The opening of a long-awaited Jersey City bar has been marred by a dress code sign that some have interpreted as racist.

The sign at The Ashford, which referred to its dress code as “upscale business casual,” banned oversized jeans and shirts, head gear, ball caps, work boots, gym sneakers, shorts or athletic apparel, sweatpants or joggers, cargo pants, oversized jewelry and chains, sunglasses, camouflage, low or baggy pants and headphones. The code also required belts be worn with pants.

The references to oversized jewelry, low and belt-less pants, and head gear, particularly, were seen by some as racially specific and led a number of patrons to take to social media to question if the bar is expressly attempting to keep patrons of color out of the premises.

The sign at The Ashford in Jersey City documenting the bar's dress code. The sign has since been taken down, but not before causing controversy.

The Ashford bar owner Kenny Caulfield told NJ Advance Media the large placard was “an oversight,” that was up for one day during the bar’s soft opening at the end of December, and that the dress code simplified. He said the bar’s dress code is now simply “casual neat” and “dress to impress,” and has “nothing to do with race whatsoever."

“That sign, that was a mistake, it was put out and it was rectified straightaway,” Caulfield said. “It was an oversight, you’re busy, you’re not paying attention to every detail. You’re going 100 miles an hour. ...The sign was made up, and it wasn’t reviewed properly.”

Caulfield was emphatic that the bar is not racist and in fact aims for inclusivity.

“It’s about diversity. Everybody’s welcome,” Caulfield said. “Have you ever seen the show ‘Cheers?’ That’s my mantra, everybody should know your name, it should be a home.”

The Ashford currently averages three and a half stars out of five on Yelp with 24 five-star reviews, though a few reviews called the dress code and its enforcement racist. One woman, who identified herself as white, specifically said she got into The Ashford while wearing sweatpants. But all five men she came with were denied entry because one of them was wearing Adidas pants which the bouncers called “pajamas,” and left the bar. Her waitress and the bouncers both told her to write a review to alert the owners of the incident.

Located on bustling Newark Avenue in the heart of Jersey City’s downtown bar scene, The Ashford opened in December after two years of construction and is owned by the same group that owns 1 Republik, which has a location in North Arlington and had one in Hoboken before it was closed last year.

Adding to the anticipation for The Ashford was the fact that co-owner/designer Jeff Lam gained acclaim for morphing a weathered New York Chinatown community opera house into Chinese Tuxedo, a scenic and trendy Chinese fusion restaurant. The Ashford is a spacious multi-level venue, taking advantage of the 30-foot ceilings left behind by the department store that was once there.

Connected to The Ashford and run by the same owners is “Six26 Rooftop and Lounge,” a gay bar named for June 26, 2015, the day the Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was constitutional.

“It’s a diverse team. A diverse staff, that reflects the city that they built the restaurant to serve,” the bar’s spokesperson, Rich Eldert, told NJ Advance Media, speaking both of Six26 and The Ashford. “Out of this little kernel of a couple of reviews where people took offense, people are entitled to take offense, but there’s really not any basis in fact. There’s no policy to keep people out. It’s for Jersey City.”

Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Schneider. Find NJ.com on Facebook.