You may have heard that our smart phones are to blame for the slower service in nice restaurants. If not, you should read this article. In essence it says that since we are busy taking pictures of our food, ourselves and our groups, service takes longer.

There’s a really smart restaurant team in Boston that has figured out a way to use this idea to their advantage. Salvatore’s Restaurants has introduced their no-phone zone during lunch times on Mondays. It is a really interesting experiment.

The offer is simple: Turn in your technology on the way to lunch, and every member of your party is a buy-one, get-one free. Everyone has to turn in their phone for it to be in effect.

Salvatore’s is making the bet (and I think it’s a good one), that the increase in traffic and the increased speed of table turns (how many times a table gets used in a period) will more than offset the cost of the free meals. This promotion is a great example of paying attention to trends in your industry and taking action to benefit.

I think it’s a winner for everyone. If you go to lunch with a few work friends, everyone gets a better price on the meal and since the technology is gone, you also get to dine with folks that are emotionally and intellectually present.

We’ll see how it works out. What do you think about this? Great idea or not? Would you participate?