Strip Restaurant Atlantic Station

Hello Everyone!

It's been a while since I posted on here, but I feel compelled not to rate a restaurant, but rather to share an unsettling experience I had recently when I attempted to take my visiting parents out to eat at Strip on a Friday night around 5:30PM. Below is an email I sent to Strip's area manager, Phil Handley:

Dear Mr. Handley and Mr. Sheetz:

Allow me to preface what I'm about to write by saying I am not one of these people who routinely propagates complaint letters.

I have been a Friends Of Tom card member for several years now and enjoy your restaurants tremendously. Since I live at Atlantic Station, I frequent Strip on a fairly regular basis.

Yesterday, I decided to take my parents, who were visiting from out of town, to Strip. We have been there at least four times previously, and we have enjoyed it each time.

However, on this night, as we attempted to enter your restaurant, the burly brusque doorman curtly uttered to my father, "You have to put your hat on the rack." My father, who is a 74 year old life-long Braves fan, had his omnipresent Braves cap on, which he's worn into your restaurant each and every time we've been there previously.

Not "Please, sir, I'm sorry, but we have a no hat policy on the weekends." Instead, "You have to put your hat on the rack."

We were then informed that your Friday and Saturday policy is that no caps of any kind are allowed in the restaurant. Two things that are particularly puzzling about this mandate:

1) Strip is located in a heavily trafficked shopping venue. Most of these shopping outlets are certainly not considered high end by any stretch, so many patrons may not be in more formal attire and may actually be wearing ballcaps.

2) Strip is FAR from a 5 star dining establishment. You do not even have table cloths on your tables, for goodness sake. And furthermore, if hats are so abhorrent to management at this restaurant, then why isn't the policy applicable seven days a week?

Additionally, there is a posted sign that Strip is not responsible for the loss or theft of the hat once it is checked. Thus, my father would not only have to check his hat, but should anyone wish to pilfer his cap, Strip would not be culpable for it.

I proceeded inside and cancelled my reservation. My father, meanwhile, proceeded to tell the aforementioned curt doorman that he believed that I would not be returning to your restaurant anytime soon, and that you would be losing a lot of money as a result. This was received with a chuckle from the "convivial" doorman.

I'd like you to check my card number and see how much money I've not only spent at Strip but also at all of your "Here To Serve Restaurants." Due to the way my father was treated (and I should note he was not dressed poorly despite wearing a Braves hat), you will be losing considerable business. I've passed this information on to my friends, who like me, have no children and excessive disposable income with which we customarily dispense a preponderance of cash in our weekly dining endeavors.

I hope your "no hat" policy on Friday's and Saturday's and your doorman's churlish treatment of my father was worth losing my business and my friends' business. A 74 year old man deserved better treatment, and I will NOT soon forget the acrid taste that was left in my mouth. The only thing you were "Here To Serve" was to serve a ruin to my parents last night in Atlanta.

Sincerely disappointed,
Chris Schulz

AND I'M SURE ALL OF YOU ARE JUST CHOMPING AT THE BIT TO SEE HOW MR. HANDLEY REPLIED:

Dear Mr. Schulz,
Thank you so much for letting me know about your experience. I apologize for the incredibly poor handling of this by our doorman. I am copying Frank Grubbs, owner of Solid Security, on this. Frank, his partner Billy, and Solid Security have been with us for over 7 years and are always interested in improving customer service from the security department.

Please allow me a moment to explain the dress code. While this will give you insight into why the policy is in place it does not excuse the poor communication from the doorman. We have a dress code in place on Friday and Saturday evening because Strip undergoes a transformation from restaurant to restaurant/lounge hybrid sometime in the middle of the evening. This attracts a very diverse clientele. In order to keep the atmosphere upbeat, upscale, and attractive we have a very few items that we do not allow. One of the items is the ball cap. Why, you may ask, are we fixated on a seemingly innocent ball cap? It is because it is a gateway element into less desirable items that are worn by the 20 and 30 something's that patron us on Fridays and Saturdays. The unfortunate thing about a dress code is that you can not allow the people enforcing it to use their discretion. If we were to allow the doormen the ability to pick and choose who could an couldn't come in with a cap we would open ourselves up to cries of discrimination.

This aside, I will be speaking with Frank and Billy regarding the communication skills of our doormen. Typically if someone is resistant to leaving their ball cap on the door a manager will get involved and leave the cap at coat check or in our office. Basically we try to accommodate all diners as best we can. We try to communicate in an inviting, gracious fashion. When we fall short it turns a pretty innocent policy into a problem.

We would truly love to keep you as a friend and patron of Strip. Your choice in where you spend your money is very powerful. We want to present you and your guests with a good, clean, atmosphere. Sometimes this requires rules that on the surface seem absurd. Under the surface they serve a purpose to keep the riff raff at bay and allow you to enjoy an atmosphere populated by like minded people: those looking for a fun, relaxing time with great food and service. If it would help I would gladly extend an apology to your father and the rest of your group. We fell short last night and that is unacceptable.

Frank, Billy, and I will be speaking with the doormen from last night as well as the entire security staff regarding how they communicate the policies of our establishment. Thank you for your time.

Kindest regards,
Phil Handley
General Manager- Strip
Area Director- Here to Serve

NOW FOLKS, HERE'S MY TAKE ON ALL OF THIS:

I think we all know what Mr. Handley is trying to say without really saying. Go down to Atlantic Station on any given weekend, and look at the demographic of the people frequenting the area. However, just because someone has a ballcap on does not mean this is a "gateway into less desirable items that are worn by 20 and 30 something's." In fact, what if someone is not wearing a ballcap but instead has pants sagging below their underwear? Is that person welcome at Strip? There's no policy for that as best as I can ascertain. Is someone with a ballcap more shabbily dressed than someone without a hat but pants dipping below the buttocks?

Come on, Mr. Handley! Let's be real here. You're never going to entirely keep out of your restaurant what you claim to be doing by banning hats on the weekends. And besides, if someone does wear a ballcap to your restaurant after 5:30PM, how can you honestly say that person potentially could be "the gateway to undesirable items"? Dress that includes baggy jeans, Timberland boots, and gold chains---is there a policy for that? Gold chains okay but ballcaps not okay? Where does it stop, Mr. Handley? R&B singer Ne-Yo has noted before that he is a big fan of your restaurant. He's known for wearing hats as often as Republicans rip the new health care bill. Would you honestly deny Ne-Yo entrance into your restaurant?

Folks, I for one am boycotting Here To Serve Restaurants. You can decide to do what you choose. But some people might find Mr. Handley's response borderline offensive. Only he knows what he was trying to say. You can judge for yourself.

At the very least, as an area director at Here To Serve Restaurants, he could have offered a free meal for my parents. I saw nary a mention of that. Did you?

In case you'd like the list of restaurants that fall under this group, here's their website: www.h2sr.com.

HAPPY BOYCOTTING!