small cosmetic changes" to make it less photo-friendly and more in the moment.
- "We went darker, a hell of a lot of candles, a vibey '90s playlist," Langhorne said. "I hate the idea of going to a place to take pictures."