Obviously so they could track your purchases. Thankfully, I learned a valuable lesson as a kid when my parents told them "None of your business."
Too bad this question has become so commonplace that few people seem to challenge it anymore.
In NYC, even if you walk in to a restaurant with open tables, they'll often insist on taking your number before you can be seated. It goes through a platform called Resy.
And then (at least around here) they often make you scan a QR code in order to see the menu. It's often not a direct link to the menu, but rather a third party site or a link shortener that tracks traffic for marketing data.
Oh shit - I never thought about the privacy ramifications about the death of paper menus.
I get that it's more eco friendly, and that it allows each dish to have more space for a photo and detailed description; but I hate the experience of staring at my phone to try to pick a meal.
Unless they're going to text me when my table is ready, I give them my first phone # that I grew up with.
Yes, but they asked even if you were paying with a credit card! I guess it was "separate systems."