I’ve seen pics of places that have sexy pics of women right over the urinals and I don’t get it either. I’ve even seen one that has various pictures of women commenting on/pointing at/etc the urinal user’s package, which seems to me like one of those ideas you talk about but don’t actually spend money to decorate a restaurant with. It’s just weird to me, it doesn’t seem like looking at women while you pee really appeals to anyone outside of a small group of fetishists.
And I’m specifically not talking about the fairly ordinary practice of having ads hanging over urinals which might happen to be a ‘bikini babe selling beer’, since I get the concept of advertising to a captive audience.
Usually it’s individually framed pictures, but the style is par. Sort of a 50s macho theme, for example my local “fancy” fish-themed restaurant has black/white/sepia framed pictures of fully nude women holding up large fish or swimming. There’s an English restaurant on Main St. of the neighboring town where the bathroom is covered with mock movie posters, each sporting a pinup-comic girl either partially or fully nude. Down in the Florida Keys, I believe on Marathon key there was a restaurant where bathroom decor has magazine cutouts posted on a bulletin board, under glass.
It’s softcore pornography, obviously a conscious style of restroom decor.
They have good food there. I had the beef bourguignon, which was excellent. The duck confit looked very good, too. A little pricey though, at least compared to meals where I live. I can’t comment on the drinks because I don’t drink.
Whether Parisian newsstands sell or showcase softcore pornography is irrelevant. My local grocers showcase magazine covers sporting everything but the nipples and genitalia, and I’m sure if you open the magazine it’s all laid bare. I just struggle to understand why one would put this sort of stuff in restrooms. The excuses for utility is gone (the pictures are removed from accompanying articles), unless other guys are into sexual voyeurism where you don’t even get an erection.
Uhm, for a restaurant that is embracing Parisian culture in every facet (I think every waiter I’ve had there had a French accent), I think what they do in Paris is relevant for this particular restaurant.
Why do your local restaurants do similar things? I don’t know, but I’m strongly inclined to chalk to up to Florida Man…
The outrage level is almost negligible and exposing small children to softcore pornography in an upscale restaurant’s male restrooms is both infrequent and not really a crime against humanity.
I’m sure Le Diplomat has to redo the wallpaper every now and then. There were a few spots where someone clearly tore away a piece, which is why I remember that particular restroom. That was sort of a, that’s-low-even-for-men’s-restrooms moment.
Combined with the fact that it is not unheard of for restaurants to decorate the restroom with soft pornography, I didn’t even think to take it up with management. I won’t say that most fancy restaurants have porn (that would be a lie), but it’s common enough that I am not shocked when they do. My meal was excellent.
This thread is just something that I’ve had in the back of my mind for years. Like, do women’s restrooms have something similar? Do most people know that some restrooms show soft-porn? I don’t think it’s too outrageous but I think the world would be a little better without it, how about you?
Maybe I should have made this thread in MPTIMS, but it sounded more like a rant.
The “raciest” thing I’ve ever seen in a restaurant women’s room was the Jason Alexander/George Constanza ‘Art of Seduction’ poster, so at least in my experience, no, women’s rooms generally do not feature similar content.
Man, if you call Le Diplomate a “pretentious mock-French brasserie,” it’s pretty clear to me that you haven’t been to an actual French brasserie. The size of the tables scales inversely to the pretentiousness.
It was good in general. I would recommend if you’re willing to drop $30 for the entree, but I’m no expert on D.C. eateries. “Pretentious mock-French brasserie” is an invention of Mr. Dibble.
I used the restroom after the meal, but it’s not like softcore pornography is going to make me sick. I think you might find that other 23-year olds can walk past smut without affecting their appetite in the slightest.
It’s a good place to eat. D.C. eateries have been lacking in quality in the past but are improving somewhat. Le Diplomat remains among the better places to eat.
And yeah, I was taking the piss out of Mr. Dibble with that quote.
Millennials can step over the bodies of their parents, long as they’ve already paid the cheque, without it affecting their appetite.
FOAF anecdote: at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, CA, the ladies’ room off the lobby bar is said to contain a mural depicting a nude man in repose at just about eye level. The man’s privates are hidden by a fig leaf attached to the wall with a hinge. The implied invitation to lift the fig leaf and sneak a peek is obvious.
But whenever the fig leaf is lifted, a relay is actuated, which causes a flashing light and siren in the bar to alert the patrons that a peek has been snuck.
The men’s room has a several-feet long electric eye-operated urinal/waterfall. This one I can attest to.
Man, I have spent the last 40 years going out to eat way too often. Upscale, downscale, in between; I hit sports bars for their burgers, mom ‘n’ pop BBQ joints for ribs, French bistros for pastries, neighborhood taverns for fish frys, steakhouses, poké pop-ups, supper clubs, cajun joints, greasy spoons…
… and I have never seen any “Pornography and pin-ups in men’s restrooms”. Not once.
Watching football in a dive bar, I did have to go so badly that I thought I was going to miss J.J. Watt stopping the Bills on third down, only to find a TV over the urinals.
