Sunday, 26 October 2003 | Burrito account

There's a restaurant near my office that steals pennies. For every order that doesn't come out to an amount divisible by 5 (such as, say, $6.88), the restaurant rounds the price up, quoting a price that disagrees with the reading on the cash register ($6.90). The first time it happened, I thought it was a mistake; I've heard of restaurants rounding down, but never the other way around. I watched as other people in line unknowingly or shruggingly donated pennies; I was not alone. The only way around it, I've discovered (besides embarrassing yourself by grappling over a few pennies), is to give the cashier exact change.

I cannot stop going to this restaurant, not that a few pennies matter enough to change my lunch habits anyway. It sells the best veggie burritos, the staff is incredibly nice, and it's the only place in New York where I can order my food and ask for "no bag" without opening my mouth; I just stand at the counter, and they immediately begin throwing my food together, assembly-line style, and hand it to me minus the brown paper sack that the other customers receive.

The other day I went to the restaurant with no money whatsoever, asking whether they accepted debit cards or personal checks (although I was pretty sure they didn't). The manager/owner/cashier confirmed my suspicions, but told me that, on that particular day, I could order whatever I wanted at no charge, and even tried (unsuccessfully) to push a free drink on me.

So it seems that they are not stealing pennies at all; instead, they are something of a bank. I had no idea.

...

Spotted on the street recently: (1) A family feeding their dog a bright orange traffic cone. (2) The set of Sex and the City, on 18th and Irving; the red-headed actress was eating her lunch as curious passers-by gawked. (3) A staggering one-year-old putting a dollar in a saxophone player's open case, with help from his father (it appeared to be the father's idea).