Several friends circulated that piece a few weeks ago, and it resulted in a rant from me
Regardless of whether this is apocryphal or true, it doesn't change the view I expressed.
Posted below for your reading pleasure is the full text of my rantply (rant + reply) to that email thread. I've redacted the "offensive" items for those with delicate constitutions.
I agree that deciding to own / invest in a restaurant isn't all pudding and pie. Bourdain's 'Kitchen Confidential' paints a very compelling picture of the travails involved.
And while I do sympathize with the sentiment of the article, I also say "tough ....." If they can't adapt to a changing society, then their failure can only be blamed on themselves. Pointing out something that is an entrenched fact of current social life as a cause for bad reviews is ludicrous. Reading through that whiny liturgy, one solution immediately comes to mind: hire more people. If you don't want to because it's an added expense and takes away from your profit margin, then again I say "tough ....." You're not willing to adapt or creatively work with / around it. How about trying a "free dessert when you turn in your phone at the hostess desk?" How about training the waiters to politely but firmly say 'I'm sorry, I don't know how the wifi works, what can I get you to drink?" How about a bottle of wine on the house for any table that does NOT have any phones / devices? There are innumerable ways customer behavior can be influenced. Most would probably even increase the appeal of the restaurant - "OMG Suzie, you have, like, got to go to, like, L'Idiot. This really hot, OMG, like hot hot, waiter, he like, came up and asked if we would, like, trade in our phones for, like, a bottle of wine! That is, like, soooo fancy!" You are not entitled to a "gimme" from the public.
On a tangent, I've had the same conversation with several people whose position is basically "using your (smart)phone" at a restaurant - especially at your table when others are dining with you - is rude." I would agree - to a point. Loud one-sided conversations? Kick their ... out. "Who let the dogs out" ringtone? Kick their ... out. Quietly engrossed with something on their screen? Deal with it. Badgering you for help connecting to wifi? Deal with it - you provided it after all.
People don't seem to realize that while it might seem "rude," it's now part of the social fabric and mores. Behaviors change and everyone needs to adapt. Just browse through a ten or fifteen year-old edition of Emily Post and you'll see what I mean. Not pulling a lady's chair out is "rude." Doing it these days makes you look like a cad at best (granted, if you're wearing a tux and she's in evening dress, by all means), and slapped by a feminist at worst. Ditto with standing up when women leave or return to the table. Ditto with doffing your hat - who even wears a hat anymore?
There are so many restaurants who deal with the phone "problem" every day. And yes, they get Yelped negatively. Most don't blame the patrons for spending too much time on their devices. What're these whiners gonna do when your average customer has Google Glasses (or similar), a smart watch and a fitbit, an insulin tracking contact lens, and so on?