It is no secret that I love restaurants. I love restaurants of all shapes and sizes. I love expensive and inexpensive, big restaurants and small restaurants, different cuisines and concepts, indoor and outdoor, fancy and casual – I just love them. But that’s not to say I love every restaurant. I wish that were the case. I go into every restaurant with a sense of wonder and excitement and usually with high hopes of what they have in store for me and my experience.
I have come to realize that not everyone approaches restaurants the same way I do. Oftentimes, my high hopes turn into sadness or frustrated disappointments. And while I don’t set the bar extremely high, there are some basic expectations regarding guest experience that I feel very strongly about. And that every restaurant should deliver on them.
#1 – Care.
I need to feel like the restaurant cares about me. You know from your very first interaction whether or not a place actually cares about you and the experience they are providing.
#2 – Cleanliness.
Clean menus, clean tables and chairs, clean windows, clean floors, clean server station, clean parking lot and sidewalk and no, I am not a clean freak. Not at all actually. This just goes back to #1. If the restaurant cares about the experience they are providing and conveys this to their team and the team cares, then cleanliness would not be an issue.
#3 – Smiles.
Genuine smiles. Again, this goes back to #1. Restaurants are about celebration and joy and genuine smiles go hand in hand with that.
#4 – Knowledge.
Knowledge of the restaurant itself but also knowledge of the menu, the specials, what they’re out of, what’s good or popular, and basically a genuine and excited interest in what they’re serving and selling.
#5 – Consistency.
I don’t want to have to guess what kind of experience I am in for on any given night (or day). If I have been to this restaurant before, then I expect the food and service to be very similar to the one I had on a previous visit. After all, if I had already been there and now I am coming back, I am coming back because I enjoyed it the first time and therefore want to do it again. Which again, goes back to #1 – if the restaurant cares about the experience they are providing, they’ll be sure that it’s consistent every time.
With these 5 characteristics in mind, there are two local (to me) restaurants that check off all these boxes, every time.
Burton’s Grill in Hingham, MA
While I wouldn’t exactly call Burton’s a “local” restaurant as there are several locations among a few states, for a “chain restaurant”, this one is exceptional. And apparently, I am not the only one who knows this as they often run a 45 minute wait at 5PM on a Monday night. And I am not talking about a Holiday Monday – I am saying every Monday… and Tuesday, and Wednesday and then the wait just increases and gets earlier from there. But I will tell you… WORTH IT. The staff, the food, the atmosphere exudes that they are there for the pleasure of their customers. I would call it “upscale casual” as the atmosphere and menu somewhat resemble an upscale American SteakHouse, however you would be just as comfortable going there dressed in your athleisure attire with a couple of girlfriends after a day of shopping or yoga.
Their loyalty program is great, better than any other I have seen, and I am not sure they need it as I’d still frequent this place a couple of times a week even without it.
I have been going to Burton’s weekly for years. Have they always been perfect? Nope. But here’s the thing… when they have made mistakes, they fix them. And they fix them with kindness, humility, and generosity… because they care.
This place is a home run and I plan on continuing to frequent this establishment for as long as it is geographically possible. I think every town should have a Burtons.
3 Brothers Bar & Grill in Hanover, MA
Unlike my tenured experience with Burton’s, I just discovered this place. And it’s been around for a few years. And I drive by it all the time. It just had never dawned on me that I should try it. Why? Well, from the outside view (it’s located in a small strip mall), and also the name, it suggested it was more of a casual “pizza” place and we’ve got those places by the boatload around here. So, for years, I have been driving by this place, noticing it was there, but it was never front of my mind in terms of “I need to try that place!”.
And then one day, a friend casually mentioned they liked their salads. And I thought, “I like salads. Maybe I’ll try it one day.” And then my son told me that one of his friend’s busses tables there and again I thought, “Maybe we’ll try it one day soon”. And finally, on one recent Spring evening, my kids and I were out later than usual on a school night, after their respective sports had finished, and we were in the area so I said, “let’s try 3 Brothers”.
I was shocked. Actually, we were shocked. This isn’t a take-out pizza place like I had thought. This is a full-service restaurant where the owners clearly spent some good money on building it out and maintaining it. The restaurant was lovely. Large windows that opened onto a patio for outdoor seating, heavy, durable, comfortable furniture that clearly has been taken care of, big beautiful bar in the center, booths in the back – just very nice and I felt “embraced” as I stepped into the dining room.
The host was very welcoming, asked our preference for seating, smiled as she handed out the menus, and all around it was a great first impression. The rest of the service was nice, very timely, and knowledgeable. And then came the food… and this was the part that really blew me, and my kids, away. Now, the menu isn’t necessarily “exciting” but that’s perfectly ok as this was a quick dinner on a Wednesday night and exciting is not what we were in the mood for. We just wanted it to be good and recognizable. This food went way beyond that. This was pub food done extremely well. My daughter and I had burgers and they were so juicy, which is almost unheard of when you order them medium-well, the roll was fresh perfectly aligned with the good size burger, and the French fries were hot and crispy and perfectly salted. My son had their take on a chicken parmigiana sandwich and given the fact that he almost always orders this in any restaurant we go to that offers it, he’s a connoisseur, and he loved it.
Now, if you’re thinking “how hard is it to cook a burger or make a sandwich” I’d answer, “very”. I am one of those people that believe restaurants are only as good as the most boring dish on their menu – which is the one I usually order. I guess I want to know that the restaurant cares equally for their “boring” or less expensive dishes as they do for their fancy-pants entrees. And oftentimes, I am disappointed because I can plainly see if they only added a burger to their menu because they felt like they had to, and not because they wanted to. 3 Brothers is not a burger place, but they serve one of the best burgers I’ve ever had.
And don’t get me started on the desserts… WOW. I would have expected vanilla ice cream in a bowl or over-refrigerated, store-bought, dried-out, chocolate cake. Nope. Their desserts were unbelievable, homemade (as far as I can tell) and some of the best we’ve ever had – anywhere. I was not expecting that and so pleasantly surprised that I still think of those desserts today.
As I said earlier, our first time at 3 Brothers was about 6 weeks ago. We have now been 3 times and every single visit is the same… the place looks great, the service staff is smiling, knowledgeable, and genuine, and the food is consistently great. All boxes checked. And we can’t wait to go back.
Why do you LOVE a Particular Restaurant?
And there you have it! Two of my local, favorite restaurants and why.
So the next time you go out, as soon as you hang up the phone from making a reservation, or as soon as the Host seats you at your table, or maybe it’s just after you place your order at the counter – ask yourself, “do they care about me?” The answer will immediately come to you. You will know based on how you feel. And I believe that it is the most important job a restaurant has – the job of making each guest feel special and important.
Or not. BUt then, why would I rush back? And how much does it cost to make someone feel like you care? Nothing. It costs nothing but it means everything.
I’d love to hear about your experiences and I may even add your story to my book, Profit First for Restaurants! Please email me at Kasey@ProfitFirst4Restaurants.com.
