Italian Restaurant Charges Family Rs 1,800 To Slice Birthday Cake, Internet Divided

A family in Italy was horrified when a restaurant charged them 20 euros (Rs 1,800) to have their cake cut into 20 pieces. The family was celebrating a birthday at a restaurant in Palermo, Sicily, reported New York Post.

The family spent around Rs 10,000 on pizza and drinks. The bill stated an additional fee of "20 X Servizio Torta" or "20 x cake service." The diners were shocked and couldn't understand the rationale behind the seemingly exorbitant fee for an essential service.

Social media users had a mixed reaction to the incident, while some were stunned, others supported the restaurant. A user commented, "You can have your cake and eat it too.....for a price"

Another user wrote, "Imagine bringing outside food to a restaurant and then not charging you for said food. .... The audacity."

"Slice it? Or slice it, plate it, and serve it (with clean fork) to a table full of people when the cake was brought in, not purchased at the restaurant?" the third user wrote.

Earlier, a British tourist was furious after a restaurant in Italy charged him extra for cutting a sandwich in half. The tourist had ordered a vegetarian sandwich with fries at Bar Pace in Gera Lario, at the Lake Como region's northern end.

He had ordered the sandwich to split with his friend but never asked for it to be cut into halves. After the tourist and his friend were done snacking, he asked for the bill and was shocked to find the unwanted charge on his account.

There was a 2 Euro (Rs 180) charge for ''diviso da meta'' or ''cutting in half''.

Though he paid the money without arguing or complaining to the restaurant manager, he later posted a screenshot of the bill along with a negative review on TripAdvisor.