Writing for The San Francisco Chronicle’s Inside Scoop blog, chef and TV personality Michael Chiarello laments about the downward spiral of casual dining attire. What ate at him (or better yet, turned his stomach), was seeing a dude in his restaurant rocking a torn red T-shirt, stained shorts and flip flops. He ponders what this means for diners:
“I think food tastes different when you’re in your shorts in the backyard eating some BBQ versus when you dress up a little for a good restaurant. Your attire is part of the experience. I sense that many restaurant patrons – at least in the Napa Valley – are more comfortable under-dressing than over-dressing for dinner. Is that good or bad?”
As a result, he asks, are restaurant dress codes a good thing?
On more than one occasion I’ve been stuck going to a nice restaurant with a companion who looked like they’d run a triathalon while dressed for chopping wood. Those instances annoyed me because we got shoved out of sight to sit in the back of the restaurant (usually next to the bathroom), and I knew I could kiss that extra generous wine pour goodbye. But I can’t say it matters to me much what people I’m not associated with are wearing. A snap survey revealed what some other TODAY.com staffers thought:
"I think restaurants are entirely entitled to enforce dress codes. Nothing bums me out more than to see some disrespectful slackjaw walk into a nice restaurant wearing flip-flops and a basketball jersey. If you know you’re going somewhere nice for dinner – dress the damn part! Also, better to be overdressed than underdressed." – Alex Smith
"No tank tops for males over the age of 16!" – John Springer
"To respond to this controversy, I’d like to quote a Sly and the Family Stone song: ‘Different strokes for different folks.’ I have never been bothered by other people being dressed down at a restaurant. If someone is so drastically underdressed that I have noticed at all, then my first thought is, ‘Ooo, that man (I just assume it’s a dude) must feel awkward. Poor guy.’ I think people feel uncomfortable when they’re out of place and that the next time the goofball with a cutoff shirt goes to a sit-down restaurant, he’ll remember feeling awkward and he’ll put on a collared shirt, instead (even if it takes a few tries to soak in). So why should I hold his learning curve against him? Or really, the better question is: why would I ever let something so distant from the food I’m eating have a significant effect on my dining experience? Not worth the sweat." –Katie Quinn
"Oh yikes. I often roll into restaurants WAY underdressed. A crackdown could really cramp my style." -Amy DiLuna
What do you think? Does it bother you when people are dressed way too casual while out to dinner? Should more restaurants have dress codes?
In San Francisco, officials are just trying to get patrons to wear something, anything to a restaurant.