Good Food - Crummy Service = Ruined Lunch

I was reminded today about how important good customer service is to an enjoyable meal, or any other experience for that matter. Joel and I decided for lunch that we'd head over to a restaurant that we've frequented since it opened a couple of years ago. It's a small, family-owned place that serves some good food.

Sure enough, our food was as yummy as usual and I took some pics for the blog. But I'm not going to post those pics as our meal ended up being ruined by crummy service. We've been good customers of this restaurant since their beginning, yet we definitely received the cold shoulder today. While other tables were waited on in what looked like a timely fashion, we waited and had to ask for basic things that noone usually has to ask for. Even a minimum level of friendliness seemed to be absent. It was weird receiving service like this in a place so small and by people we've supported, and it made for the most uncomfortable lunch I've had in a long time.

I'm not going to name the restaurant as I didn't become a food blogger to start bashing people. Instead I'm going to take today's experience as a reminder of how important good service is. I read Danny Meyer's book Setting the Table a few years ago, and he made a huge point (a number of them, actually) about the importance of customer service. Meyer is a highly successful New York restaurateur whose restaurants include Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern and The Modern. And he's right. The quality of the food matters at a restaurant, but I was reminded today that yummy food is not enough. We go to restaurants for experiences, and that means that food and service have to work hand-in-hand. The food can be stellar, but if the service sucks then the experience is ruined. Buzzkill...

Maybe I can find a way to discreetly communicate that point to the folks who run our unnamed restaurant. I'm all for promoting independent eateries and small family-run businesses, but I'll have to admit that I don't feel any desire to have lunch at that same place anytime soon.

Cheers!
Druu