My experience at a Gordon Biersch restaurant.

IÕm Latino, and I think it was four years ago, I invited my father to the new Gordon Biersch restaurant that was opening in Burbank CA for his birthday.

We were escorted to our seats and we ordered some of their beer.

Some time went by and I noticed that all of the minorities that were there, and that were
coming in, were being seated in the same part of the restaurant, by the kitchen.

I told my dad I was going to the restroom. I walked around the room and sure enough all the minorities were in the same part of the restaurant.

We had not ordered yet, I told my dad that the menu didnÕt look that good and
I had a better place to go to.

I was pissed, but I was more interested in having a pleasant dinner with my father than
in making a big stink.

This may not seem like a big deal but it is a big deal when your race affects the
treatment you get in other aspects of your life.

I think many times minorities donÕt even know that they are being treated differently.

WeÕve all seen the results of those 20/20 reports of when a black man and a white man with the SAME qualifications and/or income try to get a job, loan or try to rent an apartment.

My experience at the Gordon Biersch restaurant was a rare chance to SEE that
their IS different treatment.

That way you would know for certain you just didn't happen into a coincidence. Plus you could have embarrassed them if the were doing what you claim.

I hate when I am seated near the kitchen, lots of diners do. You should have asked to be moved on that pretense and see what happened. Bastards!!!!

on edit: Why not write a letter to the local paper and alert people, I'm sure diners will start looking for that kind of behavior then.

If it hadnÕt been for my fathers birthday, I would have gone to the other minority tables and told them what
was going on, and hopefully would have convinced them to walk out as well.

and after reading this, I never will.

I also refuse to dine at Waffle Houses for the same reason.

I refuse to eat at the Waffle House because their food sucks. They can't even make coffee right!

So they can't be all that bad! :)

There are a lot of Hispanics who don't speak English very well. Maybe the restaurant had a large Hispanic clientelle, who frequently didn't speak English well, so they put them in a section where the waitress that night who spoke Spanish was working. That night she might have had the station by the kitchen, the next night, a different section.

There was an Indian couple, an African American couple, a Latino couple
and my father and I.

My waiter was Anglo American and I did see two Latina waitress working
there but this segregation was on race and not on language.

None of us had jeans on, we were celebrating a special occasion and the other three couples seemed to be on dates, so we were all well dressed.

WTF is an "Anglo-American?" My ethnic French-German-Norweigen "AMERICAN" wife HATES being called "Anglo." Why? Because she isn't!

I was pissed, but I was more interested in having a pleasant dinner with my father than in making a big stink.

Are you saying that this is another Denny's?

segregate. To be fair, I donÕt know if itÕs just that one Gordon Biersch in Burbank thatÕs
racist, I never been to any other Gordon Biersch since.

I ate at many BJ's restaurants in CA, and never went through the
segregation nonsense I went through at Gordon Biersch.

BTW, the food at BJ's restaurant & Brewery is fantastic.

Whether it was racism, or just you perceiving it as racism, since it is unknown if:

A. It was only done on that night
B. If they were consciously segregating based on race

Seems a bit liek jumping to conclusions on insufficient data.

I had the chance to attend my friend's wedding. He's black and it was a very itimate family affair in a small Baptist church in Indianapolis. So intimate that my family (my wife and two small children) were the only white people there.

At first it felt so uncomfortable no matter how well I knew his family and how welcome they made up feel. It struck me then of how many minorities must feel attempting to adjust to our society. A story like BushKnew brought that feeling back.

I always put my money where my convictions are. I have a long list of restauarants and stores (Wal-Mart has regained the coveted #1 spot over Burger King - they're making enough at Bahgdad Int. without my $2.52 - but watch out, if CBS censors the Raygun movie there could be a new #1 with a bullet) that I boycott or do only minimal business for their support of any Repugnican causes or discrimination.

You did the right thing by leaving; while setting someone straight or making a scene may be a temporaral good feeling, it's never worth the angst that it creates.

ate at one in DC on the 25th... someone (an employee?!) stole a notebook from me... before I could rush back for it, it was gone. Grrr. Lots of nonanswers from the staff, 100 pages of sketches and scribbles gone. LIKE LOSING A LEG!

AHGHHGHG!

because someone (and you admit you are not sure if it was another patron or an employee) stole your notebook? WOW!

and a hello to the Official Arbiter of What to Hate an Eatery For...

as if resturaunt reviews aren't decided on even pettier scores...

or do you want to hear me go on and on about waiting for 50 minutes for the meal and having the waiter complain that the 20% tip wasn't enough because he had six children? And then getting mean about it?

Pardon me if I'm not praising your this precious chain.

the pentultimate para of your last post is a good reason to dislike a restaurant. Your first reason was illogical.

Next time, don't walk off leaving "weeks of work."

logical consistency?

Jesus, I'm a deranged lunatic who has mood swings for no apparent reason. You're expecting me to be calm through my irrational rages?

Next time, don't play Gordon's Advocate. Pardon me for slandering the Immortal Franchise Brewery without a full, detailed review describing how the medium rare wasn't exactly medium rare.

you hated a restaurant because you walked off and left your notebook filled with week's of work. That's just silly.

I think you just hate freedom, and hate the freedom we Americans have to make good progress by dismissing stupid dining places who keep you waiting, fuck up your order, and pick your table clean the minute you stand up. With us or against us. Check please.

I understand you hating a restaurant that ... "keep you waiting, fuck up your order, and pick your table clean the minute you stand up."

Just not for you losing your notebook! :-)

because it allows me to be fickle for reasons known only to my insecurities. I can refuse to take responsibility for my actions and blame others, it being the American Way and all.

Is it possible that it was just one particular Maitre d' and not the policy of the restaurant chain?

If a restaurant is a big celebrity place and you are a tourist, guess where you get to sit. Next time demand a better seat and if you don't get it, or are asked to wait and there are empty places, it's time to leave and make a phone call the next day to the ACLU or other organization that promotes racial equality.

when you were just trying to treat your dad to dinner.

Perhaps, if you feel like it, you could drop by with a few friends & see what happens. Just once MIGHT be a coincidence.

But there might be a pattern of discrimination.