Black Couple Wearing Sneakers Get Booted From Atlanta Sushi Restaurant

An Atlanta couple were forced to leave a sushi restaurant due to a dress-code violation, despite other patrons in the establishment also being in violation of the dress rules.

The black couple argues that they were discriminated against and have video proof of the incident, Fox reports. The couple was asked to leave Umi Sushi before being seated and said they didn’t realize sneakers were against the dress code. Even though the Colberts were willing to respect the rule they said the frustration came when they observed another customer being served at the bar in gym shoes.

“As we were walking out though my husband noticed a woman at the bar had on tennis shoes and that’s when everything had gone out the window at that point because there are no rules here for some people, only for others,” she said.

“If you’re going to have rules they should apply to everyone and not just some people,” she added.

Kaylan Colbert recorded the entire incident from her phone and it soon went viral on Twitter.

“I had been there multiple times... We had probably been about four times and spent plenty of money there in the past so this is supposed to be like a high-end restaurant,” she said.

Kaylan argued that her husband had worn sneakers to the restaurant before and no prior problems arose. They arrived early to their ‪5:15 p.m. reservation, but never sat down for dinner.

FOX interviewed Farshid Arshid, the owner of Umi Sushi, over the phone. In defense, Arshid said the dress code is posted inside his establishment and on the restaurant website. However, he added that the dress code applies to all patrons including individuals sitting at the bar. Arshid added that he regrets the way the situation was handled.

“This was completely, 100%, an operational mistake on our end,” Umi Sushi owner Farshid Arshid said.

“When they got upset we should have investigated that,” Arshid added.

“We’ve seen this on the news over and over lately. Nobody wants to feel that way. Nobody wants to feel like they can’t go to certain places,” Colbert said.

The owner agrees and said things will be handled differently in the future.

Arshid said he contacted the Colberts to work things out. However, they did not guarantee their return to the restaurant.