Recently, I was sitting in on a weekly managers meeting at the West Hollywood-RFD. I was gathered round a table in the back of the dining room with my management staff when a one of our guest approached the table.  She placed her hand on the arm of Andrew, who is a dining room floor supervisor. She leaned in and whispered sweetly, “I had a lovely conversation with your mother the other day Andy.”  Andrew’s cheeks turned multiple shades of red.
Good restaurant managers never miss a trick.  In unison, everyone at the table said,

“How does she know your mother?”

Andrew proceeded to tell of us about a recent busy evening when an unfamiliar couple stopped in for dinner. The lady had plans to use her RFD Birthday Club Card. For those of you who aren’t a member yet, the RFD B’day Club gives you ten dollars off your meal during the month of your birthday.  If interested, click here to sign up.

When it came time to square off with the bill and redeem her card, she realized she’d forgotten to bring the card. In a moment of uncertainty, she asked her server to send over the manager.  She braced herself to explain her dilemma and plead her case.  To her surprise, Andrew without hesitation offered to honor the discount in lieu of having the card. As a restaurateur and an appreciator of quality service, I love hearing a story such as this one.

This is what we call “WOW” service @ RFD!

We aim to exceed guest’s expectations every time.  Like any restaurant sometimes we hit it out of the park (like this time.)  And I’ll be the first to confess sometimes we have less than stellar days.  Andrew raised our bar of excellence by graciously taking care of this situation. The couple was wowed! I could see it in their faces days later as they ate with us again.

In an attempt to let Andrew know how moved they were, they asked if he would mind if they called his mother.  They wanted to let her know the kind of exceptional service her son gives. For a split second, Andrew was a little concerned by the thought of strangers calling his mom. But, hospitality and love prevailed.  He agreed to give them his mother’s phone number.  Next day, the lady calls his mother.  And wouldn’t you know it, you get two great women on the horn and they hit it off and made plans to have lunch together.

We’d like to share this current photograph taken of Andrew with his mother. All of us here at RFD appreciate this gracious couple, for the action they took to pay it forward!