Windy City Times received several letters in response to the article on alleged anti-gay harassment of customers at Cesar's restaurant. Some letters have been excerpted in the actual articles on the incidents. Two letters were from clients who say they were at the restaurant during one of the alleged incidents and they said the lesbian couple was at fault for being affectionate in public. Following is a letter sent apparently from Cesar's, but it was unsigned.
The isolated incident has shocked all of our employees, management and most importantly our valued customers. Cesar's restaurant has been a family-owned operation since 1991 and we have been successful for the last 12 years because we pride ourselves in serving quality food with good customer service, Cesar's has never discriminated against any of our valued customers because of their sexual orientation, race, or gender. Being a family restaurant, we are in the business to serve the public and for this reason we do not condone any type of promiscuous behavior between any of our patrons regardless of their sexual orientation. We believe in equality and respect between our patrons and employees and it is in our best interest to maintain a good relationship with a community such as the gay/lesbian. Being that not only do we cater individuals of this gender, many of our staff is in fact part of the same community. It is also important to mention that 80% of our customers belong to the gay/lesbian community and therefore they support 80% of our sales.
This letter was written in order to clarify and further prevent more situations like the one that occurred on Aug. 31, 2003. Our intentions were never intended to make these individuals feel uncomfortable or insulted, but unfortunately that is how the rest of our clientele felt then with their inappropriate behavior. If it had been a 'small kiss on the cheek,' or 'putting an arm around her,' like this couple stated in the article, we would not [have had] a problem. We understand this because we see it pretty much every day within our gay/lesbian or straight couples that come here to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, or any special occasion, where they show their affection with a kiss or a hug and we do not have a problem with it.
Unfortunately, the behavior that this couple showed that night went beyond our standards, perhaps because of the tolerance in consuming a little too much alcohol or liquor on their part. Therefore we had to take action of this matter immediately due to a complaint given from a table sitting near them. This table also stated that this couple was behaving not too respectful of each other, making them feel uncomfortable, and asked us to please do something. Subsequently, we asked the couple to please behave and have a little respect for the people and families present at that time, otherwise they will have to leave ... . Totally ignoring the staff and giving bad attitude toward the staff, we were forced to [ask] them to please leave. ... We would like to point out that considering the fact that we are also part of a minority group, and have faced discrimination, we would never condone or allow this treatment towards anyone.
Having a family atmosphere means that we will go out of our way to make sure that everyone feels at home and more than anything that they feel comfortable. Furthermore, we would like to thank our gay/lesbian patrons or the past 12 years of loyalty to Cesar's Mexican Restaurant.