Aug 04, 2013 • NorthJersey.com
Ung: Casual restaurants, better service?ng: Casual restaurants, better service?
By Elisa Ung
One result of my recent maternity leave was that I mostly stayed out of white-tablecloth-type restaurants for several months. For obvious reasons, it was more practical to stick to burger joints, diners or order-at-the-counter eateries when dining with a baby.
But then a very strange thing started to happen.
I realized that I had never been so happy with the service I was receiving.
That the guy behind the counter at Bobby's Burger Palace in Paramus seemed to know more about the burgers than many waiters do about $25 entrées. That the busboys in Smashburger locations all over the area made me feel more welcome than many pricey places.
And when a friend and I wheeled our baby strollers into Raymond's in Ridgewood for lunch one day, I figured we were in for the usual drill when eating out with small kids almost everywhere: feeling guilty for walking in with a stroller, having to stow it somewhere inconvenient, at least one eye-roll or sideways glance from a waiter hoping we were not headed for one of his tables.
Instead, the waitress immediately whisked our strollers away herself, stashing them out of sight. And the staffers in general were more welcoming and solicitous than I'm accustomed to even when I'm not dining with two tiny, nonpaying customers at high risk of a random tantrum.
Now, you'd think the higher the price you pay for the meal, the more you should feel that your needs are met. But I've been experiencing exactly the opposite.
Of course, our expectations are also lower when dining casually. It's much easier to know the ins and outs of a list of burgers than a tome of complex French preparations. And smart places like Raymond's know they need to cater to the many shopping, lunching mommies around Ridgewood.
But months of almost exclusive casual dining have surpassed my expectations for the quick-service and laid-back restaurants that are a strength of our area. Employees have been friendlier and better trained – even ones I don't have to tip.
Case in point: Noodles and Co. It's a new casual chain that landed in New Jersey this year, with a menu that includes pesto cavatappi and Indonesian peanut sauté: think Panera, Chipotle or Corner Bakery, but with noodles. Two locations are planned for Bergen County next year.
I recently hit the location in East Brunswick after a nearby appointment, ordered a pad thai at the counter, then took a seat near the registers and listened as the cashiers patiently fielded voluminous requests from indecisive diners who wanted extra cilantro, no butter, and so forth. The manager was engaging other customers as if the food came out of his own kitchen.
The waitress who brought my dish cheerfully brought me extra limes and later when she saw me drop a utensil, immediately came over with replacements and wiped up the splatter. All I could think about then was the time I accidentally knocked over a wineglass in an expensive restaurant and we mostly cleaned it up ourselves before anyone even noticed.
The lesson here is that service isn't always as highfalutin as crumbing a table or checking a wineglass for spots. Service is "whatever makes you happy and gets you the food," celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern said a few years ago at a restaurant panel I attended.
His example: a simple spleen sandwich shop in Italy. Its efficient service allows customers to enjoy the sandwich during the few minutes when the spleen is at its most delicious. It also meticulously wraps the gravy-laden sandwich so that it doesn't drip.
Zimmern's comment has made me pay particular attention to the smallest details in the humblest settings, and how they can add up to a better service experience than the grandest dining rooms in Manhattan. Lucky for me and my wallet, this has been happening more and more often.
One result of my recent maternity leave was that I mostly stayed out of white-tablecloth-type restaurants for several months. For obvious reasons, it was more practical to stick to burger joints, diners or order-at-the-counter eateries when dining with a baby.
But then a very strange thing started to happen.
I realized that I had never been so happy with the service I was receiving.
That the guy behind the counter at Bobby's Burger Palace in Paramus seemed to know more about the burgers than many waiters do about $25 entrées. That the busboys in Smashburger locations all over the area made me feel more welcome than many pricey places.
And when a friend and I wheeled our baby strollers into Raymond's in Ridgewood for lunch one day, I figured we were in for the usual drill when eating out with small kids almost everywhere: feeling guilty for walking in with a stroller, having to stow it somewhere inconvenient, at least one eye-roll or sideways glance from a waiter hoping we were not headed for one of his tables.
Instead, the waitress immediately whisked our strollers away herself, stashing them out of sight. And the staffers in general were more welcoming and solicitous than I'm accustomed to even when I'm not dining with two tiny, nonpaying customers at high risk of a random tantrum.
Now, you'd think the higher the price you pay for the meal, the more you should feel that your needs are met. But I've been experiencing exactly the opposite.
Of course, our expectations are also lower when dining casually. It's much easier to know the ins and outs of a list of burgers than a tome of complex French preparations. And smart places like Raymond's know they need to cater to the many shopping, lunching mommies around Ridgewood.
But months of almost exclusive casual dining have surpassed my expectations for the quick-service and laid-back restaurants that are a strength of our area. Employees have been friendlier and better trained – even ones I don't have to tip.
Case in point: Noodles and Co. It's a new casual chain that landed in New Jersey this year, with a menu that includes pesto cavatappi and Indonesian peanut sauté: think Panera, Chipotle or Corner Bakery, but with noodles. Two locations are planned for Bergen County next year.
I recently hit the location in East Brunswick after a nearby appointment, ordered a pad thai at the counter, then took a seat near the registers and listened as the cashiers patiently fielded voluminous requests from indecisive diners who wanted extra cilantro, no butter, and so forth. The manager was engaging other customers as if the food came out of his own kitchen.
The waitress who brought my dish cheerfully brought me extra limes and later when she saw me drop a utensil, immediately came over with replacements and wiped up the splatter. All I could think about then was the time I accidentally knocked over a wineglass in an expensive restaurant and we mostly cleaned it up ourselves before anyone even noticed.
The lesson here is that service isn't always as highfalutin as crumbing a table or checking a wineglass for spots. Service is "whatever makes you happy and gets you the food," celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern said a few years ago at a restaurant panel I attended.
His example: a simple spleen sandwich shop in Italy. Its efficient service allows customers to enjoy the sandwich during the few minutes when the spleen is at its most delicious. It also meticulously wraps the gravy-laden sandwich so that it doesn't drip.
Zimmern's comment has made me pay particular attention to the smallest details in the humblest settings, and how they can add up to a better service experience than the grandest dining rooms in Manhattan. Lucky for me and my wallet, this has been happening more and more often.
