“Together, the infringements—not all of which have yet been formally notified—produce total fines running into tens of thousands of euros,” Nuova Venezia said. No grounds were found to shut down the restaurant, it said.
The Osteria da Luca is also being investigated by financial regulators for failing to provide an itemized receipt to the Japanese diners.
The four Japanese students made a formal complaint to police after they returned to Bologna, where they were studying. They provided the credit card slip as the only evidence of how much they were charged.
Since the story went viral earlier this week, both Venetians and people abroad have expressed outrage over the restaurant’s practices.
TripAdvisor was forced to temporarily shut down the reviews section of Osteria da Luca’s page after a deluge of negative review submissions “that do not describe a first hand experience.”
The restaurant is currently rated 1.5 stars on TripAdvisor, with 83 percent of the 321 reviews labeling the establishment as “terrible.”
“In the spirit of safeguarding the image of Venice ... and to apologize for the inconvenience that happened to that group of young Japanese students, Confcommercio Ascom Venezia offers them € 1100 [$US1,363] to refund the account paid in that restaurant,” said Roberto Magliocco, president of the association.
Should they accept, the association will also treat the students to two nights at a luxury hotel and a gondola tour “to cheer up their stay” and leave them with a “good memory of the city.”
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