Houston nightlife has always been loud and a little unruly. But in 2025, it’s also becoming political. From a new ordinance requiring bars and restaurants to post their dress codes at the door to Mayor John Whitmire’s aggressive nightlife crime crackdown, the city’s clubs and bars are finding themselves at the center of a fight over fairness, public safety, and who really controls the culture of a night out.

In July, Councilman Edward Pollard, who represents District J, pushed through a first-of-its-kind ordinance requiring all local establishments to post their dress codes at the door—a measure aimed squarely at Houston’s restaurants and bars, where dress rules have been murky. Pollard says the new law will help prevent business owners from using dress codes as a tool for discrimination.

The change comes after Pollard and city controller Chris Hollins were allegedly rejected from a Houston bar, with the unnamed business pointing to Hollins’s footwear, a pair of tennis shoes, as the reason for removal. Pollard said during a July 21 council meeting that selectively enforced dress codes can be seen as discriminatory. During the same meeting, fellow councilmember Carolyn Evans-Shabazz cosponsored Pollard’s ordinance, explaining that African American males often experience discrimination through dress codes. Requiring posted signage of dress code requirements would provide clarity, transparency, and fairness to the city, Pollard said in a statement to Houston Style Magazine.

Dress codes have long stirred controversy in Houston’s nightlife and dining scene. In October 2023, local attorney Willie Powells filed a lawsuit against Post Oak Hotel for racial discrimination after Powells was denied entry to the hotel’s H Bar for wearing a baseball cap. The hotel was again sued days later by another plaintiff, Blessing Nwosu, who alleged that staff at the hotel’s Bloom & Bee restaurant told her to cover her shoulders, while other white patrons with exposed shoulders were left alone. The now-closed Turkey Leg Hut, a Black-owned fixture in Third Ward, sparked backlash in 2021 with its dress code banning “excessively revealing clothing,” obscene language, baggy clothes, or “house attire,” like wave caps and du-rags—rules critics called “anti-Black.”

Houstonian Valeria Alvarado, whose tweets about the city’s nightlife made rounds in local circles, says Pollard’s new ordinance on dress codes is a step in the right direction. “For the arbitrary dress codes, it really started to feel like a game of choosing [who’s] picked on for what they wear,” she says. In many cases, dress codes seemed to have racial undertones. Now, Alvarado says businesses will be forced to examine their dress codes “and decide if that’s something they want to publicize and if they should continue doing it.”

“I think [the ordinance] really allowed us to have a mirror put in front of us and see the reality of what brown and Black people deal with just trying to have a fun night out,” Alvarado says.

For bar owner Brett Loewenstein, owner of the Heights bar, Carte Blanche, posting a dress code isn’t just about rules—it’s about clarity and a tool that can help a business create a particular ambience or customer experience. “I think it's a great thing to have up because it just kind of benefits everybody, in my opinion.” Posting signage and making dress code policies clear can give customers a “clear idea” of the expectations, which “alleviates the stresses of going out,” he adds.

It could also bring a new standard to Houston nightlife. Unlike other major cities like New York or Chicago, where clubs might require high heels and business casual wear, dress codes in Houston’s entertainment and clubbing districts are typically known to be more laid-back, lax, and accepting of sneakers. Loewenstein, who plans to post a dress code at Carte Blanche soon, says dress code signage hasn’t been the norm here, but clubs with stricter dress codes and door policies do exist.

While Pollard pushes for transparency, the mayor is doubling down on enforcement. Whitmire has ramped up his campaign against nightlife-related crime and improving quality of life in nearby neighborhoods, leading to a spike in citations, inspections, and even club closures. It raises the question: Has the club become Houston’s newest political battleground?

Issues surrounding the city’s polarizing nightlife have been simmering for ages, plagued by problems like discrimination, crime, and clashes with local neighborhoods. Some of the push for stricter regulation comes from residents, who claim that rowdy clubs and bars in specific neighborhoods have led to documented instances of litter, loud noises, and other disturbances in their communities. Others claim an increase in street takeovers by underground car clubs and reckless driving. To address this, Whitmire, who has notably prioritized public safety, has established an anti-crime unit within the Houston Police Department to monitor nightlife and clubs and reduce related crime and nuisances. Since launching HPD’s “Crime Protection Team Club Unit” in July,  the mayor has touted at least 115 citations, 12 warnings, 13 inspections, five closures, and two arrests tied to nightlife spots, police say. His ride-alongs throughout Emancipation Avenue and the Greater Heights neighborhood have earned praise from residents fed up with noise and sharp criticism from nightlife advocates who say the policies disproportionately target Black and brown people. In December 2024, the mayor was scrutinized when he said he wanted to help Washington Avenue club owners get “barely clad young ladies off the street.”

While Pollard’s ordinance pushes for transparency, Whitmire’s approach and “tough on crime” policies have left some communities feeling alienated, particularly Black and brown people who frequent areas that are undergoing a nightlife crackdown, Alvarado says. In contrast, other predominantly white neighborhoods with thriving nightlife culture, like the Heights, haven’t been held to the same standards, she says.

The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to Houstonia’s request for comment on Whitmire’s recent nightlife-related policies.

Loewenstein says Carte Blanche has yet to have any run-ins with HPD’s Club Unit. “I’m not as familiar because I hadn’t personally dealt with this division or this group,” Loewenstein says. Still, he believes the nightlife scene is ever-evolving and requires input from industry professionals, customers, and policymakers. His hope is that the nightlife industry and the city can work together to create change and curb crime.

“As a bar owner, you don’t want trouble,” Loewenstein says. “You want your customers to feel very safe [and welcomed].”