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Title: Man with face tattoos booted from Bombshells breastaurant
Source:
Houston Chronicle
URL Source: http://www.chron.com/life/article/P ... ston-6124083.php#photo-7107074
Published: Mar 9, 2015
Author: Craig Hlavaty
Post Date: 2015-03-13 11:28:25 by Willie Green
Keywords: None
Views: 2393
Comments: 17
A Houston "breastaurant" had to shut down its Facebook page after receiving a diluge of complaints from users upset that it kicked out a patron with face tattoos. Erik Leighton says that he and a friend were escorted out of a Houston-area bar because he has tattoos on his face, with the business citing concerns about gang activity in the area. Bombshells opened its third Houston-area sports bar late last year. It’s known for waitresses in skimpy attire with an old-school pin-up feel, drawing comparisons to Twin Peaks, which itself has proven wildly popular in the Houston market. SEENSTERS: See who was spotted at Houston's Tattoo Extravaganza Leighton, a 27-year-old chemical plant worker and Pasadena resident went to the Bombshells near Fuqua on Saturday night after seeing Alan Jackson hours earlier at RodeoHouston (see review and photos). He and a friend Chad Moss, 22, entered the bar sometime around 9 p.m. Leighton says. He had been there a few times before and was never told to leave because of his facial tattoos until Saturday evening. He says that a police officer walked up to the table that he and Moss were sitting at and said that he needed to escort them out of the bar. At the other Bombshells locations, including the one down Gulf Freeway in Webster, he says he has always been welcomed even with the tattoos on his face. Leighton has tattoo pieces under his right eye, above his left eye, and one just below his lips, above his beard. He also has visible tattoos on his neck, hands, fingers, arms, and around his head. He’s pretty well covered for the most part. Moss does not have tattoos on his face. RELATED: People show off their face tattoos “I don’t think I should have been asked to leave, regardless, especially escorted out by a police officer,” says Leighton. He wishes a manager would have explained it to him in person instead of a police officer. He isn’t sure what department the officer was with. “He told us that the bar didn’t allow face tattoos,” says Leighton. He adds that he and Moss had not been drinking that night. “We didn’t want to buy $10 beers at the rodeo,” he says. A general manager at this particular Bombshells declined to speak with the Houston Chronicle over the phone on Monday afternoon. Messages have been left with its corporate office. The chain is owned by RCI Hospitality Holdings, which also owns Houston-based Rick’s Cabaret. After the incident Saturday evening Leighton did take to Facebook to complain and vent about the incident. People that didn’t even know Leighton or Moss began to inundate the bar’s Facebook page with complaints and support for the pair. The bar soon deleted the page and only the pages for the other locations remain on Facebook. A member of the staff at the bar sent him a lengthy reply on Facebook telling him that they were sorry that he was offended by their policy. They did note that, according to them, most face tattoos are gang-related and that the area has had gang activity which sometimes leads to incidents at the bar. (RELATED: Houston gang tattoos) The staff member even offered to meet with Leighton at the Bombshells in Webster to chat. They also apologized for any embarrassment he felt on Saturday. They did stress that this location is a special case and they didn’t want gangs to “overtake” the establishment. They are not in business to alienate potential guests, they wrote, and were looking at evaluating its practices and policies. Leighton is an Idaho native who moved to the Houston area three years ago. He currently works at a chemical plant in Seabrook. He previously spent time as an apprentice piercer at a tattoo shop but says he decided to pursue something steadier once he moved to the Bayou City. He’s noticed that staff at some bars he has visited with friends have been more apt to allow people with facial tattoos inside during slower hours as opposed to busier times. When he arrived at Bombshell’s Saturday he says it looked to be a typical weekend night crowd. RELATED: Celebrities who have had tattoos removed “I know what I did by getting myself tattooed on my face and neck. It’s a lifestyle choice. But I work at a plant and they hired me and they took a chance on me,” he says. He’s been at the same plant for about year, he said. “I understand I look different and that I took things to a whole level by getting these tattoos,” he adds. Meanwhile he says that he’s really only been hassled about his artwork at bars in the Clear Lake area south of Houston. “We went to Midtown bars in Houston and didn’t have any issues,” says Leighton. Leighton admits he was a little hot when he initially told his friends about what happened on his Facebook page. "I'm not really upset now; I'm more or less trying to get the policy changed and bring attention to the problem," Leighton says.
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#1. To: Willie Green (#0)
Not that I really care - but is a 'breastaurant' like a 'Hooters'? Just asking.
Yep! Success breeds stiff competition.
It is not a constitutional right to eat in a privately owned business. It should be a constitutional right to pick and choose who you will cater to. Capitalism is the tattoo mans only defense. Can enough people feel sorry for him that it harms the business owners business? That's how we create change... not by legislating it.
Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on. Robert Kennedy
No shirt, no shoes, face tattoos, no service. How is it that everyone's fine with the first two, but not the third?
You can make something of a case against shirtless or shoeless in a restaurant based on hygiene.
The first point is the restaurant/bar is a PRIVATE business,and they have the RIGHT,despite what the fascists that run our government now claim,to refuse service to ANYONE for ANY reason. Secondly,WTH wants customers hanging out in their place of business that sports prison and gang tattoos on their faces? Who even wants to patronize such a place,when because of people like that there is a high likelihood of gang shootings happening there? The owner has a right to protect is investment and business interest,and he or she even has an obligation to TRY to provide their customers with a reasonable level of protection. And before anybody starts whining about "the rights of the discriminated",keep in mind that I had long hair and a beard and was riding homebuilt Harley's around the country at a time when not only was it common for motels to refuse to rent rooms to scooter trash,but even a lot of Harley dealers didn't want you in their businesses buying parts. I never bitched about this one because I agreed they have a RIGHT to pick and choose their customers.
Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)
In a free society all social and economic interactions occur only on the basis of mutual agreement between participating parties.
Decades ago I went to have lunch with the topless
Sounds like a gay bar.
You could ping Meguro and see if he's ever been to Houston, he would know.
“Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rapidly promoted by mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.”
That's reason enough to throw him out, right there.
Gay bars don't usually advertise scantily clad, buxom bimbos as waitresses. I'm sure there must be a gay bar around here somewhere, but I don't know where...
We have a local tavern that's been in existence, in name, since the 1950s. The first one burned down before my time and I visit the current one on occasion. It's name - Rainbow Tavern...we call it the gay bar although it isn't.
"Rainbow" seems to be an incongruous and inappropriate name for a tavern, even if the gays hadn't coopted the innocent terminology.
We also have a Wet Willie's tavern, formerly know as the Tri-Village tavern. Are you the new owner? Some folks joke about going to Wet Willie's to get their willies wet.
No...
Man with face tattoos booted from Bombshells breastaurant
Good!
#2. To: Willie Green, rlk (#0)
- 'breastaurant' -
#3. To: Chuck_Wagon (#2)
Closest one we got near home is a sports-bar called "Sportin' Woodies"... not exactly subtle, is it?
#4. To: Willie Green (#0)
A Houston "breastaurant" had to shut down its Facebook page after receiving a diluge of complaints from users upset that it kicked out a patron with face ta
#5. To: Willie Green (#0)
#6. To: misterwhite (#5)
No shirt, no shoes, face tattoos, no service.
#7. To: Willie Green (#0)
Erik Leighton says that he and a friend were escorted out of a Houston-area bar because he has tattoos on his face, with the business citing concerns about gang activity in the area.
#8. To: GrandIsland (#4)
#9. To: Willie Green (#3)
...subtle...
'Hot Dog Girls' on the Tampa, St. Petersburg
causeway in Florida. I was on a business trip
down there, and my co-workers insisted.
Nothing very subtle about those Ta-Tas! LOL!
#10. To: Willie Green (#3)
Closest one we got near home is a sports-bar called "Sportin' Woodies".
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts
#11. To: Deckard (#10)
#12. To: Willie Green (#0)
after seeing Alan Jackson hours earlier at RodeoHouston
#13. To: Deckard (#10)
Sounds like a gay bar.
I think they must keep a pretty low profile around here in Houston.
But I don't have much interest in gay social life (LOL!), so unless I see a big neon flashing sign outside saying "Gay Bar Here" when I drive past, it would probably be missing from my radar screen anyway.
#14. To: Willie Green (#13)
#15. To: Fred Mertz (#14)
#16. To: Willie Green (#15)
(Edited)
#17. To: Fred Mertz (#16)
Are you the new owner?
My grandfather was a beer distributor and delivered beer to all the local taverns in town...
THAT wouldn't be a bad business to get into, especially since you can have pretty normal business owners...
But I wouldn't want to actually own one of the taverns, and have to deal with a bunch of late-night rowdy drunks... too much hassle & dangerous... not as much "fun" as many heavy drinkers think it is.
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