Staff Throw Pregnant Woman Out of Steakhouse, the Reason Has Internet Up in Arms

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Mom-to-be Charisa Raylee Gobin got an unexpected shock on a family night out with her mom and sister. On her way into a Washington state restaurant, a waitress refused to serve her. The expectant mom later posted the reason online, and the internet went mad.

Gobin told KIRO-TV that she drove to Buzz Inn Steakhouse in Marysville, Washington, for dinner. Pregnant with twins, and with only six weeks to go before their due date, 35-year-old Gobin was looking forward to a relaxing meal with her mother and sister. Little did she know that her wardrobe choice that day was about to change everything.

Gobin wore a black crop top printed with the word “weirdo” and a long white skirt. She wore her baby bump bare and proud. But the comfortable, confident mom had barely stepped into the restaurant before she was pounced on by wait staff.

A waitress apprehended Gobin and explained that she had violated the restaurant’s “no shoes, no shirt, no service” policy. “The waitress/bartender stopped us and said, ‘I’m sorry, you can’t be here in that shirt,’” an outraged Gobin later explained. “I said, ‘Are you being serious with me right now?’ And she said, ‘Yep, you can’t be here,’” she continued.

Gobin concluded that she was turned away “just because my belly was bigger and sticking out.” Had she not been pregnant, she speculated, her outfit choice wouldn’t have been an issue.

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The livid mom didn’t stick around to hear an explanation from the restaurant. “There was no way I was going to stay there,” she said.

After her shocking dismissal at the steakhouse, Gobin and her family ate elsewhere. But armed with indignation, she later posted a selfie from the parking lot with an account of her ordeal.

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“I was just denied service at the Buzz Inn on State Avenue in Marysville for my outfit,” she wrote, in a now-deleted post on Facebook quoted by NTD. “I’m ‘violating the health code.’”

Hundreds of people jumped to Gobin’s defense. Comments flooded in, shaming the restaurant and its staff for their close-minded attitude toward the pregnant woman’s wardrobe choice. Gobin was comforted by the support. “Everybody pretty much agrees,” she said; “I wasn’t out of bounds or out of line in any way.”

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One commenter even clocked that the temperature had hit 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) in Marysville that day. “Do they know how hot it is outside and how pregnant you are?” they wrote, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

Buzz Inn Steakhouse, quickly catching wind of the flurry of online disapproval, posted a public apology on Facebook. “We sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding,” they wrote. “The server in question has been with our company and a great employee for almost 20 years, and was trying to use her best judgement.”

“By no means was [she] trying to be demeaning to the guest.”

Gobin admitted that she had felt like she was body-shamed. “I was wearing a shirt,“ she said. ”It had sleeves. I didn’t even have cleavage showing.” Gobin and her family, stunned but by now famished, drove across town to eat.

The heavily pregnant mom and her proudly displayed baby bump didn’t have any problems getting served at the next restaurant.