Dressing Up for Eating Out - WSJ article

[Tomasso]

When did they change the dress code?

Arnie must be spinning in his grave.

 

[sheeplady]

My wife and I were dining at one of the fine restaurants in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We were dressed nicely, suite and tie for myself and evening dress for my wife. What we noticed was the wait staff provided service to us that was much more attentive than what was provided to those in shorts, Tee shirts and ball caps. As Santa Fe is a tourist destination they feel they cannot enforce dress codes, but they make sure to show appreciation to those that dress appropriately.

Personally, I don't like it when restaurants do this, unless they have a specified dress code. I don't like it when restaurants treat their customers differently based upon other outward appearances- their money is the same- and it is a slippery slope. It's just plain unprofessional for a server to do this. If I saw a large service difference between my table and others with the same server repeatedly, I'd probably not go there again. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Personally, yes, I think that some people could dress better. But I've been on both sides of this and I don't like people assuming that because I'm going to tip better or worse than the next person that they can treat me differently. If you're a server, you act like a professional, period. Millions of servers do it the world over. It doesn't matter if you think that they are going to leave you a 5% or a 50% tip- you treat them the same- because you never know what kind of tip they *will* leave you. If you treat a table like you expect them to leave you a scant tip (based upon dress, race, looks, hair color, anything other than your previous experience with them), you better expect a scant tip, because you earned it.

 

[Tomasso]

Unfortunately, under stage lights, while giving his speech on receipt of the second Oscar, it started to melt and drip down behind his ear....

Not quite.......

........... a makeup artist sprayed Spielberg's bald spot with hair-colored paint. No problem, until half an hour into the post-Oscar party, by which time the star of the evening had absently patted his head a few times, then stroked his face. "My wife Kate rushed over," he recalls, "and said, 'You look like Al Jolson!' I was mortified. I was also relieved that I hadn't rubbed my head during the ceremony and, in front of God and a billion people, given my thanks in blackface."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986362,00.html#ixzz1MAYfSneK

 

[MikeBravo]

I'd like to know where exactly this "new subculture of metropolitan men, aged loosely from 25 to 40, who have an affinity for a new-old hybrid of sartorial swagger" hang out.

Fedora Lounge!

 

[Widebrim]

I almost always wear a suit (or sport coat) and tie when I dine out, even if it's the cheap, open till 3am joint in Chinatown I often visit, and which is mostly frequented by locals in shorts, old jeans, and running shoes. Here in Los Angeles, most dress codes disappeared years ago; I can't even think of a place in Beverly Hills where there is one (unless it's a private club, of which I have no contact!). As I wrote on another thread, the last time I went to the oldest Italian restaurant in Hollywood, an old-timer waiter looked at my suited-up buddy and me, and lamented on how men don't dress like us anymore. Personally, I dress well because I respect myself, want to be a positive influence on other men, and honor my father who until about 85 years of age, went to his club every Friday night with my mother, dressed in jacket and necktie...

 

[Widebrim]

Fedora Lounge!

Ha, ha. True, mate.

 

[scottyrocks]

Restaurants having a dress code is a balancing act.

Two local examples here - Ruth's Chris and Peter Luger. These two establishments can afford to alienate 90% of the population because the other 10% know that these restaurants are so good that they will pay for the privilege of eating there, dressing properly, and enjoy the whole experience. If they dropped their dress code (and their prices), they'd get a larger clientele, but that's not what they want. They have a reputation for truly fine dining, and both the establishments, and their clientele, like it that way. You don't want to 'dress up' for dinner? There are literally thousands of other places to go in this area. Nothing for anyone to cry about.

I can just see some lout in a t-shirt, shorts, flip-flops, and a flat cap making a stink about not being let into one of these types of restaurants. Entitlement! :lol:

 

[Richard Warren]

As Lao Tzu said, before there were laws, there were no thieves (or something like that, its been a while). Dress codes are not to be lauded but are a sign of a society in which people no longer know how to behave (including the management).

 

[Tomasso]

 

[rue]

^ aww.... but he looks hungry

 

[Tomasso]

^ aww.... but he looks hungry

Didn't you learn your lesson with the pigeons.....

 

[rue]

:rofl:

 

[carldelo]

As Lao Tzu said, before there were laws, there were no thieves (or something like that, its been a while). Dress codes are not to be lauded but are a sign of a society in which people no longer know how to behave (including the management).

Holy mackerel, it just keeps getting deeper...