Imagine you're at your favorite restaurant and the waiter tells you the prices are 25% higher right now because they're really busy. It's called 'surge pricing'. Uber pioneered it and now some restaurants are trying it.
Greater Houston Restaurant Association president Jonathan Horowitz says he's not aware of it here in Houston, yet, but he says some restaurants go the other way -- discounts.
"In theory it's not that different from happy hour pricing it's just done, obviously, on food and it's done at different times of the day."
Horowitz says in Houston the surprise has gone the other way.
"Not to necessarily increase the price at any point but to just reduce the price at slower times when you want to bring people in."
Horowitz says customers don't like bad surprises.
"When a business of any type tries to change something or do something different the key is communicating it effectively to the customers."
Horowitz says surge pricing could work, but you'd better make sure customers know it before they head to the restaurant because if you surprise them, they probably won't be back.