Atlanta Falcons player Grady Jarrett said he was turned away from a restaurant on Wednesday because of his attire. Jarrett expressed his frustration on Instagram, saying he was getting seated at Le Bilboquet in Atlanta when the manager told him that he wasn’t dressed properly.
“But today I guess the manager had other plans. I believe he said his name was Chad, tells me I’m not dressed properly and they won’t sit me n my lady,” the defensive end wrote.
Jarrett also said he came to the restaurant a week ago and “had a great experience with great waiters.”
“Not sure if I know how my dress is offensive, maybe it’s the Gucci suit, the Bussdown AP Offshore, the iced double tennis chain w an Ankh and the fact that I pulled up in my 500k RR and they felt I wasn’t fit to bless their restaurant for dinner,” the athlete wrote.
Jarrett blamed the restaurant for failing to enforce dress code for others in the restaurant.
“I guess the other people rocking Nike sweat suits and t shirts that were already seated (as you can see in the background of the picture) n enjoying dinner were no problem.. unfortunate but I’m not going for it.. This not even my style I’m a cool guy you should ask around.. Do better @lebilboquetatlanta,” he said.
Speaking with WSB-TV, the Falcons player said he was out with his girlfriend when they stopped at Le Bilboquet for lunch.
“He came up to me and looked me up and down,” Jarrett said about one of the managers. “It wasn’t a good feeling.”
Martin Theis, another manager at the restaurant, said he was not there when the incident happened, but he said all patrons are expected to follow the dress code.
“We never like upsetting people with the dress code, but it’s something that we do need to maintain,” Theis said.
According to the restaurant dress code, sweatpants and athletic attire are not allowed. In a statement to WSB-TV, the dress code is “posted at our door, online and reiterated by our reservation team.”
“Last spring, we relaxed our dress code to accommodate Atlanta’s more casual environment and required all staff members to undergo extensive sensitivity training,” the restaurant stated. “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.”
As Blavity previously reported, former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms recently complained about a similar incident at a steakhouse in Atlanta.
“I was just turned away at Capital Grille at Perimeter Mall because I have on leggings,” Bottoms wrote on Twitter.
The former mayor also questioned whether the rule is enforced for everyone.
“Odd that a restaurant in a mall parking lot turns away customers in ‘mall’ attire,” she wrote. “Asked if I could sit in the bar area and was told, ‘No.’ Rules are the rules, just wonder if the woman who came in immediately after me, who I did not see come back out, was also denied service.”
