After 43 years of hiring only men to wait tables, Cafe Pamplona hired two female servers two weeks ago, saying the restaurant was too short-staffed to continue the tradition.

The Spanish-style coffeehouse had employed female cooks in the past, but it maintained a ban on female waiters until a tight labor market forced a change.

"I needed servers," said manager James Timberlake. "It was a break with tradition, but there was no choice. There weren't enough people applying, and I needed to fill shifts."

Customers have commented on the change, said Jennie Follen, one of the newly-hired servers, who did not find out about the cafe's previous hiring policy until she started work last week as a server.

"Some people were like, 'Oh, it's a revolution!' I was like, 'I'm just trying to serve you coffee,'" Follen said. "There are some wacky eccentrics, but no one is sexist--no smacking on the behind."

In the past, the cafe had turned away women applicants to preserve its tradition.

Amanda L. Burnham '01 tried to apply last spring and was refused.

"The guy at the counter was like, 'I really hate to say this to you--this is sort of a policy we keep [quiet], but our owner doesn't like to hire women,'" Burnham said. "He seemed very sorry. Apparently, the owner was trying to preserve an authentic atmosphere."