An officer of the Russian Aerospace Forces was not allowed into Arkady Novikov's Magadan restaurant in central Moscow because he was wearing a uniform.

As Svetlana Semyonova, the mother of a serviceman, told RT, her son was offered to get onto the veranda of the institution through the bushes so that he “did not scare away the visitors.”

The incident occurred on August 13 - Svetlana celebrated her birthday in Magadan.

According to the woman, due to the position of the restaurant staff, she and the guests had to leave the establishment.

“We don’t see each other every day, he came from a business trip,” the woman gets upset.

- In the morning he wrote to me: "Mom, I'm sorry, I won't be able to come, they send me."

So it really was a gift for me when his girlfriend, Christina, said that Sasha would arrive in ten minutes.

At that moment, when the son got to the restaurant, Svetlana was inside with the guests.

The guard at the entrance told the serviceman that he would not let him inside in military uniform - supposedly this is prohibited by the rules of the establishment.

Alexander's father tried to explain to the guards that the young man was in a hurry for his birthday and did not have time to change clothes, but the serviceman was only offered to enter the restaurant through the emergency entrance.

“The last straw in this was the words of the guards: come on, they say, climb through the flower bed, through the bushes to get to the veranda.

So that he does not enter the hall and does not scare people away.

How could he scare in his usual dark blue flight uniform?

The tunic is shortened and the trousers, everything is clean, ironed, neat, the shoes are cleaned as expected.

And in the restaurant, people in sweatpants, excuse me, are jumping, ”Semyonova is indignant.

- Naturally, it never occurred to him to climb through the bushes, especially in uniform.

Naturally, we got up and left, paying the bill, of course.

And all our guests are with us.”

Complaint to Rospotrebnadzor

According to the woman, Magadan employees never apologized for ruining the holiday.

Only two days after the incident, the manager of the establishment contacted Svetlana and offered her a compliment from the restaurant in order to “smooth out the spoiled impression.”

Subsequently, when the story gained resonance, the owner of the restaurant chain, Arkady Novikov, said that the employees involved in the incident were fired.

This was announced in his Telegram channel by State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein, who was indignant because of such an attitude towards a military man and personally contacted the restaurateur.

“We will try our best to make this unpleasant incident forgotten as soon as possible.

Russian military personnel are always welcome guests in our establishments, ”the deputy quotes Novikov as saying.

In an interview with RT, Khinshtein noted that the case in Magadan was egregious, and he had not received such complaints before.

Svetlana Semyonova confirmed that the management of the institution informed her about the dismissal of employees who did not let her son into the restaurant.

Nevertheless, the woman filed a complaint with Rospotrebnadzor and the prosecutor's office.

“When a lawyer joined our complaint, she even checked the restaurant’s website (suddenly there are some rules) and did not find any rules about military uniforms.

When we walked around the restaurant already with journalists and said: “You have a chance to apologize now,” people buried in their phones repeated like a mantra: “We will not comment on this situation.”

Ridiculous and funny, ”concluded the interlocutor of RT.

Lawyer's opinion

Consumer protection specialist Yana Bondarenko commented on the incident in Magadan.

According to her, restaurant employees who refuse to serve customers are acting illegally.

“The restaurant is obliged to let in any persons who come to them, of course, if the visitor is not in a state of any kind of intoxication,” the lawyer explained.

— The restaurant is a public organization, and they are obliged to provide services to anyone who applies to them.

Like subways, buses, etc.

If a person is not allowed, but he wants to get there, he can call the police.”

Bondarenko added that an exception may be cases when a closed event is held in institutions and entry is by invitation cards.

“If the event is open, a person should be allowed in, even if he did not fulfill any requirements put forward by the institution.

For example, if, say, a white dress code is set, and a person comes in black, they have no right not to let him in, ”says the expert.

According to her, in case of groundless refusal of the staff of the institution to serve the visitor, he can file a complaint with the management of the restaurant, as well as with Rospotrebnadzor or the police.

“A person can file a complaint and, perhaps, they will be given some kind of compensation for moral damage, for example, they will be offered a free dinner for two.

If a person goes to court, then he can also recover some money from the institution.

The question is which.

This will be decided by the court, ”summed up Bondarenko.