A BRISBANE restaurant has taken the extraordinary step of cracking down on customers sharing food because it says it is eating away at their business.

From today Freestyle Tout owner Martin Duncan will ask diners to order at least one meal per person, ­either main or dessert and a drink.

Mr Duncan, whose Fortitude Valley restaurant is renowned for its desserts said customers who share food and “just drink tap water” were costing him money and making it difficult to “pay our rent or the wages”.

media_camera Owner of Freestyle Tout Martin Duncan at the Emporium, Fortitude Valley store. Picture: Marc Robertson

“I don’t want to offend anyone by it, but at the end of the day I have to pay rent, a huge power bill and wages,” Mr Duncan said.

“We can’t survive with people using us as a meeting place.

“It doesn’t sustain my business if they just drink tap water.”

The “directive” will be more strictly enforced during peak times when, Mr Duncan says, he often has a line up of paying customers waiting for a table that is occupied by non-paying or low-paying customers.

“When people are waiting to get in, when you have big tables having only a couple of desserts and water, I feel for the customers (outside),” he said.

“I understand in this economy people are more frugal, but ... When you are paying higher rent like you are at Emporium, I feel this is something that needs to be said.’’

Light meals at Freestyle Tout start from $8.90 while desserts are priced from $12.90 to $25.

Drinks such as a kale bloody mary are priced from $7.50.

Mr Duncan has alerted his customers on Facebook and will also place signs in the restaurant window.

The restaurant first opened in 1996 in the inner-western suburb of Rosalie.

Mr Duncan’s new approach is nor reflected by other restaurants in the city.

Restaurateur Arif Memis, whose dessert restaurant Cowch at Southbank is a newcomer to the scene said he promoted meal sharing.

“We encourage the whole sharing atmosphere,” Mr Memis said. “We want people to sit and enjoy with that social feeling.”

He said such a rule would not work for his venue.

“To try and enforce people to buy one dish each may work at other places but it wouldn’t happen at Cowch,” he said.

“We have groups of 10 or 12 or 15 that come in and may order eight or nine meals or drinks.”