We’ve all heard stories of when someone feels like they’ve been given poor service at a store or a restaurant because of being heavily modified. I’ve felt like the scene in Pretty Women before where I’m told the store has nothing for me but last night was the first time in a decade that I have ever been refused entry into a restaurant based solely on the fact that we had tattoos.
Last night around 10:30pm, I headed to CityWalk in Universal City, CA with Norm, Charlie and Vanessa Roberts and our friend Jason. We had tickets to see Avatar at 12:10am and wanted to get dinner first. Everything but Subway and Saddle Ranch Chop House were closed. We walked all the way from the movie theatre to Saddle Ranch where Jason and I went in first and got a table. I noticed that Norm was being held at the door. I went back to see what the problem was and found that they were making him remove his clothing to inspect his tattoos. As I asked what the problem was, I was asked to step aside and Norm and I were escorted out of the line to get in, even though I had already been given a table.
Upon further inspection they told us that we had “gang tattoos” and would not be allowed into the restaurant for the safety of the other patrons. Those of you that know us know that we have no gang affiliations, nor do we have any gang tattoos. I’m covered in Flower and faerie tattoos and that’s it. I guess the “Always” on my hand now stands for some gang that I have no idea about? Norm was a gentleman about it but I wanted to talk to the manager even though we had decided we didn’t want to spend our dollars at a businesss that discriminates against tattooed patrons. We left to go to Subway, which by the time we walked all the way back, was closed.
The lesson that we all need to know is that our dollar effects the decisions that corporations make. I’m asking that you do not visit the Saddle Ranch Chop House or their affiliated restaurants.We should come together and boycott them.
If you want to make a difference, email Alex Chavez (Senior Manager) at [email protected] and let them know that you don’t appreciate rampant discrimination by management against customers who have tattoos and that you and your friends will not be visiting their establishment. You can also call them at 818-760-9680 or send your letter via fax to 818-760-9686. Remember to keep your emails/faxes/phone calls polite and well written otherwise they will just cast us off as they already have.
Do we look like “gang members” to you? Nope, didn’t think so. Using an excuse like that to discriminate against tattooed individuals is reckless and irresponsible. We all want to be able to visit a restaurant and be safe but using a fake claim that we had “gang tattoos” to discriminant against us using their “anti gang tattoo policy” because we are visibly tattooed is unacceptable. Help me to rectify this situation by making sure organizations like this don’t use their policies to discriminate against everyone who is visibly tattooed.
Comments
240 responses to “Saddle Ranch Chop House discriminates against customers”
Krysstii – I understand your point clearly, but unfortuantly it leaves me a little disappointed when you wrote “but when it comes to my business id rather not take chances”. As a modified person who understand the risks of having visible mods (I used to work with the police and courts in the UK and I have a plsit tongue and lots of visible ink), I am aware that there are certain barriers that I will meet, due to people pre-judging me. I accept this. Never the less, reading “but when it comes to my business id rather not take chances” made me cringe as you have basically inferred that people with mods ARE a greater risk than non-visbly modded people and you are helping perpetuate the negative sterotype you calim is wrong. The chop house can now JUSTIFY their stance as a visbilly modded sote owner supported their stance….. if you cant trust fellowed modded, why cant they?
I know the above is an oversimplification, and you can run your business how you like (as I run my business too), but I felt I had to point out the potential ramifications of your lack of faith in modded people (afterall, maybe they were staring at you cos they are used to being starred at, and wondered why a modded person was eying them with such suspicion?).
Krysstii – I understand your point clearly, but unfortuantly it leaves me a little disappointed when you wrote “but when it comes to my business id rather not take chances”. As a modified person who understand the risks of having visible mods (I used to work with the police and courts in the UK and I have a plsit tongue and lots of visible ink), I am aware that there are certain barriers that I will meet, due to people pre-judging me. I accept this. Never the less, reading “but when it comes to my business id rather not take chances” made me cringe as you have basically inferred that people with mods ARE a greater risk than non-visbly modded people and you are helping perpetuate the negative sterotype you calim is wrong. The chop house can now JUSTIFY their stance as a visbilly modded sote owner supported their stance….. if you cant trust fellowed modded, why cant they?
I know the above is an oversimplification, and you can run your business how you like (as I run my business too), but I felt I had to point out the potential ramifications of your lack of faith in modded people (afterall, maybe they were staring at you cos they are used to being starred at, and wondered why a modded person was eying them with such suspicion?).
sote = store. opps.
sote = store. opps.
i agree with Krysstii and Tim
i agree with Krysstii and Tim
@ jen 71. we have all been discriminated against. for perspectives sake, i have 2 foot long dreads and live in vancouver. i get asked for pot at least 3 times a day and have been cavity searched at the airport because of my look. my point is, this is personal and i choose my battles and fight on my own two feet. everyone else can make up their own minds how they deal with discrimation. asking you all to advocate that not all dreadheads are connected to drugs is a bit far fetched.
my point is, this is a much bigger issue that involves more than two people and one restaurant. be proud of who you are and your appearance. should someone discriminate against you then educate them. should they not listen then take comfort that they will grow old and very alone. fuck me i sound like dr phil ha ha.
@ jen 71. we have all been discriminated against. for perspectives sake, i have 2 foot long dreads and live in vancouver. i get asked for pot at least 3 times a day and have been cavity searched at the airport because of my look. my point is, this is personal and i choose my battles and fight on my own two feet. everyone else can make up their own minds how they deal with discrimation. asking you all to advocate that not all dreadheads are connected to drugs is a bit far fetched.
my point is, this is a much bigger issue that involves more than two people and one restaurant. be proud of who you are and your appearance. should someone discriminate against you then educate them. should they not listen then take comfort that they will grow old and very alone. fuck me i sound like dr phil ha ha.
Hmmm a place better not to go. But definitely look out for some media coverage. Bad press would be a beatiful measure of pressure – idiots like that schould not win.
Hmmm a place better not to go. But definitely look out for some media coverage. Bad press would be a beatiful measure of pressure – idiots like that schould not win.
i had a similar experience at a higher class indian restaurant where they sat us in the storage closet, we need a system that shows mod friendly and non mod friendly establishments for traveling people to know where to go and not go, i know people who are “green” have a similar system and will only go to establishments that are “green”
i know of a pet store that employs heavily modded people, great place
i had a similar experience at a higher class indian restaurant where they sat us in the storage closet, we need a system that shows mod friendly and non mod friendly establishments for traveling people to know where to go and not go, i know people who are “green” have a similar system and will only go to establishments that are “green”
i know of a pet store that employs heavily modded people, great place
Has anybody had a response to emailing this less than desirable establishment yet?
Has anybody had a response to emailing this less than desirable establishment yet?
Welp I live in driving distance of city walk and visit every once and awhile, and will not be eating there anytime soon. That’s disgusting behavior.
Welp I live in driving distance of city walk and visit every once and awhile, and will not be eating there anytime soon. That’s disgusting behavior.
for anyone in the south bay(california), mission ale house doesnt allow visible tattoos either. as in hands, neck and face… my friend(whos a tattoo artist, down to his wrists in tattoos) was asked to remove glasses from his head and then let in, his gf had to have more than 1 form of ID since she apparently didnt look 21, even tho shes 28, and i wasnt even carded, they just looked at me and told me no since i didnt have “facial paint” but rather a tattoo.
pac sun doesnt allow piercings of ANY sort for their employees, which means tattoos are probably out of the question as well. they dont even allow their female employees to wear mens clothing.
surprisingly enough Journeys allows tattoos and is iffy on them but facial piercings are now limited and can not be too big.
Tilly’s doesnt allow anything bigger than 3/8”(10mm) and has a limit on facial piercings
its ridiculous how stores can be aiming to sell to a certain age group/ crowd and yet still deny people of those genres to not work there. but even more importantly, companies that turn away peoples money. i work just like everyone else and would like to enjoy my time with my friends in different places, just because i look different doesnt mean that my money shouldnt count to you.
fuck those companies
for anyone in the south bay(california), mission ale house doesnt allow visible tattoos either. as in hands, neck and face… my friend(whos a tattoo artist, down to his wrists in tattoos) was asked to remove glasses from his head and then let in, his gf had to have more than 1 form of ID since she apparently didnt look 21, even tho shes 28, and i wasnt even carded, they just looked at me and told me no since i didnt have “facial paint” but rather a tattoo.
pac sun doesnt allow piercings of ANY sort for their employees, which means tattoos are probably out of the question as well. they dont even allow their female employees to wear mens clothing.
surprisingly enough Journeys allows tattoos and is iffy on them but facial piercings are now limited and can not be too big.
Tilly’s doesnt allow anything bigger than 3/8”(10mm) and has a limit on facial piercings
its ridiculous how stores can be aiming to sell to a certain age group/ crowd and yet still deny people of those genres to not work there. but even more importantly, companies that turn away peoples money. i work just like everyone else and would like to enjoy my time with my friends in different places, just because i look different doesnt mean that my money shouldnt count to you.
fuck those companies
Pharacist:
I know a guy with sleeves and 1+ inch lobes that works at Pac Sun. Not saying that it’s the same everywhere, but I guess depending on which one it is, it’s alright.
Pharacist:
I know a guy with sleeves and 1+ inch lobes that works at Pac Sun. Not saying that it’s the same everywhere, but I guess depending on which one it is, it’s alright.
One of the handfull of “clubs” in my town (Inverness, Scotland) has recently banned “men with visable tattoos” – women are fine, apparantly. The local press went a bit mad about it –
http://www.highland-news.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/6490/
Have to say neither myself or any of my friends have been there since. Not so much as a boycott, just that it’s such a dump that we wouldn’t want to. Know the Crass song “Banned from the Roxy”?
“Ok. Never wanted to go there anyway.” Exactly.
One of the handfull of “clubs” in my town (Inverness, Scotland) has recently banned “men with visable tattoos” – women are fine, apparantly. The local press went a bit mad about it –
http://www.highland-news.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/6490/
Have to say neither myself or any of my friends have been there since. Not so much as a boycott, just that it’s such a dump that we wouldn’t want to. Know the Crass song “Banned from the Roxy”?
“Ok. Never wanted to go there anyway.” Exactly.
newaddict, no response from emailing (though i wonder just how many people emailed).
newaddict, no response from emailing (though i wonder just how many people emailed).
“Do we look like gang members to you? Nope, didn’t think so.”
I can only assume you mean “Do we look black.” Well, don’t worry, you don’t. I’m sorry I even brought it up.
Get over yourself. Seriously. At what point in your childhood did your parents tell you “Get all the tattoos you want, it’ll never come back to bite you down the road. It won’t color the way people think of you, and it won’t lead people to make judgments about your personality.” I’m just assuming it was your parents that told you that, and not you being a fucking retard, but I guess I could be wrong. Either way — SURPRISE! Life doesn’t work that way. We should blow up the world, I mean, that’s the only FAIR thing to do, right?
Nevermind that Japan, China, Russia, the Middle East, most of Africa, various pacific islands, and parts of south America use tattoos *exclusively* to mark gang activity. But that shouldn’t have any impact on you, I mean, you’re white, not some goddamn savage from overseas. They should know better just from looking at you.
“Do we look like gang members to you? Nope, didn’t think so.”
I can only assume you mean “Do we look black.” Well, don’t worry, you don’t. I’m sorry I even brought it up.
Get over yourself. Seriously. At what point in your childhood did your parents tell you “Get all the tattoos you want, it’ll never come back to bite you down the road. It won’t color the way people think of you, and it won’t lead people to make judgments about your personality.” I’m just assuming it was your parents that told you that, and not you being a fucking retard, but I guess I could be wrong. Either way — SURPRISE! Life doesn’t work that way. We should blow up the world, I mean, that’s the only FAIR thing to do, right?
Nevermind that Japan, China, Russia, the Middle East, most of Africa, various pacific islands, and parts of south America use tattoos *exclusively* to mark gang activity. But that shouldn’t have any impact on you, I mean, you’re white, not some goddamn savage from overseas. They should know better just from looking at you.
Any follow ups on this story?
Curious if there have been any noticeable responses or reactions.
Any follow ups on this story?
Curious if there have been any noticeable responses or reactions.
so funny that you changed the photo at the bottom of the page.
so funny that you changed the photo at the bottom of the page.
I think we’re approaching this the wrong way. Instead of boycotting this place, we should show up en’mass and effectively block access by others. A few dozen of us detained at the entrance would certainly slow down business and perhaps encourage them to think better of their admission policy. When management has to turn away dozens of people simply because of some arbitrary “dress code”, they may revise it to be a little more “friendly”. Words tend to be meaningless unless there is hard evidence to back them up.
I think we’re approaching this the wrong way. Instead of boycotting this place, we should show up en’mass and effectively block access by others. A few dozen of us detained at the entrance would certainly slow down business and perhaps encourage them to think better of their admission policy. When management has to turn away dozens of people simply because of some arbitrary “dress code”, they may revise it to be a little more “friendly”. Words tend to be meaningless unless there is hard evidence to back them up.
hmmm . . . at the saddle ranch here in arizona, i would venture to guess that 3/4s of the wait staff/bartenders were tattooed, and a couple rather heavily (i dont usually go there, we just happened to be right there and needed a beer)
also, the employee tshirts and stuff with the name of the bar on it were all drawn in a tattoo style and with tatto imagery.
not to mention all the douchebags with tattoos just eating and drinking there.
its very strange that they kicked you out.
hmmm . . . at the saddle ranch here in arizona, i would venture to guess that 3/4s of the wait staff/bartenders were tattooed, and a couple rather heavily (i dont usually go there, we just happened to be right there and needed a beer)
also, the employee tshirts and stuff with the name of the bar on it were all drawn in a tattoo style and with tatto imagery.
not to mention all the douchebags with tattoos just eating and drinking there.
its very strange that they kicked you out.
also, comments about them “making” you or “forcing” you to show them your tattoos or take off your clothes is just ridiculous. you dont “have” to do anything. you just leave. i would never take my clothes off so they could inspect me.
by the way, im not saying i support this or this restaurant.
also, comments about them “making” you or “forcing” you to show them your tattoos or take off your clothes is just ridiculous. you dont “have” to do anything. you just leave. i would never take my clothes off so they could inspect me.
by the way, im not saying i support this or this restaurant.
MDK:
What is wrong with you? Are you sure you are on the right website, because you sound pretty bitter about modded people. Maybe if you are you should stay away from heavy mod sites like BME.
No one has the right to discriminate against you, and I consider refusing access to establishments because of tattoos and piercings discrimination. I’ve had this happen to me and my family recently, and it’s hurtful and rage-inducing. People get tattooed, people get pierced. It’s 2010 not the dark ages, we should be past the point in society where tattoos and piercings automatically make you a scary bad person.
MDK:
What is wrong with you? Are you sure you are on the right website, because you sound pretty bitter about modded people. Maybe if you are you should stay away from heavy mod sites like BME.
No one has the right to discriminate against you, and I consider refusing access to establishments because of tattoos and piercings discrimination. I’ve had this happen to me and my family recently, and it’s hurtful and rage-inducing. People get tattooed, people get pierced. It’s 2010 not the dark ages, we should be past the point in society where tattoos and piercings automatically make you a scary bad person.
THESE PEOPLE ARE CLEARLY NOT GANG MEMBERS THEYRE JUST A WHITE COUPLE TRYING TO GET SOME FOOD. PERSONALLY IVE BEEN THERE MYSELF, AND I ALSO HAVE SEVERAL TATTOOS. I HAD NO PROBLEM GETTING IN. BUT I DNT LIKE HOW THE TWO OF YOU GOT TREATED ITS A SHAME TO SEE OR HEAR THESE TYPES OF STORIES…
THESE PEOPLE ARE CLEARLY NOT GANG MEMBERS THEYRE JUST A WHITE COUPLE TRYING TO GET SOME FOOD. PERSONALLY IVE BEEN THERE MYSELF, AND I ALSO HAVE SEVERAL TATTOOS. I HAD NO PROBLEM GETTING IN. BUT I DNT LIKE HOW THE TWO OF YOU GOT TREATED ITS A SHAME TO SEE OR HEAR THESE TYPES OF STORIES…