Some restaurants often enforce a particular dress code for their guests coming to dine in. However, it becomes difficult to differentiate between attires. One such incident happened with Grady Jarrett of the Atlanta Falcons, who was denied entry for his “inappropriate” clothing.
Atlanta Falcons’s defensive end Grady Jarrett shared the incident through social media on Wednesday. However, the post was taken down later. According to the Reports, the LeBilboquet restaurant in Buckhead, Atlanta, denied service to the athlete. He was donning a casual Gucci tracksuit worth $7000 and a tennis chain when the incident happened. “It wasn’t a good feeling,” Jarrett told WSB-TV.
According to the policies of the restaurant, athletic and beach attire, sweatpants, baseball caps, cut denim, and flip-flops are prohibited. “You ever see someone working [out] in a full Gucci suit?” Jarett said, per WXIA-TV. “I’m an athlete. For my suit to be classified as athletic wear under their discretion, I just didn’t think that was fitting or correct,” Jarrett added to his statement to the media outlet.
Grady Jarrett of the Atlanta Falcons is not the first person who faced such situations
As soon as the news went viral, the outlet issued a statement, and the manager went public to put on his views. “It’s not a decision based on race, gender, age, celebrity status, or anything like that. It’s just something we have consistency across the board. And it’s been reduced quite a bit,” the restaurant’s general manager Mark Theiss told WXIA.
Moreover, the outlet also issued a formal apology; however, resorted to sticking to its dress code policies. “We never want to turn away guests, but we must treat all guests equally by providing a standard for everyone who wishes to dine with us. Our apologies to anyone who has ever been turned away.” The statement released by the outlet reads.
Last year in May 2021, a similar incident occurred with Atlanta Hawks basketball legend Dominique Wilkins. He had reportedly arrived in “designer casual pants and a shirt”, but he was also denied entry, citing his choice of dress. A few days ago, former mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, shared a similar experience she had on Twitter.
A Georgia-based restaurant at The Capital Grille at Perimeter Mall refrained from serving her just because she was wearing leggings. Is it necessary to have such dress codes barring people from enjoying food at top restaurants?
* story by essentiallysports.com
