Singles Only: This Restaurant Bans Happy Couples From Dining on Christmas Eve

Many restaurants stay open for Christmas Eve, so if you want to go out for dinner, you’ve certainly got that option. You can have a nice family dinner, take your significant other for a Christmas meal, or if you just want a dinner by your lonesome, that’s just fine.

According to the Telegraph, there’s a restaurant in Japan that’s a little considerate toward those partaking in a lonely meal.

The Pia Pia put up a sign on its front window, illustrating that couples will not be allowed to dine in their establishment for Christmas Eve. The sign shows a poorly drawn couple, with a giant “X” drawn through it. On the side of that, written in Japanese, the sign reads, “We will be refusing entry to all couples on December 24, no exceptions.”

The reasoning behind this ban is to make its single diners feel less awkward about being forever alone, especially on Christmas.

Pia Pia owner Takashi Kyozuka said, “To start with, someone said we should ban couples as a bit of a joke, but then we realised that it’s true. If you are single on Christmas Eve, then it’s easy to get down.”

Kyozuka also explained that couples would bring down the morale of his staff for having to work Christmas Eve.

Although Christmas isn’t formally celebrated in Japan, it seems young couples have adopted the holiday, and use it to exchange gifts and have dinner together.

The restaurant could also consider banning single diners on Valentine’s Day so they won’t be buzzkills around the couples.

h/t Telegraph