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Ruth's Chris Puts Stake Through the Heart of Classless Culture

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  May 08, 2026 12:30 PM

At the end of March, high-end steakhouse chain Ruth's Chris announced a dress code change that would bar diners who weren't appropriately attired. It was a welcome turn to social expectations of decorum, and it appears the restaurant is determined to enforce the dress code, even if it ticks off some people.

That happened recently, when a Bay Area birthday party wasn't seated because some family members weren't wearing appropriate clothing.

Here's more (emphasis added):

A family with plans to celebrate a birthday was barred from a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in the Bay Area this week after they said staff discriminated against them over the restaurant’s dress code.

TikTok creator Against All Odds, who has 1.3 million followers on the account, said the popular steakhouse location “discriminates and chooses who & when they want to enforce ‘policy,'” after her 13-year-old son and 6 other people were turned away due to an alleged dress code violation.

The creator claimed the restaurant enforced its policy inconsistently, noting her sister was turned away for wearing a tracksuit — despite previously wearing one there without issue.

In a video captioned “Ruth Chris Walnut Creek Ruined My Sons 13th Birthday Dinner,” the creator argues with an employee at the Ruth’s Chris establishment, telling her to put “tracksuit” on the business’s dress code posting.

“The verbiage doesn’t specifically say tracksuit, I could make one and put the word tracksuit right here,” the employee said. The sign says it prohibits baseball caps, gym/athletic wear, tank tops, clothing with offensive language, revealing clothing, clothing with exposed undergarments, and pool attire.

“You should, cause it doesn’t say that right here,” the creator argued.

The employee went on to explain that they don’t need to go into detail on why the specific wording doesn’t say tracksuit.

Tracksuits are gym/athletic wear, and I will die on that hill. The policy does not need to list every single example of unacceptable attire to appease some content creator. Just in the same way, I believe that a baker can decline to make a cake for a gay wedding, a restaurant should be able to deny service to people for any reason.

That's their right, and the only person they're hurting, ultimately, is themselves. If they decline to serve too many people or demographics, they'll lose money and go out of business. No one is harmed by being denied seating at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. There is no right to ribeye.

Additionally, the restaurant did reportedly offer to seat some of the party in the bar area, but the family declined because they didn't want to be split up.

Eating at Ruth's Chris isn't cheap, which is why I also scoff at the idea of celebrating a 13-year-old's birthday there. But it's not my money, so they can celebrate how they want. My youngest will be 13 in a little over a week, and he'll get chicken from his favorite place. I can't help but think there's a massive sense of entitlement behind this story, too.

The average price for a steak at the location here in Middleton, WI, is $50 without sides. When I am going to drop $400 on a meal for my family, I want to dress nicely and be surrounded by similarly dressed people. How you dress changes how you behave, and I do not want my dinner disrupted.

This is not discrimination. The dress code is enforced for all diners, and anyone wearing a tracksuit will be denied seating. The only people who ruined this dinner are the family members who refused to dress appropriately. I am so tired of having a society that caters to the lowest common denominator, whether on dress code, education, or the thin-skinned who are offended by everything. And, judging from the comments, I'm not alone.

Hopefully, the tide on classless culture is turning, and Ruth's Chris is leading the way.