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Zachary’s Daiquiris, a newly opened hot spot in Charleston, South Carolina, drew a crowd over the weekend as patrons lined up to try its highly anticipated menu. However, the establishment is now going viral over its dress code, which some say the rules unfairly target Black customers.
The situation is getting heightened attention because owners Leva Bonaparte and Lamar Bonaparte appear on Bravo’s Southern Charm and Southern Hospitality, with Leva starring on both.
According to Eater Carolinas, the issue was first addressed on TikTok by user Sarah Baus (@sarahebaus), who revealed that she and friends had attended the opening night of Zachary’s Daiquiris and ordered a second round of drinks as the bar was about to open to the public around 8 p.m.
Baus said she was excited about the event and was just about to share a post to promote the business when she witnessed the bouncer walking down a line of patrons, enforcing a dress code before they could enter.
“She stops next to the one group of Black men, stops next to them — doesn’t look at them but stops next to them; that’s where she makes the announcement, ‘no Jordans, no ripped jeans, no athletic pants,’ describing this group of men, not no athletic shoes, not no sneakers, Jordans,” Baus said in the over four-minute video.
Baus described the shocking look on her and her friends’ faces as they watched the bouncer allegedly racially profile the Black men. She said the men left with half of the line going with them and vowed not to support a business that treats Black customers that way.
After the incident, Baus, her friends and her husband left. She said he spoke to the bouncer about the situation and noted that many other customers had also gone in response. The bouncer said the decision came from upper management, and she had no control over it.
The bar posted its dress code after 8 p.m. on Instagram on March 1. According to the rules, the following are not permitted: “athletic wear, gym attire, ripped/frayed/patched jeans, jersey, graphic tee, tank tops, hoodies, Crocs/slides,” according to Eater Carolinas.
It remains unclear if the establishment enforced the dress code before opening to the public. According to the outlet, past reports indicate that the website did not include it leading up to its opening night.
Baus said her group had gone to another restaurant and continued discussing what happened at the bar. She went online to look at reviews when she noticed one of the Black men in the group had left a comment recounting his experience.
“After standing in line outside in the cold 30 minutes was told there’s now a dress code & I can’t enter with Jordan’s on after watching multiple Caucasians walk in with JORDANS ON! Was told sorry they just informed me about it” as if that is any excuse also nothing on their website states a dress code very unprofessional & I was actually promoting this business a lot just to be disappointed & turned around for a pair of shoes! I will not be returning obviously their looking for a certain crowd of the same color & I don’t fit,” Shamauri Gilliard wrote in a review shared in a screenshot included in Baus’s TikTok video.
Representatives for Zachary’s Daiquiris did not respond to Blavity’s email for comment on Wednesday.
However, Lamar Bonaparte responded to the social media backlash in a post shared on Zachary’s Daiquiris’ Instagram account later in the day.
“In the past few days, I have been asked to make a statement, apologize, and address outlandish allegations about my business on social media-allegations that are not only entirely false, but extremely harmful and discriminatory,” Lamar wrote in part in the caption.
He continued in the post, “I am a person that has experienced racism and acts of discrimination firsthand. This is a real F—K YOU moment. What saddens me the most about seeing these untruthful posts is the irony of it, the deepest and most dangerous form of racism.”
Lamar doubled down, stating he nor the establishment had done any wrongdoing and suggested that people shouldn’t visit if they do not like how they conduct their business.
“And no, this isn’t an apology because we did nothing wrong. We have a dress code and it’s enforced AFTER 8PM. If you don’t like the way we do business, DON’T COME,” he said.
A similar message from Lamar was shared on Bravo – Vs – Everybody’s Instagram account.
In what appears to be a now-deleted post from her TikTok account that was reposted by another page, Leva (who is of Persian descent) said, “The fact that you emailed a Black-owned business and expected my Black husband to explain to you that he’s not racist is the deepest form of racism. It is the deepest form of privilege that your 27-year-old mind cannot comprehend. Catch you on the other side, homegirl. Keep it up.”
In their social media posts, Leva and Lamar have both implied that they have issues with a non-Black person speaking out about racism against Black people.
@the.christina_chronicles Sorry for the multiple parts- Leva’s crash out 3rd and Final Part over the backlash of her business Zach’s Daiqs Who: Leva, business owner Charleston, SC and reality tv cast member on Bravo (Southern Charm + Southern Hospitality) opened a new business in Charleston called zach’s daiqs and did a party on opening day with influences in attendance. Sarah Baus shared her experience on tiktok. she witnessed a bouncer tell the line of waiting customers that there was a new dress code being enforced starting at 8pm. For Sarah’s full explanation of what happened visit her tiktok, search: Sarah Baus.
Leva also reshared a post from Bravo – Vs – Everybody’s account on her Instagram Stories and on TikTok, in which she alleged that Baus was lying about what happened at the establishment and that she also went viral over an incident with Panera Bread.
Despite the reactions and responses from Leva, Lamar and the restaurant, Baus took to TikTok to post another video saying she had no reason to lie. In the caption, she wrote, “Call me a liar, but no one can say I sat back and did nothing.”
@sarahebaus Call me a liar, but no one can say I sat back and did nothing. Excited to continue to promote kind and ethical businesses in the future ❤️
She said in the video, “Black people have had these experiences invalidated for them for ages. I just didn’t expect that to be the response. I was really hoping for a response on how they don’t stand for this type of behavior. … Not just deleting our reviews and deleting the review of the original guy this happened to. … Blocking people who disagree with them. I did not expect that type of response and just calling me a liar when we’ve shown you the reviews.”
The establishment has two types of customer review experiences on Google and Yelp. Google mostly has positive and raving reviews. However, several people have accused the venue on social media of deleting the initial negative reviews and creating a new page with only positive reviews and 5-star ratings.
Many negative Google reviews are circulating on Reddit but are no longer on the page.
Leva/Lamar’s new place “Zachary Daiquiris” cancelled on the first day
byu/Turbulent_Cobbler463 insouthernhospitalitysc
In contrast, Yelp has a diverse lineup of customers leaving their responses, calling out Zachary’s Daiquiris for being racist toward Black customers. The company has also flagged the website, monitoring submitted reviews for the bar.
“This business recently received increased public attention resulting in an influx of people posting their views to this page, so we have temporarily disabled the ability to post here as we work to investigate the content,” Yelp said in a pop-up statement on the website.
The Bonapartes’ Republic Hospitality, the management group that owns several nightclubs, restaurants and bars along King Street in downtown Charleston, also owns Zachary’s Daiquiris.
As Eater Carolinas reported, it is named for Republic Hospitality employee Zachary Elliott, who said the renowned Wet Willies inspired him to create the concept of the establishment. He was also a Make-A-Wish recipient as a child who had a rare form of bone cancer and the establishment gives a percentage of its proceeds to Make-A-Wish South Carolina.
The menu includes paninis, dips and spreads, salads, flatbreads and sample platters. In addition to beer and wine, there is an extensive list of the eatery’s famous daiquiris, with most of them named after historic Charleston landmarks.
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