Unsplash/Federico Beccari
- A restaurant in Venice charged four tourists €1,100 ($ 1,350/£970) for four steaks, fried fish, and water.
- The news garnered some bad publicity for Venice.
- Osteria da Luca has since received visits from the police and health and building inspectors, who fined it €14,000.
- The Venetian Hoteliers Association also offered the tourists a free two-night stay at one of the city’s hotels.
A restaurant in Venice that massively overcharged some tourists for a steak dinner has been fined €14,000 ($ 17,500/£12,300) by authorities in the city.
Osteria da Luca garnered some bad press earlier this week after reports emerged of its charging four Japanese tourists €1,100 ($ 1,350/£970) for four steaks, fried fish, and mineral water.
The mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro, pledged to intervene in the “shameful episode.”
After the news broke, Osteria da Luca received visits from the police, health officers, building inspectors, and the national financial crime police, who slapped the restaurant with fines totalling €14,000 ($ 17,500/£12,300), regional newspaper Il Gazzetino reported.
Health and building inspectors discovered structural irregularities in the restaurant’s kitchen and serving area, and local police found administrative inconsistencies, Il Gazzetino said.
The Venetian Hoteliers Association on Wednesday also offered the four wronged tourists a free two-night stay at a four- or five-star hotel in an attempt to revive the lagoon city’s reputation. It is not clear, however, if they received any money back after being overcharged.
Vittorio Bonacini, the association’s president, told The Telegraph: “The association has taken note of the fact that the episode did grave harm to the image of the city.
“After a high-level discussion, we’ve decided to offer the four tourists who had such an unfortunate experience a stay of two nights in a four or five-star hotel.”
