Food News

Women Are Banned From Eating Alone At This Bar — WTF?

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It’s the year 2019. In less than a year, it will be 2020, which is basically the future. You would think that, at this point, we as human beings and as a society would be fully evolved. In an ideal world, we would be: there would be no racism, no sexism, everyone would be equal, we would not be in the midst of the longest government shutdown in history. But, unfortunately, this obviously isn’t the way things are. And every once in a while (well, okay, more than every once in a while, if we’re being honest), you stumble across a headline that reads as if it came out decades and decades ago. Take this latest news as an example: women are apparently banned from eating alone at a bar in New York City. And to that, we can only say one thing: WTF?!?

But it appears to be true! Women really seem to be banned from eating alone at this bar, which is honestly just an absurd thing to hear. It’s hard to even comprehend the rationale behind it, if there is any rationale. And, obviously, it’s the kind of news you can’t ignore and have to investigate further. So, what’s the deal?

A popular New York restaurant called Nello, located on the Upper East Side, apparently doesn’t allow women to eat at the bar on their own.

This was revealed in a recent essay that creative executive Clementine Crawford wrote for Drugstore Culture. In the essay, Crawford wrote about how she had been eating at the bar at Nello alone for a while — until the day a waiter told her she was no longer allowed to.

The waiter told Crawford (with “evident embarrassment”) that she “was no longer permitted” to eat at the bar and that she “must now sit down at a table.” When it happened a second time, Crawford didn’t just oblige, she also asked what was going on.

At first, the waiter informed Crawford that their new policy was that no one could eat at the bar anymore. But then, from her table, she watched as a man came in and ate at the bar — alone. When she asked the waiter why that was okay, he told her “under his breath” that she “shouldn’t cause a scene and that there was nothing to be done.”

Crawford also wrote about how she’s a frequent traveler, and enjoys eating alone, especially at the bar. She explained, “I always eat at the bar, because I like it there. And so I don’t have to navigate a four-seater table solo. And since I’m 6ft tall, it feels good for long legs and better for my back after a long-haul flight.”

The real truth? Crawford wrote that “after further interrogation,” she discovered “that the owner had ordered a crackdown on hookers: the free-range escorts who roamed the Upper East Side, hunting prey in his establishment.” Basically, they didn’t want prostitutes sitting at the bar, so they decided to ban all women from sitting at the bar alone, just to be on the safe side.

When Crawford confronted the owner, she wrote, “He told me that he could run his business as he pleased, and that I was no longer welcome to eat at the bar, only at a table.”

And apparently this isn’t the first time it’s happened. When Crawford posted about it on her Instagram, one commenter wrote, “Yes had the same experience in Nello @clementineteniqua.”

Another user wrote that she had a similar experience at The Monkey Bar a few years ago, saying, “I arrived before my then boyfriend and the bartender treated me horribly. Once my BF showed up his tune changed quickly! I made it clear I wasn’t happy and we then left. I never went back again and never will. Is it even still open?” And on Twitter, users started furiously tweeting at and about the restaurant:

Are you the Nello that thinks women without a chaperone are prostitutes? You are sure this policy isn't illegal discrimination? You did consider the optics on social media when you choose this to discriminate against women?
— Professor* Harbinger (he/they) 🩷🤍💜🖤💙 (@profharbinger) January 18, 2019

Ummm...this is a big problem! Nello??? In case you didn’t know - women can afford their own drinks at a bar- we are not hookers waiting for a man to pay for us. Response? We’ve earned our seat at the table (or bar) in this situation. Ladies - let’s go elsewhere! #2019
— Hilary (@HilaryNY) January 18, 2019

#Nello in #nyc has decided that unaccompanied women must be hookers, and can no longer sit at the bar for a meal. #metoo Really?!?
— physsy (@146Wood) January 18, 2019

As Crawford wrote in her essay, this situation is proof that we still need so much change. She wrote, “All those years thinking I was welcome, part of the family, innocently enjoying my soup and glass of Barolo. But actually, there had always been a subtext: an unspoken conditionality attached to my presence. A sexism simmering under the table cloth that registered the sight of the unaccompanied woman, a woman deploying her own agency, claiming a space for herself, and footing the bill: astonishingly, this was, and is, all still culturally and socially provocative. It threatens established categories.” Other women felt similarly outraged: