"Do you need something?"…read more
I walked in on a Tuesday, just before the dinner rush. There were a few customers there already, some sitting at the bar, others placing to-go orders, and some scattered tables. In evaluating the relaxed pace of the two young ladies behind the bar and one the floor, this was not their busy time.
I sat at the bar, looking at their beer menu on the wall and compared to their online descriptions, trying to decide what I'd like to try. Several minutes passed without acknowledgment from either staff members.
No napkin, no "I'll be with you in a sec!" that's typical of any establishment. I am not inexperienced with restaurant operations; this was uncomfortably unusual behavior.
As if I wasn't welcome there for some reason.
Finally, after enough time had passed to where I was contemplating just leaving, one of them finally looked at me while she was walking by and uttered that phrase.
I was so caught off-guard that I stammered while asking for a flight. I picked the four that interested me, she poured them, then left. No engagement, no conversation about the beers, nothing typical of a brewery proud of its product.
The attitude reminded me of another metro Detroit brewery's snobbish standoffishness. Like how they're xenophobic about anyone who isn't a regular but how does one become a regular if they don't welcome you in the first place?
After other customers came in, sat near me at the bar, were obviously also first-timers, immediately welcomed with menus and told of the dinner specials, that's when I knew.
I was not welcome there. And the only reason I can surmise is my appearance. My behavior wasn't it (and I'm familiar enough with reactions to Internet reviews that are atypical to immediately blame the reviewer instead of considering uncomfortable possibilities).
I was received brusquely, not offered a food menu, and only got one check-in -- again, unusual behavior for a brewery and I've been to countless ones around the country.
It struck me that my last experience with implicit bias was also in the Traverse City region. I hated to admit the possibility but the anecdotal evidence was clear.
I imagine that if I'd been a White man in a collared shirt and chinos, my experience may have been different. Obviously, I can't prove it and if there's an owner response to this review, it'll be full of cliches about how this isn't who or what they are, etc.
The establishments in downtown are far more welcoming, so it was a relief when my fellow conference attendees mercifully texted me to say where they were going for dinner. I paid my bill with a modicum of a tip and resolved to strike Stone Hound from my list.
For the rest of my business trip, I spread my money instead to places that didn't treat me like an unwanted outsider. Plenty of them in TC, including another brewery in town.
