River North restaurant faces criticism following new policies
CHICAGO - Controversy is growing in light of new policies put in place by a River North restaurant.
Steak 48's policies include a minimum dining fee and a complex dress code requirement.
"People wanna say its discrimination, I don’t see it as black or white discrimination at all. The world’s changing I guess," said Dave Flanzbaun, a Chicago restaurant owner.
If you dine at Steak 48 downtown on Wabash, wearing a face mask and social distancing may be the least of your concerns.
Patrons must now adhere to a $100 per person food and beverage minimum, not including tip or tax.
However, the most controversial policy is the restaurant’s updated dress code, which now prohibits men’s tank tops or sleeveless shirts, sweatshirts or t-shirts with large images, clothing with language or graphics that are vulgar or sexually explicit, excessively frayed or torn clothing and clothing that reveals excessive cleavage.
"The food was great, I had no problems," said one Steak 48 Patron, Patrice King.
"I probably wouldn’t go there with those restrictions, I probably wouldn’t get in now," said Matt Trau who lives downtown.
In a statement, Steak 48 said in part:
"We continue to uphold the same standard business causal dress code policy for dinner service across all our fine-dining properties to ensure the best experience for our guests. . . We’ve had to make some updates to our policy, like the $100 per person minimum in effort to support our staff and restaurants operations."