Birkins and Chanel Bags are Taking Over Restaurant Seating

Did you hear the collective sigh of handbag lovers worldwide? Finally, restaurants, bars, and cafes are recognizing that we need a place to rest our bags!!! So often (ok, for luxury bags, most of the time), the handbag is more valuable than what’s inside! 

We are tired of juggling purses and napkins on our laps. Mortified and criticized for placing the bag on the floor. Even waiters tell us not to do that! And no one wants to carry an extra plastic bag to act as a carpet for your purse. Although some of us do.

And the back of the chair just doesn’t cut it . . . setting you up for inevitable theft. Recall the recent rash of bag grabs at tony Beverly Hills restaurants, indicative of the dilemma everywhere. (Read: https://www.audacy.com/knxnews/news/local/purse-thieves-hit-beverly-hills-restaurants)

Some bars – or Starbucks – include hooks where your legs are, allowing the bag to dangle safely by your body. But that’s not typically an option at a table. Still, these hooks remain few and far between, no matter how many times we run our fingers along table undersides.

But now, restaurants are beginning to allow real space  . . . and seats . . . for our favorite accessory. Perhaps a stool, like the one on which Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie rests her white Chanel bag in season two of “And Just Like That” exclaiming “Oh thank you. My bag was exhausted.” Not to be left out, Seema’s tote likewise had a special spot.

Apparently Le Dali restaurant at the Meurice Hotel in Paris provides Hermès stools that retail for €9700. You might want to bring your $10K Birkin or Chanel for that meal! Aba Restaurant in the upscale Bal Harbour Mall in Miami Beach also has bag stools; interestingly its other locales do not. Yet, anyway. And no doubt there are more.

Of course, it all raises the question of just how safe is your bag on a chair or stool next to you? Turn your head and it could be gone. Maybe it would be better to rest on a stool beneath the table? And in already cramped restaurants, is there room for another seat, even if petite? Nevertheless, we admire and appreciate those providing a resting space for our bags.

Image courtesy @julesluxe

We want to know if and which places are providing you with that extra chair, seat, or stool for your prized possession. Will this accommodation affect your choice of restaurant?