Restaurant Shirts Are the New Concert Tee
A few weeks ago, I was flying home from a food work-cation in New Orleans and Joan Jett was on my plane. I have to admit it was kind of exciting. I remember seeing Jett open for Aerosmith when I was in junior high—a pretty awesome concert from what I remember—and naturally I bought an Aerosmith shirt and wore it proudly to school the next day. It cost somewhere between $15 and $20 but was a required souvenir, mostly to ensure that everyone at Southwood Middle School knew I had seen Aerosmith and Joan Jett the night before. Walking through the halls, others were sporting the same shirt and we all felt a kinship, sometimes solidified with a nod or smile. We thought we were all part of the same cool crowd.
I still go to concerts but rarely buy the shirts anymore. I'd like to claim I've outgrown this, but in all honesty, the obsession remains—only now restaurant shirts have replaced the concert tee.
Of course collecting restaurant fashion is not a new phenomenon. There was a brief period in 1989 when I, along with many others in this great country, flirted with the idea of collecting Hard Rock Cafe shirts from every city. This faded pretty quickly (though clearly not for everyone) in conjunction with my realization that Hard Rock Cafe sucked.
My collection is small right now:
- A shirt from Rue de la Course, a coffee shop in New Orleans, which was my favorite for a while.
- That was replaced a year later when Cochon opened in the same city and designed some.
- Right now my favorite is Au Pied de Cochon, a Montreal restaurant mecca for pork lovers (and clearly I like shirts with pigs on them).
Rules keep me from expanding the collection too much. For example, I think it's weird to wear a restaurant shirt in the restaurant's hometown. Not sure why that is, but it probably stems from my 13-year old urge to avoid wearing a Guns N' Roses shirt to a Guns N' Roses concert. If I ever decide to leave New York, I'll probably pick up a few shirts on my way out. Among them: Sullivan Street Bakery, our Momofukin' Full shirt (unless they start selling real ones), and naturally, a Spotted Pig shirt.
Just as Aerosmith replaced Motley Crue as my favorite shirt in 1989, I'm sure Au Pied de Cochon will be replaced soon enough. But for now it's my favorite. Come to think of it, I wore it on that plane ride home. Do you think Joan Jett noticed?
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33 Comments:
The simple answer to that statement is, "no".
worldcupfever at 2:43PM on 09/05/08
The top two shirts look the coolest!
Yeah, I agree about wearing the shirt around near the restaurant, like your analogy of coming to a concert with the band's tshirt. You don't want to be "that guy" (or girl)...well, unless you bought the shirt at the concert, then you almost have no choice but to wear it or risk losing it.
I'm almost 40 and still buy concert shirts when I go (Gogol Bordello, RevCo, Bauhaus, etc.). I haven't outgrown that yet. *sheepish smile*
I haven't been to a restaurant that has a cool enough shirt I'd be bothered to wear. Most have been unimaginative, or if they were interesting, they were printed on white (come on!!) shirts. Glad you were able to procure some really cool looking ones.
Cassaendra at 3:26PM on 09/05/08
Sadly, having eaten at Au Pied de Cochon one too many times, I can no longer fit into one of their tees. APdC sells another shirt with a picture of a pot full of boiled pigs heads. I've yet to meet anyone brave enough to wear it.
rcianci at 4:07PM on 09/05/08
heh - if i see another "marlow & sons" tote bag... well, i guess i wouldn't mind b/c they're nice, and not THAT ubiquitous just yet.
j at 4:30PM on 09/05/08
I've seen a lot of restaurant shirts lately, but hadn't put the thought together in my head. Guess it makes sense, it's definitely a culture. And I do understand what you're saying, it goes back to PCU. Don't be that guy. Don't be the guy at the show that wears the t-shirt of the band that's playing. It's hard to pinpoint the lameness, but it's definitely there.
My friends and I have a fake restaurant that we'll never actually start, but we already have the t-shirts drawn up for it, logos and everything. Guess we're ahead of the curve.
DeepFriedWonder at 4:31PM on 09/05/08
The Spotted PIg shirts that Bourdain sported on a recent No Reservations were pretty ugly.
For me, the classic New York restaurant/food t is a toss-up between Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, Wo Hop and Sammy's Roumanian.
youthlarge at 5:16PM on 09/05/08
Although it's akin to ordering your 'concert' shirt from the back of Rolling Stone, if you're interested in restaurant shirts from the west coast and hawaii, check out Seattle's DesTeeNation
daryn at 7:23PM on 09/05/08
This post is brilliant. Your headline alone sums up such a universal truth. I haven't thought of buying a concert t-shirt in like 10 years, but every cool restaurant I go to I'm tempted by the shirts.
So Good at 8:00PM on 09/05/08
the only restaurant shirt i have is cafe du monde from new orleans. mmm coffee and beignets....
megannesta at 8:36PM on 09/05/08
....so Serious Eats...when we gonna see the SE t-shirts?
Gotta Represent, Yo!
bisbee at 10:23PM on 09/05/08
I have that Cochon shirt too. My son keeps asking my why the pig is on fire.
slygabo at 8:58AM on 09/06/08
I have a Jeni's Splendid t-shirt from Columbus, Ohio. I would always make sure I wasn't wearing that shirt when I went there. Now that I live in Cincinnati, I don't have to be so careful. I wear maybe more now that I don't live in Columbus...Hmmm, this wasn't something I thought about until I read your post.
earlybirdkate at 9:55AM on 09/06/08
Also when dining at APdC, I would never wear one of their tee-shirts because why would I want to eat at a restaurant dressed as a waiter?
rcianci at 1:05PM on 09/06/08
I love this post, Zach. Brilliant. I remember reading some blip somewhere about hipsters in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood claiming that restaurants and food were the new rock bands for a certain type of hipper-than-thou indie set. So having shirts from the restaurants makes sense. I have a small collection of pizzeria T's in my drawer. Don't really wear them much because I tend to prefer collared shirts for all occasions but lounging around the house. Still, I like to wear them as undershirts or what not. And there's always the I [Slice] NY shirt, of which I have several.
Adam Kuban at 2:31PM on 09/06/08
hey adam, any chance you guys will be making more of those shirts?
boltchloer at 3:15PM on 09/06/08
Along the Connecticut shoreline there are 2 excellent seafood restaurants called Lenny and Joe's Fishtale.
They make excellent dinners at very reasonable cost and they have a new series of T's every year that are high quality, great graphics and catch the price - $6.00 as of this year (last year $5.00).
Come for the T shirt, stay for the food.
PS: They'll substitute red salt potatoes for fries too and no extra cost.
Fried seafood to die for.
No, I don't work for Lenny and Joes, just collect their T's and eat there whenever I'm down that way.
Grifola frondosa at 5:16PM on 09/06/08
Our favorite cafe/bakery has a shirt with "Praise the Lard" and a pig with wings. Very tempting.
islandexile at 6:10PM on 09/06/08
I really love this post. I don't own a single restaurant shirt, but I wish I did. Only, it seems, like Cassaendra, the restaurants I frequent don't seem to have cool shirts.
OH WAIT! I do have one that's semi-cool, Millie's in Richmond, VA! I only bought it because the last time I was there I got all nostalgic.
Maybe I need to be more open to the idea of buying souvenir t-shirts.
wookie at 12:42AM on 09/07/08
the shirt on the right is mind-blowingly amazing. id rock it. i would also love to rock a SE shirt!!
redzerostar at 1:18AM on 09/07/08
Another way in which restaurant tees are the new band shirts: they look really cool on the lanky 20-something kid working the merch table or dessert station, and they look considerably less cool tucked into khaki shorts on a 40-something guy with Ray Bans and a wine gut. (Not, of course, that I am implying anything about the good Mr. Brooks, whom I have never had the pleasure of meeting). I'm just saying...House of Blues, Les Halles...you know there's got to be a dude out there with both these shirts. He is extremely well-groomed and wears socks with his .
climalene at 7:49PM on 09/07/08
...with his Birkenstocks. (Excuse the drama; accidentally hit "Enter".)
climalene at 7:51PM on 09/07/08
Rue de la Course has awful coffee. The only reason to go there is to try to look cool, but I guess that's exactly what you're doing by buying restaurant t-shirts. Good luck with your collection.
yaheardme at 4:12PM on 09/09/08
@yaheardme - Actually, I think Rue de la Course's iced coffee is amazing! (I can't bring myself to drink hot coffee when I'm in New Orleans, so I don't know how their hot coffee tastes.)
Zach Brooks at 11:47PM on 09/09/08
"Right now my favorite is Au Pied de Cochon, a Montreal restaurant mecca for pork lovers." Mecca for pork lovers? Clever pun or humorous coincidence?
iggiepooh at 12:31PM on 09/10/08
hehe, I Have A Shirt from Wo Hop In NY, but Because Dont live in the USA i can wear it whenever!
The Shoe Fairy at 10:37PM on 09/13/08
Sauce-stained tees from NC barbeque joints are fashion statements anywhere!
FMFats at 7:51PM on 09/14/08
Check out HungryPotato.com - they have t-shirts and even some food from restaurants. Some are well, y'know... But I looked through and Life Cafe, Ford's Filling Station, Baby Blues BBQ and Early Girl Eatery are there and all have pretty cool t-shirts.
howiemoney at 9:25AM on 09/15/08
must be out ahead of the curve because I've been collecting restaurant shirts (and caps) for years. Some of my favorites are L&B Spumoni Gardens, Grimaldi's (Brooklyn and Hoboken versions) and Cafe DuMonde. The top of my list though is the one that reads "Mangia Calamari" from this little North End treasure:
http://www.dailycatch.com/323hanover.html
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 9:40AM on 09/15/08
Resto T-shirts not cool, don't be a tool.
Muhlyssa at 9:51AM on 09/15/08
I see someone beat me to it...I wanted to mention that I've bought t-shirts (one being my favorite ...Ford's Filling Station) at HungryPotato.com. A cool gift site!
ConradT at 2:07PM on 09/15/08
I do similar things. When I'm on vacation, I buy either restaurant t's OR coffee house t's. I have Joe's Crab Shack and a t from this coffee place in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. I almost bought one from a coffee place in Nags Head this past summer but never got back to the place to get it. I also regret not getting a T from Awful Arthur's in the Outer Banks. So good.
The last rock concert I went to was the Rolling Stones and the t's were so expensive ($35) that we bought one to share between the 2 of us and I bought a cap (which was still over $20).
RisaG at 5:47PM on 09/15/08
Restaurant T Shirts are very cool, but there is another style that you may not be aware of..That is the Attitude Chef T. This the shirt that many chefs wear in restaurants. While not as glamourous, it still offers a nice alternative. You can find them at most uniform web sites. I work for a Web Site that sells them. Here is the link in the event you think it may be useful. Chef Uniforms .
uachef at 11:15AM on 10/22/08
"I still go to concerts but rarely buy the shirts anymore. I'd like to claim I've outgrown this, but in all honesty, the obsession remains—only now restaurant shirts have replaced the concert tee."
I'm still a fan of rock tee shirts. I wear some restaurant shirts but all that often. But I agree, restaurant tee shirts are replacing rock tee shirts in some areas.
jasonjuicer at 5:14PM on 02/20/09