This article will cover why restaraunts have a dress code. This is going to go over why restaurants have a dress code for their guests and for their employees, as we know that a lot of employees that have just been told that they have to go home and change their clothing will read this too. First off, we are going to make it clear that this is not the time to try to make this an issue based off of your sex, or other political views that you may personally have. Reading this post and putting those things aside for a second will help you better understand why restaurants may have a dress code, and their point of view.
Restaurants do not make these dress codes to discriminate or keep certain individuals with certain beliefs out of their restaurant. These same restaurants often have strict policies to protect minorities, religions, and things like that, that are also enforced to their employees. Just so you know, in this post we are going to be pretty blunt (truthful), so brace yourself. If you really want to know the reasons why they may have a dress code, then you’ll keep reading. If not, then find someone that will sugar coat it and lie to you or tell you half truths to make you feel better.
First off, it isn’t uncommon for many restaurants to just let a man without a shirt walk into their establishment and order food. This same thing is also enforced by other businesses (some do some don’t) that aren’t even restaurants, but let’s stick with why restaurants might have their reasons. First, it isn’t something that people want to see or would feel comfortable with when eating at a restaurant. For this reason, restaurants may decline to have individuals in their restaurant that don’t have a shirt on.
It gives a vibe to other customers that the restaurant doesn’t have standards. It may also generate customer complaints (yes it does and can happen) of customers seeing these things while they are trying to enjoy their food with their families. This can result in bad reviews that may end up visible for all the public to see. This in turn can hurt a restaurant’s reputation, the atmosphere they are trying to create for their guests, or profit. Not every restaurant is the same, but every restaurant operated from a nice building will try to create an atmosphere that is the most appealing to the guests that they want to serve.
When people eat their food in a restaurant, there is a saying that chefs commonly keep in mind when preparing their guests’ food, “People eat with their eyes.” This means that people usually judge how good their food will be by how well it is presented and how it looks. It is true that people do actually look at their food to see how good it will be before trying it.
So, the thing to keep in mind is that: most people go to restaurants to eat and enjoy food, not for any other reason. This is especially true with the more expensive restaurants, as it isn’t necessary for people to buy expensive food over cheap food to satisfy hunger. Some restaurants also make courses for their guests for the sole purpose of having them taste and enjoy the food. Some of these restaurants are quite expensive.
This is why these types of restaurants will have a dress code for their employees and their guests. People pay a lot of money for these courses and the restaurants do everything they can to maximize the guests’ food tasting experience. It isn’t unrealistic to assume that a restaurant that serves expensive food would want their food and the atmosphere to feel luxurious by having their guests dress formal. It just makes the experience for new comers even more exclusive and better. It makes the anticipation of receiving the food even better.
No one wants their experience that they paid a lot of money for, for the sole purpose of going their to try these foods, ruined by Steve’s exposed chest hair or Lisa’s revealing clothes that makes everyone’s eyes go to areas that they don’t want to see while they are eating. People may lose their appetite and leave, gag while eating their food, or vomit, completely ruining their dining experience. Steve and Lisa aren’t on the menu and they aren’t the thing that everyone came to put their focus and attention on.
It’s the same reason why a restaurant may turn the channel by request of a guest on their television when a bloody UFC fight comes on while people are eating. They don’t want their guests to lose their appetite or leave, leading to a loss of potential profit. Restaurants try to always keep an atmosphere where their guests and employees can all feel comfortable, as if they were eating in a safe place at home while in their establishments.
Because, these bad experiences (or similar things) may have happened in the past, and restaurants really want their guests to have the best eating experiences from their passion for making food, may now have a dress code to try to prevent Steve or Lisa from ruining it for everyone else the next time. Most of these restaurants would be happy to have Steve and Lisa return to try their food, but just with appropriate attire next time. These dress codes may have to be posted to let guests know beforehand, since individuals can take it a little too far by being oversensitive and taking it personally when being rejected to enter their establishment.
For some reason, sometimes people can have some really obscurred views about how life should be and try to often push the limits. This is why rules have to be made sometimes for these people. In fact, a good example is public indecency. Some people disagree with being fined with this when caught, but honestly many people are relieved by this law, cause they just don’t want to see that, regardless of how good the person doing it thinks they look. Oftentimes the people pushing these limits are too focused on what they want to see what they are doing, or could care less about what other people feel when they do these things. The blame is often pushed on other people rather than themselves.
Besides the reason mentioned above, some restaurants are “just that way”, for the reason of why they have a dress code. It goes back to the restaurant trying to uphold an image and an atmosphere for their guests. Some restaurants use dress codes, because they are only trying to attract certain types of people into their establishment. This is a less justifiable reason, but it’s the truth. They may be an expensive restaurant that only wants rich people, or a restaurant where only rich people usual eat at. Rich is just an example, but formal is a better word.
They may also have a dress code for their own protection and the safety of their guests. They may live in an area where robbery is more common, so they won’t allow sunglasses to be worn or hoodies. They may live in an area where gang banging is common, so certain clothing or apparel isn’t allowed, because of past reocurring experiences.
The best thing to do if a restaurant rejects you because of the dress code, is to stay calm and try and be understanding. The restaurant probably isn’t personally singling you out, and has the same rules for all their guests. Observe your attire and the attire of those around you. See if it looks similar. If not, then go home and change and come back again. Trying to complain or make a scene is just going to most likely make you look silly to everyone around you. It is the restaurant’s premises that you are standing on, and everyone knows that, not your own home where you make your own rules.
Trying to argue that you aren’t wearing the specific clothing that the restaurant doesn’t allow when you are rejected probably isn’t going to work either. Especially, if they have made it clear that they are rejecting the clothing mentioned, because it is vulgar, offensive, or explicit. It means that your clothing falls within those categories, so go change.
Why Do Restaurants Have Dress Codes For Employees
Employees are given a dress code for a number of good reasons, when working at an establishment. It could be for the employees’ (and sometimes the guests’) safety (the usual reason), which we will discuss more later, and a number of other reasons.
An employee that is wearing the usual uniform that they are required to wear, may still be sent home to change and come back in more appropriate clothing if the restaurant’s managers feel that the clothing is unprofessional in terms of the restaurant’s image, torn, holey, too revealing, explicit, unsafe for the job, not food safe, or gang related. The restaurant may ask the employee to go home and change for these reasons.
Even if the intention of the employee isn’t to do that, they may still be ask to remove certain attire or to go change into something more appropriate. Usually, the employee that is asked to go and change or remove the attire has already been told that it is not allowed already once. It usually isn’t because the employee hasn’t been told on why they shouldn’t wear things that the restaraunt doesn’t allow in their dress code, but because they don’t care or understand why they can’t wear it.
As an employee for a restaurant, an employee has to keep in mind that they are getting paid to perform their job for a business. Other businesses also have dress codes for their employee, which helps the customers easily distinguish the employees from the guests in a packed restaurant, when a customer needs assistance. This is said for the individuals that may not understand why they have to wear a uniform at all.
Some things worn by employees go past what the restaurant requires and just cannot be allowed. These are fake nails, not wearing a hat/hair net or wearing a visor in the kitchen, not wearing a beard net, or wearing rings or watches in the kitchen, while preparing food. These are mentioned in the food code. Slip resistant shoes are also important for safety reasons, not sandals or an individual’s favorite MJ sneakers. Aprons and gloves are also a requirement when working in the kitchen. These requirements apply to the owner, the general manager, other managers too, and employees alike under the appropriate circumstances.
The restaurant may also add to the dress code things that they deem to be not safe for work, depending on the type of work being done. They do not have to be things that are prohibited by the food code. Wearing things like a skirt or shorts instead of pants, are often prohibited by the restaurant for employees. This type of clothing probably or may not fit the restaurant’s image, plus it makes it easy for an individual to burn themselves in the kitchen when working with hot equipment; where they otherwise would not have been burned if they were wearing work pants.
The truth is that guests do take notice of the employees dress, and may refuse to eat at restaurants where employees don’t have a good dress code. How the employees dress could be a sign to the guests on how well the restaurant handles their food. For this reason, restaurants make dress codes to protect their image and their potential profit. An employee dressed in inappropriate clothing may be seen as unprofessional in a guest’s eyes and they may not trust them to make their food. They may think that the restaurant just let’s the employees handle their food any kind of way, with or without gloves or washed hands.
