MILWAUKEE (AP) — Messy eaters, beware: Competition for fast-food dollars has some restaurants taking an unusual measure to cut the bottom line — napkin rationing.

Paper napkins are being hidden behind counters, wrapped individually with plastic silverware and put in dispensers that dispense only one at a time.

"You should be able to grab as many as you want," said Tim Machak, a father with a sticky situation — 4 young children, 4 ice cream cones and 2 napkins.

Machak said he was insulted that he had to ask employees behind the counter at McDonalds for more napkins.

Rising food and paper prices have caused restaurateurs to look for ways to cut costs.

Paper companies in Wisconsin, which produce most of the nation's paper napkins, have developed dispensers that allow customers to take just one napkin at a time.

At Pizza Villa in The Shops of Grand Avenue mall, manager Patti Chirchiri said she has watched people take stacks of napkins, then leave them on the table. Now, Pizza Villa offers plastic silverware wrapped in just one napkin.

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