Age, dress code enforced at two local restaurants to maintain ‘mature’ crowd

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Two restaurants across the St. Louis area are getting unconventional with rules to enter their establishments.

Typically the age to enter your first bar is 21, but a restaurant in north St. Louis County is making you wait even longer to dine.

Bliss Restaurant owner Marvin Pate says his strict 30 and up policy for women and 35 and up for men to dine is a way to create safe spaces for mature crowds.

“Grow up. You’re going to get your time,” said Pate. “Where people can actually sit down and have a good time without having any younger people around to throw the vibe off.”

Pate’s rules have gained national attention. He says all he wanted to do was create a safe dining experience for mature adults. Customers who look younger than 30 must show their ID to the Bliss hostess or a St. Louis County police officer after 7 p.m. Pate says as a result, Bliss has become popular among customers for its grown and sophisticated space. Much like Beyond Sweet, located in St. Louis City.

“They are teaching people how to dress up when you want to come dine for dinner, and come naturally fitted like you should come,” said Pate.

“Unfortunately we have to turn people away due to dress code,” said Beyond Sweet’s owner Dallas Holland. “Definitely want the mature crowd. We want it to be your place, we just want you to dress the part. We want everybody to come in and feel comfortable.”

Holland says Beyond Sweet’s dress code is upscale casual. No tanks, no flip flops and no explicit language on clothes. If you’re in violation, Holland says they’ll refuse to seat you.

“When you allow certain dress codes, it asks for a different type of person and we’re just trying to avoid that type of crowd,” said Holland.

Pate and Holland hope other restaurants establish restrictions like theirs. They say it’s not to exclude anyone – it’s to control who and what enters their businesses.

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