This Restaurant Locks Your Phone In A Safebox To Prevent Tableside Texting

Tableside texting: It's an unfortunate side effect of our technology-dependent world. But one restaurant is keeping the awkward "phone-obsessed dinner companion" situation under lock and key, literally. At Tea Terrace Restaurants in London, waiters will take your device and place it in a safe disguised as a book, called a "phonetentiary," to which only they know the combination.

The nifty policy is not compulsory, so it feels more like a fun gimmick rather than an eyebrow-raising dining dictatorship. And what better place to take a break from work emails and social media distractions than a good, old-fashioned teahouse?

"We want to bring back good old conversations," owner Rowena Shouly told Insider. "Very often we see guests, especially families with tweens or teenagers, not engaging in conversation because the children are on their smart phones. Or sometimes, friends would be busy posting photos of themselves at our tea rooms or their food or our lovely throne chairs on social media."