Commack restaurant's pricing policy draws fire

A Commack sushi restaurant's pricing policy for children has reached a new low, a Dix Hills woman said.Amy Kaplan said staff at Sushi Park on Jericho Turnpike wanted to charge her daughter, Nikki, 11, full price when the family went out for dinner on Jan. 18.But it wasn't Nikki's age that made her ineligible for a half-price children's meal. It was her height.

Like some local all-you-can-eat buffets, Sushi Park measures children to determine the price of their meals. Children are told to stand next to a giraffe poster with a ruler when they enter the restaurant's lobby.Children more than 41/2-feet tall pay full price at Sushi Park. Kids between 31/2 feet and 41/2 feet pay half price.Nikki Kaplan stands 4-feet, 8-inches, her mother said. Nikki's sister, Elyssa, 13, is 5-feet, 4-inches, she said."We didn't stay," Amy Kaplan said. "I became indignant and asked to see the manager. ... I asked, 'Do you really feel that if my daughter is tall that she's going to eat more?'"Though relatively rare on Long Island, height is commonly used for children's meal pricing in Manhattan and out of state, said Kevin Kong, manager of East Buffet and Restaurant in Huntington. The restaurant had charged half price for children between 3 and 10 years old but adopted the height policy two years ago, he said.Pricing by age "just makes things a little difficult for my employees to determine who should be charged as a child and who should be charged as an adult," Kong said.He said some customers are less than candid about their children's ages: "Sometimes," Kong said, "the child is like 6 feet tall and they say he's 10 years old." He added, "I'm not saying they're lying."Kong said the height policy is "flexible." "If they say it's a child, OK, it's a child," he said. "I'm very lenient about that."Many restaurant managers contacted this week by Newsday said they'd never heard of the practice and said it would be bad for business."Kind of insulting," said Jimmy Hahn, manager of the Riverview restaurant in Oakdale. "What if you have a tall girl in the family?" Sushi Park's owner could not be reached for comment.A Sushi Park employee, who asked that her name not be used, said some customers are incensed when they learn about the height policy. "We have some customers who just go back home," she said.Amy Kaplan said the state Division of Human Rights told her state law does not prohibit pricing based on height. She is contacting state legislators about having the law changed.Nikki "eats like a bird" and would not have had a big meal, Amy Kaplan said. "She doesn't even like sushi," she said. "I have tall kids," she said. "What can I do?"

i cant speak for her height but i will say that that little girl has some big ass ears. for christs sake look at the one you can see. now dont laugh too loud..... she'll hear you........