Was this ever a real thing? I recall hearing about such places back in the 1970s. The idea was that such restaurants were supposed to be laid-back with zero tolerance for any kind of formal wear, and if anyone dared show up wearing a necktie, it would get snipped off at the door. But I never actually encountered such a place, and it seems to me that would leave the business open to all sorts of lawsuits.
The closest I’ve heard of is people doing it as a shitty practical joke. A restaurant doing it for the reason you describe would be even stupider - “laid-back” and “destructively hostile to formal wear” are obviously mutually exclusive.
Well, I remember going to the Trail Dust Steak House in Dallas as a teenager. I remember seeing a whole collection of ties pinned up on the wall. Can’t say I ever actually saw them cut one off. But then again, I think I’ve only been there one or two times.
ETA: This was back in the mid 80’s don’t even know if the place is still around or not.
Yeah, it was even part of Trail Dust’s sign: http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2009/1229/20091229__cdtraildust_JP010~p1.jpg
A google image search has a few images of people getting their ties cut.
(There’s also a shot of the building getting demoed, so I’m assuming it’s not there now. That area of 35 (formerly known as “Restaurant Row”) has changed quite a bit since the 80s.)
LOL. That place looked like it was just begging for a lawsuit. They had a giant slide that was comically set right next to the bar. Check these guys out in action.
I’m guessing that they publicized it enough that almost all of the people wearing ties there were doing so deliberately with the intention of getting them cut off, and that the ~1% of tie-wearers who didn’t realize what was going to happen were given the choice to just take it off and put it in their pocket.
Went to an outdoor cowboy banquet kind of thing in Arizona. We all got on a bus at the hotel, and on the bus they handed out ties to everyone. When we got there they had a couple of people cutting the ties off as you got off the bus. Wow! That was exciting, putting on a cheap novelty tie for a few minutes so some really bored people wearing cowboy outfits could cut the ties off.
Anyway, whenever I’ve heard of these places it’s always a gimmick like that, people wearing the ties just to get them cut off.
Pinnacle Peak restaurants in SoCal do this. You’re given plenty of notice about the ties, as I recall, so anyone getting a tie cut off has worn one on purpose. They used to hang up the cut ties in the restaurant. I don’t know if they still do this.
I went there a few times, but never wearing a tie. And that area’s all expensive strip clubs now, yes?
Thanks for the replies. So it sounds like it was a real thing but jokey at the same time, and no one really got their favorite lucky tie snipped off against their will. That makes sense.
From what I remember of 1970s neckties, cutting them off patrons would only improve the necktie.
What happens if I show up wearing a bow tie?
They still cut it. There’s a Pinnacle Peak about 15 miles from here that used to be one of my standard dating restaurants. If you were wearing a tie to the table, it was going to get cut off. The hostess *specifically *tells you that when you are seated, and asks if you are OK with it. If not, you get a chance to remove the tie.
The one in Garden Grove has been closed for quite a few years, but after hearing about it from my brother-in-law, I went in with my least-favorite tie to have it executed. This was in 1991.
There is a day in the year in Germany when this happens, but I don’t know what it’s called. I do remember some really pissed off diplomats who lost expensive silk ties because of ignorance of the custom.
Jesus, what a lame gimmick. There website is all braggy about “unsuspecting” people having their ties cut. As if that ever happened. It would be a good side business to buy up ties from thrift stores for a couple of bucks each and sell them to doofuses for ten dollars so they can have the opportunity for a hilarious Instagram selfie.
Ugh. Their*
Patrons at Pinnacle Peak are hardly “unsuspecting.”
WTF! The OP posted a thread and has no links for it and not one damn insult !
So I can post my damn threads any way I want to and not get any insults!
I wouldn’t count on that if I were you.