Purpose

At MTE, every employee represents the restaurant, the brand, and the guest experience. A clean, professional, and consistent appearance helps create trust with our guests and supports a safe, sanitary, and team-focused work environment.

Employees are expected to arrive for every shift clean, neat, properly dressed, and ready to work.

General Appearance Standards

All employees must maintain good personal hygiene and professional grooming while on duty. This includes showering as needed before work, using deodorant, keeping hair clean and controlled, and maintaining a neat overall appearance.

Employees must report to work in clothing that is clean, wrinkle-free, odor-free, and appropriate for their position. Clothing may not be excessively tight, revealing, torn, stained, faded, or otherwise unprofessional.

Management reserves the right to determine whether an employee’s appearance meets company standards.

Front-of-House Dress Code

Front-of-house employees include servers, bartenders, hosts, bussers, food runners, and any employee working in guest-facing areas.

Employees must wear the approved uniform or approved restaurant attire for their position. Clothing must be clean, professional, and in good condition.

Acceptable front-of-house standards may include:

Black pants or approved professional bottoms
Approved MTE shirt, polo, button-down, or uniform top
Clean black non-slip shoes
Apron, if required by position
Name tag, if required by management

Front-of-house employees may not wear casual, distracting, or inappropriate clothing, including hoodies, ripped jeans, shorts, tank tops, crop tops, sheer clothing, graphic shirts, or clothing with offensive language or images.

Host / Guest-Facing Professional Attire

Hosts and other designated guest-facing employees may be required to wear business casual or professional attire.

Acceptable options may include dresses, slacks, blouses, button-down shirts, cardigans, professional tops, or similar polished attire approved by management.

Bare shoulders, spaghetti straps, mini skirts, sheer tops, tank tops, casual t-shirts, hoodies, shorts, and overly casual clothing are not permitted unless specifically approved by management.

Bar Dress Code

Bartenders must maintain a polished, clean, and professional appearance. Approved bartender attire may include black pants, a black button-down shirt, approved MTE-branded attire, and black non-slip shoes.

Aprons, bar tools, towels, and personal work items should be clean, organized, and used professionally.

Back-of-House Dress Code

Back-of-house employees include cooks, prep cooks, dishwashers, and any employee working in kitchen or prep areas.

Kitchen employees must wear approved kitchen attire, which may include:

Clean black shirt or approved kitchen shirt
Black pants or approved kitchen pants
Approved hat, cap, or hair restraint
Black non-slip shoes
Apron, when required
Gloves or other PPE when required

Kitchen clothing must be clean and safe for food handling. Loose clothing, dangling accessories, and unsafe footwear are not permitted.

Shoes

All employees working on the floor, behind the bar, in the kitchen, dish area, prep area, or any wet/slippery area must wear closed-toe, black, non-slip shoes.

Shoes must be clean, in good condition, and safe for restaurant work. Open-toe shoes, sandals, slides, Crocs with holes, heels, slippers, or unsafe footwear are not permitted while working.

Hair

Hair must be clean, neat, and controlled. Employees working with or around food must keep hair restrained in accordance with food safety standards.

Long hair must be tied back when working with food, drinks, dishes, or guest service areas where it may interfere with sanitation or safety.

Kitchen employees must wear approved hats, caps, or hair restraints.

Facial Hair

Facial hair must be clean, trimmed, and well maintained. Employees working with food may be required to wear a beard guard or other restraint if required by food safety standards or management.

Nails and Hands

Hands and nails must be clean and maintained in a sanitary condition.

Employees who handle food must follow all food safety requirements related to nails, gloves, and handwashing. Fingernails should be kept at a reasonable length and may not interfere with safe food handling, glove use, or guest service.

Artificial nails, long nails, or chipped nail polish may be restricted for employees handling food or working in kitchen/prep areas based on food safety requirements.

Jewelry and Accessories

Jewelry and accessories must be professional, minimal, and safe for the employee’s position.

Employees may not wear jewelry or accessories that create a safety issue, sanitation issue, or distraction. Dangling jewelry, large rings, loose bracelets, or accessories that may fall into food or equipment are not permitted in food preparation areas.

Management may require removal of any jewelry or accessory that interferes with safety, sanitation, or professional appearance.

Facial Piercings and Body Piercings

Visible piercings must be professional, clean, and safe for the employee’s role. Management may require jewelry to be removed, covered, or changed if it creates a food safety concern, guest-service concern, or workplace safety concern.

Employees working in food preparation or kitchen areas may be subject to stricter requirements for piercings due to sanitation and safety standards.

Tattoos

Visible tattoos must be appropriate for a professional restaurant environment. Tattoos containing offensive, discriminatory, vulgar, violent, or inappropriate images or language must be covered while on duty.

Management may require tattoos to be covered if they conflict with the company’s professional image or guest experience standards.

Personal Hygiene

Employees must report to work clean and free of strong body odor, smoke odor, or excessive fragrance.

Perfume, cologne, body spray, or scented products should be used lightly. Strong scents can interfere with the guest dining experience and may affect coworkers or guests with sensitivities.

Uniform Care

Employees are responsible for keeping their uniforms and work attire clean and in good condition. Uniforms may not be altered, cut, written on, or modified without management approval.

Employees should arrive dressed and ready for work at the start of their scheduled shift.

Compliance

Employees who report to work out of dress code may be asked to correct the issue before starting work. Depending on the situation, the employee may be sent home to change and may be subject to disciplinary action.

Repeated dress code violations may result in further disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

Management Discretion

MTE reserves the right to update, revise, or make exceptions to this policy when appropriate. Any exception must be approved by management.