Jersey City bar applied no-joggers dress code based on race, customer says

A Jersey City restaurant insists that it is "anti-racist" after a Black man said his group was told to eat outside because they did not meet the dress code only to see a group of white people wearing similar outfits walk inside.

Charles “CJ” Pace, a self described YouTuber, influencer and model,  told The Jersey Journal he went to The Ashford on Saturday for lunch and was told that joggers were not acceptable attire. The group then noticed a group of white people wearing the sporty fashion welcomed indoors.

Pace took video, which he posted to his Twitter account.

"Being black in America is being told you can’t come inside of an establishment because you have on sweatpants but you can sit outside, and as you sit outside you watch white people walk smoothly inside with sweatpants and hats to the back. Don't support The Ashford in Jersey City NJ," he said on Twitter.

According to Pace, the restaurant worker's response was "I hope you don’t think pointing this out is gonna get you guys inside."

A manager offered them free shots and then laughed with the guard, according to Pace.

"Our bill was over $300. Y’all think we paid for that s**t? LMAO... we kindly asked the waitress (who was sweet) for her cash app, sent her $100 directly and DIPPED. She wasn’t even mad...f**k that and f**k this establishment."

"Dipped" is the practice of leaving without paying.

The Ashford and Svx26 "has a multi-racial ownership group, employs a multi-racial team and services a multi-racial community. We are ANTI-RACIST," the restaurant wrote on its Instagram account "We will take action internally to ensure every team member meets this standard everyday."

Comments on the post were shut off.

A message on the restaurant's main phone line did not allow a message to be left on Wednesday.

NAACP New Jersey State Conference First Vice President Bruce Morgan told New Jersey 101.5 the group had not been formally told about the incident and he only knew about it through media coverage.

Kenneth Caufield, a co-owner of The Ashford, told NJ.com in 2019 that a dress code sign that prohibited things like oversize jewelry and headgear was an "oversight" after some criticized it as racist.

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Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ