Waitstaff clothing.

Yesterday I went to lunch at a restaurant, which would be considered middle to high end, one of those fairly casual types with a faux-European bistro air, and requisite veneers to match--the "woodwork" was there too, I suppose.

The waitstaff were clad in variations of "hipness"; that is to say ill-fitted discolored black items with chipped plastic nametags affixed akimbo to the barely tucked-in blousy shirts, doubled up-cuffed sack trousers, what I suspect were clip-on ties, and the worst darkness of horror, heinous shoes. These were like the Kenneth Coles that the sweatshop rejected, living a life of scuffed cubism, and held by sheer tackiness of glue.

The host was also dressed very badly, looking like a consummate Macy's sales shopper accentuated with Urban Outfitters for that extra spice, wherever that went, possibly into her curry tan. She was clearly once white.

This attire is simply unacceptable for a semi-fine dining experience.

I went to a new wine bar in Vancouver last week, Salt. The staff had a dress code of black top, dark jeans and sneakers. It was off-putting.

Originally Posted by LabelKing

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The waitstaff were clad in variations of "hipness"; that is to say ill-fitted discolored black items with chipped plastic nametags affixed akimbo to the barely tucked-in blousy shirts, doubled up-cuffed sack trousers, what I suspect were clip-on ties, and the worst darkness of horror, heinous shoes. These were like the Kenneth Coles that the sweatshop rejected, living a life of scuffed cubism, and held by sheer tackiness of glue.

The shoes worn by restaurant workers are generally required by the house and are used for functional reasons, not asthetic ones. They're supposed to be like that, as the leather is treated to be resistant to water and staining from food (the standard black also hides unsightly stains), while the soles are made of a non-slip rubber surface to prevent accidents from occurring on frequently wet kitchen surfaces. The design also focuses more on providing a sufficiently comfortable fit and sufficient support for a worker who is going to be spending 6-10 hours on his feet. For all these reasons, it would be absurdly impractical to wear "nice" shoes of any kind while working at restaurant, and thus pretty much every shoe you will find in a food service workers' catalog will fit this mold.

Originally Posted by aybojs

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The shoes worn by restaurant workers are generally required by the house and are used for functional reasons, not asthetic ones. They're supposed to be like that, as the leather is treated to be resistant to water and staining from food (the standard black also hides unsightly stains), while the soles are made of a non-slip rubber surface to prevent accidents from occurring on frequently wet kitchen surfaces. The design also focuses more on providing a sufficiently comfortable fit and sufficient support for a worker who is going to be spending 6-10 hours on his feet. For all these reasons, it would be absurdly impractical to wear "nice" shoes of any kind while working at restaurant, and thus pretty much every shoe you will find in a food service workers' catalog will fit this mold.
Yes, I can understand this logic; however, the shoes I saw did not seem to fit into that category as every members' footwear were different in a sense and I distinctly saw a roughed up Steve Madden logo on an ungainly rubber sole when a staff member was picking up a dropped item.

They probably don't make enough mony to dress better.

Did the food taste any good?

The food was fairly good but nothing outstanding.

As for the money issue, I'd suspect with some of the prices being charged, certainly they could provide their waitstaff with better clothing; clearly a case of cost-cutting. It's aesthetic terrorism.

I hear ya. There's a restaurant near me where everybody except the hostess has to wear all black (no faded black allowed) and they supply the staff with identical colorful neckties. It works out pretty well. They look sharp and I think management makes them shine their shoes.

Originally Posted by LabelKing

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The food was fairly good but nothing outstanding.

As for the money issue, I'd suspect with some of the prices being charged, certainly they could provide their waitstaff with better clothing; clearly a case of cost-cutting. It's aesthetic terrorism.

In many cases waitstaff have to buy their own uniforms, whether it be their duty to select and purchase the clothing independently or purchase the clothing directly from the restaurant. Given the high turnover rate of the food service industry, it's usually only the homogenized corporate places that could concievably afford to provide their staff with clothing and eat the cost.

we gotta by r own uniforms at my restaurant....black dickies and if yur a manager u can wear a blue or white shortsleeve dress shirt......and u gotta wear a black tie.....and black shoes....but servers and order takers gotta wear a blue shirt only.....