Colorado restaurant says no more to unsupervised teenagers amid recent thefts, bad behavior
It's a mid-morning rush at Apple Ridge Cafe in Wheat Ridge. There's families and people of all ages grabbing a quick bite or enjoying a big breakfast. But, conspicuously, there aren't any area middle and high school-aged children.
"We were thinking, we gotta set some boundaries here," co-owner Scotty Jones explained to CBS Colorado. "We've had an increase of theft, disruptive behavior, disrespectful behavior [from teenage students]."
The restaurant, up on the north end of Kipling Ave near Wheat Ridge High School, typically serves local students that can walk there. But, after one too many bad incidents, Jones and his co-owners decided they needed to make a statement. A new policy was put into place at Apple Ridge: No middle or high school-aged student is allowed to dine at the restaurant without adult supervision.
"We've had dash and dines," Jones said. "We've had decorations in the restaurant stolen, little things like that, talking to the waitresses, cussing at them."
Those students are still allowed to come to the restaurant and order takeout, eating it wherever they choose. But, at least for now, Jones said there has to be a consequence for the poor behavior.
"We would love for this to be a temporary policy, but some behaviors had to be corrected for sure," Jones added.
Since the announcement, there has been a mix of reactions, while other restaurants or cafes in the Denver metro area have already adopted, or tried to adopt, similar policies in the past.
"We've had a little bit of pushback from some people, but, for the most part, everybody gets it, unfortunately," Jones said.
Jones hopes the policy wont' be permanent and that students can be welcomed back again. But, in the meantime, his staff continues to run out eggs, bacon, pancakes, coffee for the morning breakfast rush.
"It's hard to keep up with kids," Jones said. "I've got kids of my own, and it's hard to control everything they do. But, I will say, the biggest thing I feel like is that we've let it go on too long in our community, and it's gotten a little out of hand."
