What ‘resort attire’ dress codes mean at different Hilton Head restaurants

Dining on Hilton Head Island?

You’ll want to ditch the hat and change out of those flip flops, but your shorts are just fine, say staff and managers at restaurants across the Island.

While dress codes for women in Washington and on the golf course have been facing some flack of late, Hilton Head restaurants have stuck with their requirements.

Hilton Head prides itself on being a tony island, a tasteful beach vacation destination for families across the country. Or, as some like to call it, “the anti-Myrtle Beach.”

With that in mind, restaurants all over the Island ask that customers “wear appropriate attire while dining,” usually referred to as “resort attire.”

But definitions of “resort casual attire” or “proper resort attire”, catchall phrases for what’s expected at upscale Hilton Head restaurants, are often vague, leave room for interpretation and vary from place to place.

At ELA’s Blue Water Grille the dress code calls for “casual resort attire,” according to John Yasem, whose family owns the fine dining restaurant.

Shorts and collarless shirts are fine, as long as they’re nice. But the biggest no-no’s go to wet swimsuits and hats, Yasem said.

“Presentable is what we’re really looking for,” he said. “Going to a restaurant like this is usually a big occasion for people, and we want them to feel like they got the experience they came here for.”

Many people dining at the restaurant are celebrating special occasions like a birthday or anniversary, and the dress code ensures that nothing takes away from their special night, Yasem said.

Despite the dress code, Yasem admits the restaurant is more lenient in the summer than other times of year.

“It’s a different clientele,” he said. “There’s a lot more families, so you just have to go with it sometimes.”

But don’t be fooled, getting turned away is still a possibility if you show up in violation of the codes.

“Sometimes we just have to,” Yasem said. “We’re not super up-tight... But people don’t want to be sitting next to a guy in a cut-off camouflage t-shirt.

“It’s a nice restaurant. People pay a lot of money to come here, and we want them to feel good about it.”

Both Yasem and Ben Williams, general manager of Poseidon, admit they have turned away customers because of what they were wearing.

Inside Poseidon, a sign stating the “resort casual” dress code is displayed prominently at the bottom of the staircase leading up to the Rooftop Bar.

At the rooftop, resort casual means no hats, no flips flops and a nice polo shirt. Shorts are allowed, Williams said.

“It just cleans things up a little bit,” Williams said. “This is a place where people come for an event — people spend time to get dressed up for the DJ’s and bands that we have — so we don’t want to have it ruined by someone just coming in off the beach.”

Unlike many restaurants on the Island, Sea Pines Resort defines the dress codes for its dining options right on its website.

At Quarterdeck, “casual resort” attire is required but appears to be less strict that other restaurants on the island.

According to the restaurant’s website, “We ask that ladies wear appropriate cover-ups over their swimsuits while dining at our restaurants and that gentlemen wear shirts. Footwear is required. No wet bathing suits, please.”

At Links, the dress code calls for “proper resort” attire.

As for “proper resort” attire, it does not include t-shirts, workout or swim apparel. Men’s hat are not permitted when dining inside, the website says.

The question is: Who is to say what makes an outfit appropriate? The restaurant? The individual?

Who knows.

But for now, I’d at least change out of your swim suit before going out to dinner on the Island.

This story was originally published July 29, 2017 at 6:57 PM with the headline "What ‘resort attire’ dress codes mean at different Hilton Head restaurants."