Four-year-old kicked out of Atlanta resturant for wearing sleeveless Ninja Turtles shirt

ATLANTA, July 3 (UPI) -- A four-year-old and his family were asked to leave an Atlanta restaurant because the young boy was not properly adhering to its strict "gentleman's dress code."

The Tavern at Phillips Plaza requires male patrons wear sleeves at all times, creating a problem for young Lewis Roberts, who arrived dressed in a sleeveless retro Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles tee.

Lewis' family tried to reason with the hostess who denied them seating, but when the manager intervened she informed the would-be customers that the restaurant's dress code applied to "gentlemen of all ages."

"If we would have thought for a minute that he was inappropriately dressed, we would have gone to a different restaurant to save the embarrassment," Lewis' aunt told local reporters.

When the owners of the Tavern at Phillips Plaza learned of the incident they said the manager was new and the policy only applied to adult men.

"[The] rule does not apply for children and ladies -- for gentleman only," said spokeswoman Amber Stewart.

"It was an embarrassing misunderstanding on our part. [The manager who asked the family to leave is] a manager in training who had a gross misunderstanding of our policy."

Restaurant ownership also formally apologized to Lewis' family who said they forgive the incident and will return the Tavern at Phillips Plaza.