Tiki Bar Bruhaha

officeguy

Well-Known Member
Sounds like the owner may have over-reacted. If you set dress-code policies, you should probably stand behind your staff if they enforce said policies.
 

LightRoasted

If I may ...
If I may ...

Sounds like the owner may have over-reacted.

Well, he is a convicted felon.
Four (4) counts of; Reg Firearm-Unlawful Stale/Trans
Seven (7) counts of; Assault-Second Degree

Anyway ..... seems to be a selectivity enforced policy.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Man, those are some strict dress code rules. I'm guessing he's trying to keep out the bikers and the black guys? Or just "gangs" in general?

What is an "a shirt"?

On another note, it's surprising (or maybe not) to see so much hostility toward military in the comments. Then there are the ones who are whining that "Terry cares more about making money than standing up for his employees..." Um, duh. :lol:
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
You might know it as a wife beater. Not a 'T' (tee) shirt.

Ahhh...thanks!

I had to look it up to see what the "a" stands for - I was thinking "ahole" but Wiki says "athletic". I'm guessing "wife beater" was too triggering.
 

officeguy

Well-Known Member
Man, those are some strict dress code rules. I'm guessing he's trying to keep out the bikers and the black guys? Or just "gangs" in general?

Some places just say 'no patches, no colors', same thing.

It's an attempt to avoid things like the biker shootout at the 'Twin Peaks' in TX last year.

What is an "a shirt"?

wife-beater
 

awpitt

Main Streeter
Man, those are some strict dress code rules. I'm guessing he's trying to keep out the bikers and the black guys? Or just "gangs" in general?

What is an "a shirt"?

On another note, it's surprising (or maybe not) to see so much hostility toward military in the comments.

I'm not sure that it's hostility toward the military. It might be more about the mood, by some, that "I served so the rules are optional for me". As a veteran I feel that veterans should be the first ones to be following a set of rules. Even if it's at the Tiki Bar. I feel that "The Owner" was just patronizing vets by firing his employees over this.
 
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frequentflier

happy to be living
According to an ex bartender that worked there for many years, in the past few years they have been getting a lot of motorcycle riders there from DC and Baltimore.

I expect the staff know most of the "locals" that hang out. But when you start getting groups of people hanging out that you don't know what they are bringing to your bar, I would feel safer knowing they have rules in place. It seems reasonable to have rules such as taking off vests and colors that apply to all.

Though I rarely go to the Tiki, I have been in their office, and one huge wall is covered with tv screens from the cameras they have through out the property. The exception is inside the rest rooms. Their security is better than most places and honestly, I would feel safer going there than any other bar I know of.

As far as the incident and the $hitstorm that followed, I wasn't there so my opinion would only be just that.
 

DannyMotorcycle

Active Member
I'm not keenly familiar with the details but the customer's complaints seem to contradict the fired employee's versions significantly.

In business, in general, you want your employees to be pleasant, even when handling customers presenting a problem. if the customers weren't swearing, and otherwise offending other patrons, then the staff should have been very polite, and the customers should have never felt an adversarial presence. The employee should have generally kissed ass to get them to yield to the rules. How you treat customers is the difference between failure and extreme success. Every customer is a potential fortune in directing new customers to your establishment. Instead of saying "Hey no rags!" or "hey you cant' come in here wearing that" The customer should have been told something like "Excuse me, personally I really like your head gear, it's really cool, it really is nice looking, but I wonder if you wouldn't mind taking it off? don't get me wrong, it's nice and it would look great if you kept it on, but then the other people who wear gang head gear will cause us problems if we don't ask all of our patrons to remove their headgear as an equal and fair rule, so could you help us out and remove it while you're here? we'd really appreciate it and we're sorry if it inconveniences you, but we hope you can understand why we're asking? it's not so much about you, as it is others who actually cause problems".

In this day and age so many businesses have forgotten the concept of the customer is always right.. and while the owner might have douche tendencies lol (i dont' know, maybe not) I'm inclined to side with him at least initially until more data comes out.
 

LightRoasted

If I may ...
If I may ...

I'm not keenly familiar with the details but the customer's complaints seem to contradict the fired employee's versions significantly.

In business, in general, you want your employees to be pleasant, even when handling customers presenting a problem. if the customers weren't swearing, and otherwise offending other patrons, then the staff should have been very polite, and the customers should have never felt an adversarial presence. The employee should have generally kissed ass to get them to yield to the rules. How you treat customers is the difference between failure and extreme success. Every customer is a potential fortune in directing new customers to your establishment. Instead of saying "Hey no rags!" or "hey you cant' come in here wearing that" The customer should have been told something like "Excuse me, personally I really like your head gear, it's really cool, it really is nice looking, but I wonder if you wouldn't mind taking it off? don't get me wrong, it's nice and it would look great if you kept it on, but then the other people who wear gang head gear will cause us problems if we don't ask all of our patrons to remove their headgear as an equal and fair rule, so could you help us out and remove it while you're here? we'd really appreciate it and we're sorry if it inconveniences you, but we hope you can understand why we're asking? it's not so much about you, as it is others who actually cause problems".

In this day and age so many businesses have forgotten the concept of the customer is always right.. and while the owner might have douche tendencies lol (i dont' know, maybe not) I'm inclined to side with him at least initially until more data comes out.

I don't know. The fired employees had been there for years. I'm sure that type of alleged negative behavior would have manifest well before this incident. I don't think they did of what they are accused.
 

Clem72

Well-Known Member
i'm not sure that i trust the word of the person who was fired.

Judging from your username and post history it seems like you would be predisposed to believe the biker customer. I think I'm inclined to believe the bouncer simply because it seems unlikely he would make up rules and pick fights with customers for no reason. Why give yourself the headache.
 
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