A restaurant in Missouri is making headlines after it set a rather unusual age policy for its clientele — most under 30s won’t be allowed.
Bliss Restaurant in Florissant, Mo., near St. Louis, opened in May and has already garnered national attention for its age limitations. Owner Marvin Pate, 36, and assistant manager Erica Rhodes told KSDK that they intend on Bliss being an upscale destination in the suburban Missouri town for Caribbean cuisine — and that atmosphere won’t include men under 35 and women under 30.
“The restaurant is just something for the older people to come do, have a happy hour, come get some good food and not have to worry about some of the young folks who bring some of that drama,” Rhodes told the outlet.
According to KSDK, the restaurant’s hosts — or in some cases, a St. Louis County police officer — will be checking the IDs of those who look to be under the age requirement after 7 p.m. on Wednesdays through Sundays.
“Of course, we have been getting a little backlash because of our policy, but that’s okay, we’re sticking to our code,” Pate added.
Bliss management did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
In a recent Facebook post, the restaurant expanded on the reason why they decided to implement the policy.
“Recently, we have had incidents where our age requirement has been violated and put on social media,” read the post, shared on May 28. “To reiterate, Bliss Caribbean Restaurant requires all guests to be 30 or older for women and 35 or older for men. This policy is in place to ensure a mature, sophisticated, and safe dining environment for everyone.”
They experienced a flood of negative Yelp and Google reviews from those who disagreed with the policy — but satisfied customers have also been leaving glowing feedback on both for the food and the atmosphere.
According to Bliss’s chef Alex Dixon, all of the cooks are from Jamaica and the food and cocktails take much of its inspiration from Caribbean cuisine.
Rhodes added that the restaurant has no plans to change its rules anytime soon.
“I would tell those younger ones to come patronize the business once you turn 30 or 35 because we’re going to be here for a while,” she said.
