CHICAGO — A black man who said he was turned away from a Wicker Park bar said he's looking forward to sitting down with the bar's owner and talking about training for the staff.
Josh Brown, the owner of the bar, Swig, denied that Will Lyles wasn't admitted to the bar because of his race, but said he fired the bouncer who kept Lyles from entering. Brown has apologized for the Saturday night incident, which he called a "misunderstanding."
Lyles said he saw Brown's apology, which was sent in a private message on Facebook. The two are hoping to meet for a "sit-down," and Lyles wants to discuss what happened and training for the bar's employees and new hires.
"As far as him trying to rectify things, not just because of bad publicity but just because him as a human being, he wants me to understand that it was not his intentions ... he doesn't want that to represent him," Lyles said.
Brown was not working near the door where the incident occurred and found out about it Sunday when he woke up and read Lyles' account of being turned away in a Google review.
Lyles and David Teeghman, of East Garfield Park, were out with a third friend on Saturday night when they decided to stop by Swig, 1469 N. Milwaukee Ave. They were at the door when a bouncer told Lyles, who is black, he couldn't come in because he was wearing a white T-shirt, violating the bar's dress code, the two said.
Lyles was kept out even after pointing out white patrons with white T-shirts already in the bar, Lyles and Teeghman said. Swig does not have a dress code posted on its website or Facebook page, and the friends said they did not see one outside the bar.
"This is the first time for me," Lyles said of the bar's actions. "It just felt like I was subhuman or something like that."
Brown said that after reading Lyles' Google Review, "I immediately took screenshots and texted my doorman. He said it was a white tank top [that Lyles wore]. To us, it's an undershirt."
Lyles said he was wearing a white V-neck shirt — not a tank top — and others inside the bar wore similar clothing.
Brown, who has owned Swig since 2006, when he took over the former Ginbucks, emphasized the bar attracts a diverse crowd. He also said the bar has employed black bartenders, bouncers, DJs and a kitchen manager.
"I don't advocate for racism in any form," Brown said.
On Saturday, Lyles said he saw a man in a white shirt get into the bar before the three friends got to the door. And when the bouncer stopped Lyles, a friend of his pointed to white men in the bar and told the bouncer, "That guy's wearing a white T-shirt. That guy's wearing a white T-shirt," Teeghman said.
The bouncer told the three those men had been allowed in before he started working, Teeghman and Lyles said. When Lyles asked to speak to a manager, the bouncer ignored him, Lyles said.
"This was just an arbitrary dress code that was being enforced because Will was black," Teeghman said. "The policy is in place to discourage ... black men from going into these establishments."
The three left without getting in to Swig, Teeghman said, and they were "pretty upset." Lyles said he has never before experienced a problem with a bar, and no other bar they visited that night had problems with his shirt.
There was at least one black patron at the bar the night the men were turned away, according to a person who was at the bar at the time. On Tuesday night, when a reporter stopped by twice, there were about a dozen people in the bar, and the crowd included people who were black, Asian, Latino and white.
Brown told DNAinfo that Saturday was the bouncer's first night on the job and he wishes the bouncer had notified him before turning Lyles away.
Brown will create a formal dress code and post it on the bar's door, he said.
"No tank tops, no pajama pants, no socks with slippers," he said.
Brown said he does not want anyone to feel uncomfortable in his bar, especially during this climate where "the alt-right is contributing to racial tensions."
