Umi Sushi, a Buckhead district restaurant in Atlanta, is facing backlash on the internet over a bizarre incident where a black couple was stopped from dining at the restaurant for sporting sneakers. The video has gone viral on social media and many people are now calling out the ban of the restaurant for its discriminatory behavior.
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Dress codes for restaurants never make sense. It is ridiculous for people to follow the code of conduct if all they want is to relax and eat someplace nice. I mean who would want to dress up in a suit to go to a place only to eat their comfort food? Not at all comfortable.
Then comes those places where dress codes are based on discriminatory behavior. Different rules for different people. A recent controversy at this sushi restaurant has gained backlash and serious criticism over its pathetic treatment of its black customer over its 'no sneakers' policy.
Video of the man being escorted out of the restaurant by a Umi staff member went viral on social media because he was asked to leave for wearing sneakers. Following the racist behavior, the customer pointedly told the staff that all other customers in the restaurant were wearing sneakers as well. He referenced one woman was wearing a pair of Adidas kicks who wasn't asked to go.
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Kaylan Colbert, the man's wife stated that they were enjoying an intimate birthday dinner at Umi Sushi and were already seated when they were approached by a member of the restaurant's staff and asked to exit the premises. She said in a statement to Fox 5 Atlanta: "As we were walking out though my husband noticed a woman at the bar had on tennis shoes and that’s when everything had gone out the window at that point, because there are no rules here for some people, only for others."
Kaylan, who recorded the entire incident, continued, "If you’re going to have rules, they should apply to everyone and not just some people."
Kaylan asked why he was asked to leave for wearing sneakers, but other guests who were dressed in similar apparel were allowed to stay and eat without confrontation.
Farshid Arshid, who owns Umi Sushi, stated that the restaurant clearly delineates its dress policy on the eatery's entrance, but capitulates his staff should've better analyzed the situation before asking Kaylan and her husband to leave: "This was completely 100 percent an operational mistake on our end. When they got upset, we should have investigated that."
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Following the criticism the restaurant faced on social media, the eatery contacted Kaylan and her husband for further clarification on the incident, but the woman has stated she doesn't feel comfortable eating there any longer: "We’ve seen this on the news over and over lately. Nobody wants to feel that way. Nobody wants to feel like they can’t go to certain places."
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Several people on social media pointed out that many of the sneaker-wearing customers who were left to dine without being accosted by Umi staff members were white, and believed that Kaylan's husband's skin color may have played a part in the restaurant's decision to ask the man to leave.
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People took to social media to call out the ban on the restaurant and some people even went to the restaurant to see how they would respond to them wearing particular articles of clothing, in the instance of Jerome Trammel, he was wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt.
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Many others pointed out that they frequently visited the restaurant wearing sneakers but no one ever pointed out this bizarre rule to them.
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The restaurant has posted an official apology on its page.