Italian authorities shut down restaurant that tried to rip-off Japanese tourists
Italian authorities have taken action after a Japanese couple was told to pay an outrageous 700 euros for a seafood lunch at a restaurant in Rome:
The tourists filed a fraud complaint with police after being surprised with a bill for 579.50 euros plus 115.50 euros in tip for downing pasta and lobster with wine and gelato at the Il Passetto restaurant just off the popular Piazza Navona square.
Health inspectors arrived within days to shut down the 149-year old restaurant — which has served stars ranging from Charlie Chaplin to Grace Kelly — citing hygiene reasons.
Restaurants in Rome’s center have long been notorious for overcharging or serving overcooked pasta to the millions of tourists that flock here each year, and news of the pricey lunch sparked sharp criticism from consumer groups and city officials.
“As far as I’m concerned, this restaurant should never reopen again and operating licenses should be revoked for things of this nature,” Mayor Gianni Alemanno said, adding that he had ordered police to make surprise checks to uncover such fraud.
This has not escaped the attention of people in Japan: The Japanese language version of this Reuters story was one of the most popular stories on Yahoo! News Japan yesterday.
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Hope that tip was worth it, buddy.
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Mazzata ben meritata.
Well deserved punishment.
And, Sakaban: not ALL Italians are like that.
Marco, Italian Citizen
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Though it thought the bankruptcy to be severe,
It was possible to consent by reading the comment column of yahoo.
The ratio of the profit and confidence might be different in Japan and Italy.
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Italians are rude, very rude.
I have been in Italy and I found the country woderful but the people are arrogant and look down to foreigners.
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I totally agree with Dr. Yu. I get a very strong impressions that many Italians in the cities just want to sit around and get paid for doing nothing. While in Rome, I was astonished by how often taxi drivers, restaurants, bars try to rip you off by overcharging.
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