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The story
“I want people to eat ramen fresh and fast — if you dawdle over it while scrolling your phone, the noodles go soggy, and it inconveniences the customers waiting behind you.” A ramen shop owner’s complaint along these lines drew attention on 5ch. Some restaurants have already started banning this kind of “eating while distracted” during busy hours, and some local governments are even considering ordinances restricting phone use to prevent accidents. The thread saw a clash between those who think customers should follow shop rules and those who think a paying customer’s freedom shouldn’t be restricted — with many eventually landing on: “both customers and shops have the right to choose.”
What people said
According to the owner, ramen is meant to be eaten right after it's served, and when customers eat slowly while using their phone, it not only lets the noodles go soggy but also affects the shop's table turnover.
"If you came here to eat ramen, I want you to actually eat the ramen — when people drag it out while staring at their phone, it inconveniences the customers waiting behind them."
It's just ramen, isn't it?
Being staff still outranks being "just a customer," I'd say.
Anyone who won't follow the rules can just be banned.
Damn, badass… lol
If you want your phone, go eat slowly at a neighborhood Chinese diner instead.
It depends how packed the seats are.
If it's empty, fine, but sitting there scrolling your phone after you've finished eating when the place is full? That's trash.
Is that really how ramen shops think?
The customer is the one paying money and asking to be fed.
You're just not getting it, man.
Using your phone while you're still eating is fine by me. But if there's a line of people waiting and you're hogging a seat scrolling your phone after you're done eating — that's not okay.
If it's only posted inside, it's too late — you're not obligated to follow it.
Though if they tell you to leave, you gotta leave.
It's just been swapped out for smartphones.
Lingering after you've finished eating has been frowned upon since the Edo period.
Old-school Edo folks used to mock people like that as country bumpkins.
If you want better table turnover, put in the effort yourself instead of pushing it onto customers.
Then don't bother coming.
Reading those while you eat isn't any different from using a phone.
Ramen shops today aren't run the same way they used to be, and even back then plenty of places had signs saying "please don't read while eating." The other side is telling you it's a problem for them, so "it was fine before, so it's fine now" isn't even a real argument.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtI5EYTElao&t
Smartphones have become an indispensable part of daily life, but a movement to ban "phone use while doing other things" is now spreading. Some ramen shops have banned "eating while on the phone" during busy hours, and local governments are also stepping up efforts to pass ordinances aimed at preventing accidents.
An actual ordinance for this is hilarious, lol
Just put a sign at the entrance saying "Finish eating and leave within 10 minutes of being served!"
How long are they gonna let a mere ramen joint act so full of itself, lol
That's fair if they can also guarantee the wait time is always under 10 minutes. Making customers wait, but not returning the favor while they eat, is unfair, right?
There's always the option of just not going.
Exactly. Both customers and shops have the right to choose.
Just work it out somewhere both sides come away satisfied.
Right, all they can make is ramen but they act like a chef, lol
I mean, I don't even want to linger at a ramen shop in the first place.
Especially true at counter seating.
I take photos because I can't remember what I ate otherwise.
The fact that you get mad the moment it's a smartphone is proof you've gotten old. Same goes for getting angry at people taking notes on their phone.
Background and Key Arguments
For context, ordinances restricting “phone use while doing other things” were originally enacted by local governments to prevent accidents like walking or cycling while staring at a phone — a different issue entirely from restaurant etiquette. In the thread, the two got conflated, with the existence of such ordinances being used to bolster the shop’s side of the argument, even though they carry no legal force in this context. The debate split into two main points: how far a paying customer’s freedom can be restricted, and whether slower table turnover is the shop’s own management problem or a matter of customer manners — neither side reached a resolution. Diners have long read newspapers or manga while eating, but lingering after finishing a meal was frowned upon even back then, with some pointing out that only the device has changed, from print to smartphones.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Fair Point] Ramen Shop Owner: “Stop Fiddling With Your Phone While You Eat! I’d Rather You Never Come Back”“.
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