Cap in a fine restaurant - Page 5

Once summer evening I went in a bar with a guy i knew. He was tall and fat and was wearing black leather. The guard at the entry told him to put out his gloves inside. Strange? May be every restaurants should have a cap guard?

What was the name of the restaurant? Michael's at the Colony Surf hotel, right? There used to be several resto's in Honolulu that had coat and tie policies.

The Oceanaire Seafood Room, where we are also regulars, had been unable to get us a reservation at our usual 8:00 time, so we had to come early. The manager said that would not happen again. He said that he had made reservations for us on every Saturday night at 8:00 for the next month and if we could not come for any, just cancel. That is service. I would like to think that we get such treatment due to my good looks, etc., but I think the fact that my wife and I are fairly well known as frequent dining companions of Atlanta's leading restaurant critic helps some.

I have been put to the test. It has happened twice in the last three weeks.

I have been put to the test. It has happened twice in the last three weeks. First, it was at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Buckhead branch, Atlanta; about a $80/person restaurant. My wife, our friend, and I arrived 20 minutes early. They asked us to wait in the bar. While there, I saw a man in his late 50's there wearing a cap. His party (6-7 people) got their table before we were called. Then, about 10 minutes later, we were told that our table was ready. I glanced in and saw that they were finishing setting up a table right next to the guy. He was still wearing the cap. I told the manager that I was not willing to sit next to the type of person who would wear a cap inside an expensive restaurant and that we would eat at a table in the bar, instead. He glanced in and said; "Oh." He then said that they had a "flexible" policy about caps. He said that if the man had gone straight into the dining room, he would have noticed him and asked him the remove the cap, but the man got around him by going to the bar first. He said it was too late now.  He also said the man had had some trouble getting there. His cab got lost. We ate in the bar. It was a great dinner. Then, last Saturday night was at Oceanaire Seafood Room in Atlanta, also about a $80/person restaurant. When we arrived, they led us to a booth next to a table were a man sat, wearing a cap. I asked for another table far away and got it. The manager came over and asked if we would prefer a booth, but when I told him about the cap, he said that that was the only booth, unless we wanted to wait a while. He also said that they tried to stop customers coming in who were wearing caps, but if they got by him, were seated and were there a while, he could do nothing. I suspect that both restaurants were trying to stop cap wearers at the door and offer them the choice of removing the cap or being denied a table, but if the customer somehow got in and seated with the cap, the places wanted to avoid the embarrassment of having to throw them out. A fair policy. The Oceanaire Seafood Room, where we are also regulars, had been unable to get us a reservation at our usual 8:00 time, so we had to come early. The manager said that would not happen again. He said that he had made reservations for us on every Saturday night at 8:00 for the next month and if we could not come for any, just cancel. That is service. I would like to think that we get such treatment due to my good looks, etc., but I think the fact that my wife and I are fairly well known as frequent dining companions of Atlanta's leading restaurant critic helps some.

I'm far from a stuffy person, however someone wearing a cap to dinner would piss me off as well.    I refuse to dine with some of my best friends because they insist on leaving the table 2-3 times during the meal to go outside and smoke a ciggarette. How incredibly rude is that? I also cannot stand to dine with more than 5 people at a table. I notice when there are 6 or more, common ettiquette and manners go straight out the window.

Why should KP "get over" himself (whatever that trite phrase means).  The problem is with the slob in the baseball cap.

Yes, but there is quite a problem if you are so affected by it that you and your epicurean goons cannot possibly go on sitting beside that slob. If I found your wife ugly, or if you were well out of my tax bracket, I would hardly find it acceptable to ask to be moved to a different table. I know it's not the same thing, but really, if you're so damn sophisticated, use your sophistication to conjure up an image of a manificant souflee in the place of the cap wearing slob. No one is disputing that wearing a cap indoors is wrong. I just think that there is also something quite boorish about making a big issue about it. In the end you look like a pathetic drama queen with something to prove.