Are You Garbage? – Strict Dress Code! w/ Kevin Ryan & H. Foley
Release date: January 12, 2026
Episode Overview
This “family episode” of Are You Garbage? features hosts Kevin Ryan and H. Foley swapping stories and riffing on their latest travels, including a hilarious and painfully relatable tale of getting outclassed by a steakhouse dress code. The duo deep-dives into questions of social class, personal embarrassment, and what constitutes “garbage” behavior — from fashion faux pas to pizza plate debates and leftover etiquette. As always, the tone is light, fast-paced, self-deprecating, and full of sharp one-liners about the absurdities of adulthood, parenting, and eating out (or ordering in).
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Tour Announcements and Podcast Growth
- The episode opens with the boys promoting their “Back on the Block” comedy tour hitting cities like Austin, Chicago, Tampa, and more.
- Kevin touts the pod’s rise in the charts:
"We're a bootstrapped operation. Now look at us. Number what? What were we last week?"
H. Foley: “2787.”
Kevin: "We were number 87 in all podcasts on spot. All podcasts." [02:00]
2. Kevin’s Steakhouse Dress Code Embarrassment
- The Story: Kevin recounts taking his family (including a baby) on a road trip — staying in various motels, under-dressing, stopping at Polo outlets, and deciding to take his wife and baby to a nice Baltimore steakhouse (Ruxton Steakhouse).
- Dress Code Drama:
- Kevin dressed in dark jeans, clean Jordans, a nice T-shirt, and a Polo puffer.
- Upon being seated, the hostess informs him:
“Sir, all gentlemen are required to wear a shirt with a collar.” [13:14, Kevin]
- Kevin is mortified and offered a “host jacket.”
- Humiliation is intensified as a table of “cool-ass, well-dressed, rich black dudes” witness the whole scenario.
- Acknowledges the double standard:
"This girl's tailgating at the… I know what Ray Lewis looks like and that ain't Ray Lewis." [13:30, Kevin]
- Ultimately dons the jacket, gets (semi-ironic) approval from the neighboring table, and reflects on how a “blazer over a T-shirt” makes him feel both out-of-place and momentarily classy.
- H. Foley commiserates:
"The only thing that I looked—then I looked like I really belong." [16:22, Kevin]
Memorable Quote:
"I have to try the jacket on in the dining room after this fucking hoopla. And then one of the black dudes that—‘It looks pretty good.’" [15:39, Kevin]
3. Navigating Class and Comfort Zones
- The hosts riff on how they never truly “belong” in nice establishments, with Kevin saying:
"I just don’t belong in those joints." [24:31]
- Foley shares childhood anxieties about appearing “trashy” and the performative attempts at class in their families.
Blazers-and-Tee Movement:
"Blazers and T shirts. We could like the 80s. Bring that back." [16:24, Kevin]
4. Overcompensating When Embarrassed
- Kevin details over-ordering at the steakhouse (“house-made tater tots and caviar," "lobster bisque," "wagyu tasting") as a way to “reassert his presence” after the jacket incident.
"It was like my card got declined and I doubled it." [24:14, Kevin]
“If I didn’t overcompensate on the order because I was embarrassed about the jacket…. I went, 'I’d like to purchase your chandelier, please.'" [23:51, Kevin]
5. Parenting & Public Dining with Kids
- The mechanics and guilt of bringing a baby into a high-end restaurant, the baby’s behavior, and the hosts gently roasting each other’s parental anxieties.
- Kevin describes navigating the staff’s politeness, special treatment, and random things the baby is given at the table:
"He did the wagyu tasting. Munch on that little..." [08:20, Kevin]
6. Garbage Questions from Patreon
- Listeners provide scenarios for the hosts to judge as “garbage” or not:
- Using metal utensils with paper plates (“Paper plates suck, man.” [36:04, H. Foley])
- Hoarding antibiotics for flu season (“It’s garbage, but they give you such bullshit. None of that bullshit you’re getting over the counter works.” [72:18, H. Foley])
- Family stories about friends with glass eyes (“That is like—the end all be all move if you’re a kid.” [33:20, Kevin])
- The etiquette of “second-heat” pizza (reheating delivery pizza for that perfect crisp) and refusing plates (debate about eating pizza straight from the spatula or hand).
- Owning a hot tub through multiple divorces ([66:59], listener question):
"That ain't lasting. … If you gotta think about it, that’s like the only constant for 20 years. That’s probably like his fucking—he's like, 'If all else fails, I got this fucking hot tub.'" [67:00, Kevin]
7. Nostalgia and Random Garbage Memories
- Childhood warnings: Dangers of pool covers, refrigerator doors, jumping into pools.
- "Repurposing" leftovers—Foley rants about mothers cobbling together meals from disparate scraps.
8. Pop Culture & Trash TV
- The duo reminisces about early reality shows: "Flavor of Love," “Rock of Love,” "The Surreal Life," and the cultural moment of “The Osbournes” and “TRL.”
"Osbournes don’t get enough credit too." [64:54, H. Foley] “That was big dude. And [Flavor Flav] was like, perfect because so many people knew who he was already. It was so insane, too.” [64:47, Kevin]
Notable Quotes & Moments
- Dress Code Panic:
"I was embarrassed, thoroughly embarrassed. But I go, you know what? You got something in a members only?" [14:06, Kevin (re: being forced to wear a jacket)]
- Class Anxiety:
"We're people of like, we know we don't belong in nice places." [12:40, Kevin]
- Approval from Fellow Diners:
“It looks pretty good,” [15:39, anonymous diner to Kevin, after jacket incident]
- Ordering to Prove a Point:
"I was so obtuse. It was like my card got declined and I doubled it." [24:14, Kevin]
- On Using Paper Plates:
"I remember trying to cut Eggo waffles one time and the syrup was going right through the plate onto the table." [36:04, Kevin]
- On Leftover Meals:
“Eating frosted flakes with chopsticks. The fuck out of here. What am I, a jerk off?” [36:35, Kevin]
- Parental Trauma:
“I remember my friends jumping off my cousin’s roof into the in-ground pool. I was like, I ain't doing that.” [69:10, H. Foley]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 02:00 – Podcast chart success, outworking other pods
- 05:40–17:00 – Kevin’s Ruxton steakhouse dress code story: shopping at the Polo outlet, bringing a baby, humiliation at the table
- 16:24 – “Blazers-and-Tees” as a potential new look
- 23:51–24:14 – Overordering to compensate for the jacket mishap
- 36:00 – Paper plates with metal utensils debate
- 41:00 – Eating pizza straight from the spatula, “wave” argument for reheating delivery pizza
- 55:00 – Leftover etiquette and small pizza shame
- 62:15 – Trash TV: “Flavor of Love”, “Rock of Love”, “Strange Love”, “Surreal Life”
- 67:00 – Hot tub through multiple divorces question
- 72:18 – Hoarding antibiotics, home remedies, and the myth of over-the-counter medicine
Tone and Style
- Egalitarian, blue-collar, and sharply self-deprecating.
- Quick-witted, riff-heavy, with stories that pivot between the painfully relatable and the absurd.
- Neither host claims class or “expert” status — both admit their foibles, flaws, and “garbage” tendencies with pride.
- Each story is punctuated by quick jabs, cultural references, and callbacks (“you don’t need a jacket in Arby’s…they’ll probably hire you!” [28:02, Kevin]).
For New Listeners
This episode is a quintessential “Are You Garbage?”: funny, fast, and full of cringe-y, working-class truths about how clothing, restaurant etiquette, and even reheating pizza reflect who we really are. If you’ve ever felt out-of-place in a “nice” place, overcompensated for embarrassment, or caught yourself defending an indefensible garbage life choice, you’ll find yourself right at home here — in a blazer, or not.