Umi Sushi in Buckhead faces backlash, calls for boycott of Atlanta dress code policy

Umi in Buckhead has been criticized – along with people calling for a boycott of the sushi restaurant – for his dress code policy, which an Atlanta couple said was used to discriminate against them.

On Friday, October 23, Kaylan Colbert and her husband, William Johnson, said they arrived early for their 5:15 p.m. reservation at Umi and were told by management that Johnson had broken the restaurant’s dress code by wearing Nike Air Force white. 1 sneakers. After a policy exchange with management, the couple were refused service and asked to leave. The situation evolved further when Umi owner Farshid Arshid got involved.

Colbert, who is a personal injury attorney in Atlanta, appeared on Fox 5 Atlanta Thursday night to discuss the incident. In the interview, Colbert said the couple were unaware that the sneakers were a violation of dress code policy – she alleges Johnson had worn the same sneakers in the restaurant before without incident – and were ready to comply when Johnson noticed a woman sitting at the bar. in sneakers. “If you have rules, they should apply to everyone, not just certain people,” Colbert told Fox 5.

The restaurant’s dress code policy on its website states that Umi prohibits baseball caps, sneakers, athletic wear, and athletic shirts, as well as men’s shorts, flip flops, and tank tops, especially when worn inside. It also indicates that the dress code is “strictly enforced”.

But the couple believe the dress code policy is arbitrarily enforced and has confronted management and property with other people being allowed to dine while wearing sneakers. Videos Colbert posted on Instagram about the October 23 incident appear to show a woman sitting at the bar wearing silver tennis shoes. Johnson points out to a staff member that the woman is wearing “Adidas sneakers”, asking why she is allowed to sit but he is not.

“We were by her side, but they refuse to look at her shoes to confirm that she is wearing sneakers,” Colbert tells Eater. “At one point, someone looks down and says, ‘These are high-end sneakers.’ The lady kicks her and she said, ‘Yeah, these are Adidas.’ “

Umi / screenshot

After being asked to leave the restaurant, Johnson and Colbert question the deputy general manager about the apparently arbitrarily enforced dress code policy. In the video, the deputy general manager says he was told the bar lady was wearing “dress sneakers.” When Arshid leaves the restaurant at the same time, the couple ask him about the politics of sneakers. Arshid responds: “There are no Adidas, there are no Nikes, we just don’t have sneakers [worn inside.]He said to Johnson, “There is no Air Force 1. It’s done.”

Colbert tells Eater that because Air Force 1’s are “synonymous with hip hop,” she and Johnson interpreted Arshid’s comments to mean that he didn’t want the restaurant couple with Johnson to wear “those shoes. Black”.

The exchange between Arshid and Johnson then becomes inflamed, with the video capturing Arshid threatening to call the police, stating of Johnson, “He’s going to jail tonight.” The exchange escalates, with Colbert claiming that her husband is being treated like the N word, and Arshid apparently misunderstands and thinks the racial insult was being applied to him. The confrontation begins to get physical, although the blows are not traded, and ends up breaking down after about 10 minutes.

“He was worried about his life,” Colbert says of Johnson’s reaction to the threat of police involvement. “I don’t know how an officer is going to feel, and they can automatically feel threatened because of his size. He was panicking. We were in the car after we left and my chest ached. It was just crazy. I had never felt this before.

When contacted for comment by phone, Arshid tells Eater that he apologized to the couple via text and phone for their behavior during the exchange and for the restaurant’s mismanagement of the situation.

“We should never have had a dialogue with each other. I’m ashamed of it. As a restaurant, we should have defused the situation, ”says Arshid. “I don’t know if the woman [at the bar] had sneakers or not, but it was 100% operational failure on our part and on my part. When I got engaged, I should have investigated. Maybe I should have come in and look and come out and say, ‘Sir, you’re right.’ “

Colbert says she and Johnson “have not accepted any apology from him. We don’t feel like he’s genuine.

Restaurants across the country have recently come under fire for similar dress code policies. In Baltimore last year, Atlas Restaurant Group received criticism online for a dress code policy posted outside its new Baltimore location, Choptank, stating “excessively loose clothing”, “visorless headgear” , “Hats inside out or on the side” and jerseys among other items, as prohibited. Chicago bar Bottled Blonde faced similar anger over its dress code in 2017, which called for “Not excessively Baggie. [sic], Saggy, torn, dirty, frayed, too flashy or bright clothes ”; “No plain white t-shirts, long t-shirts, denim, flannel (not even around the waist)”; and “No gang attire … no camouflage.”

When asked if he thought the dress code itself was discriminatory, Arshid, who also co-owns the Buckhead Himitsu bar next to Umi, said he plans to re-address the sneaker ban in part of Umi’s dress code, but likely won’t make any additional policies. changes.

“I’m also a sneaker head. I come from music, fashion and the arts, ”he says. “So we are constantly changing the artwork, the chandeliers, the design at Umi to uplift our atmosphere. Dinner is always theater, and I still believe that every occasion and place has some type of dress code.

He says he hopes to do things right for Colbert and Johnson and is ready to continue the conversation with the couple.

“Of course, owners can set their own rules and decide how they want their restaurants to be run,” Colbert says. “But if you don’t apply these rules to everyone, then yes, it becomes discriminatory practice at this point.”