Like it or not a business has the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason and taking Gord’s description of these restaurants as places that “cater almost exclusively to Koreans, especially to groups of young Korean women who like the ambiance. You know, big soft booths, soft music, pretty lights.” It most certainly does not seem like the kind of atmosphere where a military uniform would be acceptable. A dress uniform perhaps, but not your everyday old fatigues.

No doubt there are people who complain about having to wear shoes to the Super Walmart or about having to wear ties to fancy restaurants, but each establishment has the right to set a standard for what it thinks is acceptable.

I am going to have to disagree with Gord though. I like one of the Italian restaurants in Jeonju. TEAM, while not entirely authentic Italian food, is still quite good. I especially like the cake.

Your hyperbole is pretty funny though. But really, the prosecution needs to chill.

The prosecution rests.

I’m guessing Mark also knows a variety of ways to say “whore” in Korean.

Apparently you have learned only one word of Korean, ??, and use it any time you want to say something about Korea. I suggest you dig in a little deeper. As for La Tavola and La Cigale ? which by the way belong to the same French-Korean couple, along with the night club in the basement ? and places like Le Saint Ex ? which belongs to a French-Korean team of biz partners ? they cater to different types of clients, from non-Koreans who once in a while want to eat real pizza or real French food, to Koreans who nay come for diverse reasons, but are usually return customers, because the food there is usually damn good!. There’s nothing fucking sophisticated about a bowl of spaghetti carbonara or onion soup. It’s just different, and the right to be different is something that has grudgingly been admitted over the years in Korea, and has no-fucking-thing to do with friggin’ ??.

Dude…

Also I can remember another time I was part of a training exercise involving the ROK Army in a city in Chungcheong-namdo and we were allowed to go out and eat one night in the town wearing our uniforms and Korean restaurant owners were literally grabbing us and our ROK Army counterparts also in uniform, to try to get us to go into their restaurants.

So I would think that this exclusion of uniformed personnel from this restaurant in Jeonju is an isolated incident.

Foreign names for foreign restaurants are pretty standard stateside. I don’t think foreigners go there for the ambience, as much as they do for a taste of home. Koreans might go for the ambience. Note also that despite what Koreans might think, ordinary Western food isn’t just pizza and burgers - going to some of these upscale places may be the only way for many Westerners to experience what is commonplace, and probably cheaper back home.

There’s nothing like Itaewon in Jeonju, friend. Believe me, I live there (for now). There’s so little like what you’re talking about that I thought you might have missed the Jeonju reference.

These Italian restaurants in Jeonju — there are a few different ones, none any better than the others — cater almost exclusively to Koreans, especially to groups of young Korean women who like the ambiance. You know, big soft booths, soft music, pretty lights. (The kind of place I avoid because the quality of the food is usually poor in such establishments.)

It’s disgraceful to bar soldiers in uniform from any place, even if they’ve had trouble from young men previously in uniform. But in my book, these guys received a blessing in disguise: there’s not one good Italian-food place in Jeonju anyway.

Hey Marmot, a Belatedly Merry Christmas to you!