When I was 19, I walked myself and a resume into an Asian-Peruvian fusion restaurant in New York City. While I waited, the host called the manager and asked if they were hiring. There was a brief pause as the manager asked a question, then the host looked me up and down, said, “Yes she is,” hung up, and asked for my resume. I suspected the mystery question at the time, and I soon learned what it has to have been beyond a shadow of a doubt—it was the same question managers asked me every time someone walked through the door. “Is she cute?”

It’s the rare big-city restaurant that doesn’t ask this question before hiring floor staff. In fact, there’s little reason for them not to, because whether a restaurant has three Michelin stars or serves little more than greasy chicken wings and beer, if they only want to hire hot servers—or even just women—it’s entirely legal.

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