Lloyd Gordon could hardly believe his eyes. Several months ago, when visiting a client’s upscale seafood house in Des Moines, IA, servers were wearing tailored, crisp white shirts, black slacks and an attractive multi-colored tie that reflected the restaurant’s style and décor.
 
“For a long time, uniforms got more and more casual,” says Gordon, founder and CEO of GEC Consultants, a restaurant consulting firm in Skokie, IL. He explains that the casual uniforms matched the informal tone adopted by many fine-dining establishments where servers often assumed a familiar, “Hi guys, I’m Jane” attitude toward customers.
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