Dear Peepers,
I need your help. I’ve got a huge decision to make, and could use some input.
A little background: My business partner and I are in the homestretch of opening Tilia, a small restaurant in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis. As we near opening, we’re confronted with 1,000 little decisions. About menu. Staffing. Hours. Decor. Napkins. On and on.
Weighing on us more than any other decision, though? What to do about the bathrooms. Here’s the dilemma: There will be two small bathrooms in the back of the restaurant. Both about the same size. Both similarly appointed with the standard toilet, sink, mirror and air freshener dispenser (both will get the pleasant Spring Rain scent).
The big quandary? Do we designate one a men’s bathroom and one a women’s, or do we go with two unisex bathrooms? On the one hand, it seems absurd to make people queue up for a gender-specific bathroom when an identical and perfectly useful one is open for business. On the other hand, I do understand that not all men have mastered the art of peeing into a toilet, and that women might not want to deal with the aftermath of a bathroom neanderthal.
This is your place to weigh in on the big issues of the day, people. So, separate men’s and women’s or two unisex bathrooms? Ambivalent? Deal breaker?