We had driven by three other brunch options in the neighborhood before choosing this one.
The first was too crowded. It’s a small place as it is, but the food is very good and we had suspected it might be despite the cold, rainy, dreary weather we have today. Even with that, there were a few people standing outside as it was too crowded to wait for a table within.
We drove past, hooked a u-turn, and headed towards the place we’d pre-established as a plan B. Yet, upon pulling up there we saw a turned off open sign. A squint at the door revealed that their hours had changed and they now were closed on Sundays. So, that was out.
My wife mentioned a third possibility but she wanted hashbrowns and nothing on their website indicated they had them on offer. So, we drove right past and headed to a place we’d not even really considered but was also in the area and we suspected they’d have both hashbrowns and an available table. They did.
We walked in the door and were quickly seated at a nice table by the window. It wasn’t crowded but there was a large party behind us. We were willing to be patient, understanding the server may have her hands a bit full. Yet, within minutes, the manager stopped by to great us, explain that our server was a bit tied up but would be over as soon as possible, and offered to get us started and grab some water and anything else to drink we might desire.
She came back with some waters and, seeing that the server was still juggling the large party offered to take our order and try to make sure she got it right having nothing but her memory to rely on. We, helpfully, made it easy and both ordered the exact same thing (which is what we were planning anyway but nice that the dual priorities aligned) and she pleasantly thanked us for being understanding and agreeable.
Afterwords, the server finally was able to stop by and make sure we were taken care of and apologize for the situation and not being able to do so herself. No problem! We understand, Thank you for checking in!
She brought us a couple of complementary mini doughnuts as a gesture of thanks.
Our order arrived in the time expected. Large portions and delicious. My wife and I had great discussion, found the atmosphere comfortable, and it was exactly what we were hoping for to begin with.
The server checked in after the food arrived as did the manager to make sure all was well. Even after we finished and paid and were lingering around to finish our conversation the manager stopped by one final time to make sure the order was right and we had everything we needed.
This is how you make your business one that isn’t even a consideration into one that will, next time, be top of mind. Good service, checking in, stepping in even if it’s not “your job”, making sure the expectations are met. It doesn’t take much.