By Adriana Diaz
They tried to have their cake — and eat it too.
A diner at a restaurant in Italy was outraged to learn he was charged 15 euros — about $16 — to have a store-bought cake cut and served to his nine guests.
Fabio Bregolato recently went to an unidentified pizzeria in Pino Torinese to celebrate a birthday with his loved ones.
Because the eatery does not serve desserts, the group decided to bring their own to finish off the party. They were shocked to receive the bill with the cake-cutting charge.
“There were 10 of us, excellent pizza, and the service was well done, but… EUR 15 to cut a cake we brought ourselves was quite a style faux pas,” Bregolato posted online with a photo of the receipt, according to CEN.
The receipt shows the charges for the pizzas, appetizers and drinks the table ordered, with the fee for cutting the cake down at the bottom.
“They could have let it slide; in my 40 years (and I’ve eaten a lot of pizzas), I’ve never come across a place that charged an extra fee for cutting a cake,” Bregolato insisted.
He claimed that he called the pizza shop ahead of the meal and got approval to bring the treat.
“The pizzeria couldn’t make a dessert, but they said we could bring our own cake from outside,” he explained.
Although the customers found the fee ridiculous, the restaurant defended the charge by responding to Bregolato’s post.
“We duly noted it on the receipt and pay our taxes. It’s a service and, as such, has a cost,” a rep for the eatery wrote.
The rep denied Bregolato’s claim that he informed them ahead of time about the store-bought food and noted the risks that come with serving dishes they did not make since they specialize in “products for people with celiac disease and intolerances.”
“When he arrived, he showed us the cake and said, ‘Will you take care of it?’ Nothing else. We are not obliged to provide this service, especially because we risk serving something we didn’t make ourselves,” the rep explained.
The restaurant also noted the cake was “tiny” and took extra effort to be cut to serve the table of 10.
“The waitress took the cake to the kitchen and, with effort, cut 10 acceptable slices,” the rep said. “She arranged them on the plate very nicely to make a good impression on the customer despite the small portions.”
The statement continued: “In short, between cutting, arranging, and serving at the table, she spent 25 minutes, during which I couldn’t have her do anything else.”
While shocking to some, this isn’t the first time a diner has been hit with a cutting fee.
Earlier this summer a family was shocked to discover they were charged 20 euros — about $22 — to have their cake cut into 20 pieces.
And a woman was slapped with a surprise 2 euro — about $2 — surcharge at a restaurant for having her sandwich cut in half.
