Restaurants with Dress Codes: Take Back The Night!

[joneog]

Originally Posted by EBugatti

If you can stomach going to a fine restaurant and sit next to a grown man in shorts and flip flops while you are in a suit spending $300+ per person, I guess that's your choice--perhaps you don't mind eating at the table by the restrooms either... but many of us (as has been noted above) prefer to dine in an environment which is inviting to all the senses, and not just taste.

How many times have you been to a restuarant spending 300+ a person and seen a man in shorts and flip flops? In my experience once you get to a certain price point (maybe $75+ a head) even the most slovenly are shamed in to some type of standard, with rare exceptions of course.

One can be well dressed and still smelly, borish, crass, loud, obnoxious, unruly etc. Civility is more about manners than dress IMO. I'll take the well-mannered guy in shorts over the stylish lout anyday.

I just don't get why what the guy next to you is wearing bothers you that much. After a brief glance through the room don't you spend your time eating and conversing? If anything it should make you more appreciative of how awesome and urbane and civilized you are.

 

[Beaune Head]

Dress codes aside, I am absolutely convinced that you get better service if you suit up for dinner. It just makes for a better all around experience.

Having said that, I once wandered into Le Dôme wearing t-shirt and jeans and had a sensational meal with great service. But it was an unplanned Sunday lunch, I would never have gone in for dinner without a jacket and tie.

 

[RSS]

Originally Posted by patrickBOOTH

The jacket and tie is one thing, but what women get away with wearing is kind of bullshit if you ask me. Fancy restaurants and the workplace alike.
I more often find the opposite to be true ... with the woman dressed to a greater degree of formality and style than her male partner.

 

[RSS]

Originally Posted by Beaune Head

Dress codes aside, I am absolutely convinced that you get better service if you suit up for dinner. It just makes for a better all around experience.
I am similarly convinced ... and it's not limited to meals. Unless the person opposite is looking at a computer screen that tells him that this particular t-shirted person is one of his company's best customers ... the coat & tie wearing customer typically gets the better treatment.

 

[ajv]

It's quite funny to read this thread, as I think this is more of an US of A problem than one we have in Europe.
I was shocked a few days ago, when I made a reservation for one of the restaurants at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and was told that jacket and tie was required, hell, the food they serve is not even a one star Michelin ! I told them my money would go some other place then.
I had much better experiences with some so called high end places in Los Angeles where there was just a sign explaining that "proper attire" was required and a bouncer was judging who was good enough to enter.

Even some places that are not on American soil, but have most of their clients coming from the USA, start imposing some dress codes; think about some places i've been in the Carribean. For heavens sake, I am barefoot the whole day and I would not dare having lunch in my swimm trunks and I think it is normal to wear a t-shirt and short for lunch but why would I wear a sports coat or a tie for dinner ? Isn't a nice chino paired with a polo or a shirt whilst wearing some car shoes enough when the temps are in the low to mid 80's ?

Here in Europe, restaurants usually do not need to impose a dress code, but they can refuse whoever they want without giving any reason.

Maybe is this only because if you don't impose a dress code in the US, people will feel entitled to show up in hot pants, track suits and so on ?

 

[A.L.Z.]

I've heard that restaurants have unspoken dress codes...the maitre d's know what they are doing....and restaurants and seating are organized accordingly. i used to work in a restaurant....no, it doesn't just happen on TV, it's real.

then, there are the restaurants that take dress code one step further....there is the color code....yup, that color....i've heard of such restaurants....not in the US, but in other Western democracies....but i don't know if it's real but i don't have reasons to doubt or question my source....

Bon appetit...

 

[otc]

This thread has been inconclusive-- Do I still want to go eat at the Commander's Palace? I have greatly enjoyed the cookbook that was left behind in an apartment I moved into several years ago...

Originally Posted by RSS

with the woman dressed to a greater degree of formality and style than her male partner.

I find this to be true with the exception of the workplace. In offices that have not gone fully casual...whether it be suits, jackets, or just pressed pants and a collared shirt for men, women seem to be able to wear anything that is not a pair of blue jeans.

Of course what they are wearing is still usually a level above what their male partner changes into immediately after he leaves the office...

 

[hermes man]

Originally Posted by Bounder

Admittedly, a lot of people have this attitude. They are entitled to it but I think it's a shame as they are missing out. Some of us, at least occasionally, go to restaurants with much higher expectations. We are seeking an experience, not satiation. I am going to repost one of the most compelling defenses of dress codes that I have ever read.

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The people who object to dress codes are missing the point. Why should everything be reduced to the lowest common denominator? There is plenty of space for people who want to dress casually when they dine. I do it myself. But there should also be a space for people who want to dine with a certain elan. There is a certain pleasure in attending black tie events if you enjoy that sort of thing. There is a sense of camaraderie "” an unspoken understanding that, for tonight, we are a community with certain shared values. It would be inappropriate to attend wearing shorts, not only because it would be rude to the host but because it creates a jarring note in what should be a harmonious evening. By wearing shorts you are declaring that there is no community, no shared values. Perhaps this camaraderie is just an illusion, but it's a pleasant one and you're ruining it for everyone else.

The same idea, albeit somewhat weakened, applies in restaurants with dress codes. By ignoring the dress code, you're attacking the values of those who do follow it. "I spit on your bourgeois manners and outmoded sensibilities! I do what I want!"

This may not be the message those who ignore dress codes intend to send but it's the message those who follow them get. I don't think this is something that people who ignore dress codes really understand but it explains a lot of the vehemence on the part of those who sometimes like to dress for dinner.

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I will add a couple of reasons of my own. First, when you are choosing a restaurant, do you consider the decor? Are you really indifferent to eating in a 16th century French chateau v. a McDonald's? For many of us, the ambiance can be an important part of the experience and your fellow diners are, for better or worse, a part of it. If you can ignore the guy sitting at the next table wearing a baseball cap with an outline of a naked lady on it and a "Kiss ******!" T-shirt while concentrating on the artwork on the walls, good for you. But some of us lack these powers of concentration.

Second, I assume that everyone here has an interest in tailored clothing. Is it so wrong to want an excuse to wear it once in a while? You would -- or at least I would -- feel pretty stupid dressing up in a DJ and then going to eat at McDonalds. I'd feel almost equally ridiculous in an allegedly nice restaurant where the better dressed people are wearing trainers. But that is what everything is becoming, the lowest common denominator. It's a sartorial version of Gresham's law: Bad clothing drives out good. We should promote every opportunity to encourage people to at least put on a jacket.

I would hope that even the people here who have no interest in dress codes can appreciate why some people do. Every place doesn't have to be a sports bar. There are plenty of places to be casual. Is it so bad to encourage the few remaining places that try to promote a sense of occasion?

BTW, someone suggested to me that I create a list in the OP of these restaurants. I think that's a great idea. I have to run to the airport now but I will get that done ASAP.

well said

 

[RSS]

Originally Posted by otc

I find this to be true with the exception of the workplace. In offices that have not gone fully casual...whether it be suits, jackets, or just pressed pants and a collared shirt for men, women seem to be able to wear anything that is not a pair of blue jeans.
I was thinking primarily of what I see in restaurants and out on the town. There are no women in my office ... I have little for comparison.

 

[RSS]

Originally Posted by otc

This thread has been inconclusive-- Do I still want to go eat at the Commander's Palace?
Having grown up in N.O. I've been many times. I recommend that you go ... even if only once. The food is decent enough. To make up for it ... you might book the following night at Bayona or another of NO's better eating establishments.

Commander's gets a Zagat 27 for food. That said I find New Orleans ratings to be less than par with San Francisco or New York.

 

[MBreinin]

Originally Posted by otc

This thread has been inconclusive-- Do I still want to go eat at the Commander's Palace? I have greatly enjoyed the cookbook that was left behind in an apartment I moved into several years ago...


Of course you do. It is a wonderful restaurant and you likely will find the service superior to most you have experienced.

There are, of course, lesser known places that are more "foody," if that is your thing...but Commander's is a great place to start in NOLA.

Mike

 

[FELT]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

I come to Styleforum to discuss ideas for my own personal gain, not to appreciate how others dress or tell them how to. Selfish and self-centered? Of course, but this is a hobby of luxury to me, so that should go without say.

And amazingly so many here seem happy to indulge you.

 

[Beaune Head]

Originally Posted by otc

This thread has been inconclusive-- Do I still want to go eat at the Commander's Palace?

I dined there once. They tried to get us to drink that silly Louis XIII cognac after dinner. I'd rather go to Butcher...

 

[MBreinin]

Originally Posted by Beaune Head

I dined there once. They tried to get us to drink that silly Louis XIII cognac after dinner. I'd rather go to Butcher...

Butcher or Cochon? Butcher has the best Chili Dog and the best Muffaletta I have ever tasted. Plus, you can buy some incredible meat for purchase.

Of course, these are two very different places (Commander's and Cochon/Butcher).

Mike

 

[Montrachet]

I'm surprised that in this forum there are so many comments about how eating in a jacket and tie is uncomfortable. My bespoke dress clothes are far more comfortable than my RTW casual pieces because of their superior fabrics and fit. I'll always opt for a suit and tie to a nice restaurant or other appropriate venue.