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Is Turkey Leg Hut's dress code 'racist'? Outrage over 'no sagging pants', no 'house attire'

The Black-owned Texas-based restaurant, well-known for its stuffed turkey legs, drew flak for the 'anti-Black' dress code

Houston-based restaurant Turkey Leg Hut has earned considerable flak on social media after they introduced a bizarre dress code for restaurant visitors. The restaurant management cited that the eatery was a family-friendly establishment, hence they demand customers wear more 'appropriate' clothing. "Please know that we are a family-friendly restaurant that serves all ages from children to adults daily and putting this dress code in place was necessary to ensure that all parties from our guests to our staff are dressed appropriately when in our establishment," they stated in an Instagram post. 

The restaurant modified its initial dress code slightly following the severe backlash. The former policy dictated that all body parts must be completely covered, including cleavage, thighs and buttocks. "The only thing naked here is Turkey Legs and Chicken Wings," they mentioned. The altered version of the 'dress code' removed this clause, but kept the other ones intact, including "no house attire" and "no distressed or ripped clothing". The new policy sparked a meme fest on Twitter as users started sharing photos of Victorian and conventual attires in tandem with the dress code. However, some users even went to the extent of terming the restaurant's dress code as 'racist'. 

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On June 25, a Twitter user posted a photo of herself in a crop top and jeggings, sharing that Turkey Leg Hut turned her away for inappropriate clothing. "Was denied entry into Turkey Leg Hut last night because my top showed “excessive cleavage,” she wrote.

Is Turkey Leg Hut dress code racist?

The Black-owned Texas-based restaurant is well-known for its stuffed turkey legs, along with other Southern comfort food - from chicken wings to seafood platters. However, their new dress code policy caught even regular customers off-guard. They complained about the long queues and how the elaborate dressing demands are too much for a small restaurant of their stature. A few users also felt that the dress code was giving out 'anti-Black' vibes. 

"Our own ppl be anti black . the line outside be wrapped around twice in texas heat . on top of that it’s just in 3RD WARD .. you called the “turkey leg hut” & in the middle of the hood & serve finger foods & u want a strict dress code ? BYEE," a user tweeted. 

Another wrote, "I have never been to the Turkey Leg Hut and never will be. How are you gonna be a BLACK establishment in the middle of a historically BLACK area of Houston with a hella Anti-Black, internalized racist af dress code policy for a joint that sells excessively smothered turkey legs?"

"Cause nothing says "class" like a joint called "Turkey Leg Hut"? They very much sound like they'd have to pay me to eat there. Seriously ... what in the actual racist fu**?!?" a third user tweeted.

Turkey Leg Hut dress code sparks meme fest

"Turkey Leg Hut explain to me how y’all sellin carnival food but want ppl to come dressed like they going to an Opera?" tweeted a user.

Another user complained, "I need y’all to understand that Turkey Leg Hut is 30% restaurant, and 70% parking lot. The lines are always long. Wait times can go to 3-4 hours. WHO the f*ck about to stand in 99 degree weather outside for hours in they Sunday best???"

Huffpost editor Philip Lewis shared a photo of Whoopi Goldberg as a nun from the movie 'Sister Act', tweeting, "Me placing an order at Turkey Leg Hut." Another user shared a photo of Elizabeth Moss from 'The Handmaid's Tale, accompanied with the tweet, "Blessed day. Would you be so kind as to accompany me to the Turkey Leg Hut? Under His eye…."