What makes a restaurant special?
Is it the people, is it the food, is it the vibe?
I love going out to dinner. For me the kind of place and experience can vary a lot, but usually it means table service and eating something I would not make for myself at home. And, if possible, I like to sit at the bar. The service is always better to me.
Here are some aspects of dining that I tend to notice and make me want to return…or not.
The owner is usually there
I know this one is hard. Especially for smaller shops. When you own a small business, you do everything…at least for a while. But, to me, when you go into a restaurant and the owner is there, it reminds you of why you are dining there. People. COVID-19 made this even more clear to me. (But holy moly that is a whole other subject and article.) When the owner is running food, seating guests or some other front-of-house task, guests see that their support is going for something very special. To me, it’s the same if we’re talking about a diner, a takeout spot or a neighborhood bistro. Seeing the person whose whole world is wrapped up in this place that takes your troubles away and makes you happy, that matters.
The playlist
Whether it’s yacht rock at a fun and breezy bar or Dean Martin at an old school spot, the music they play is important to me. I wrote about this way back in 2012 after my first visit to PABU at The Four Seasons. “I am way into the vibe of a place. To me, it’s right up there with service and food & drink. At PABU, the music struck me as odd at first…Moby, Fleetwood Mac and an Amy Winehouse cover…followed by Beck, Blondie and The Clash. That may sound like a weird mix, but once I got used to its randomness, it just worked”. So, as seemingly fancy as PABU might have felt at first blush – I mean, it was in the Four Seasons Hotel and it was not cheap – the music perfectly reflected the Izakaya (casual Japanese bar) vibe and put everyone at ease. They understood the assignment very clearly.
Service
I waited tables in my 20s at a popular bar in Baltimore. A friend of mine was a bartender there and vouched for me (I had the tiniest smidge of experience) and almost immediately I was there serving burgers, salads, wings, quesadillas – the usual casual pub fare. At the time, craft beer was just hitting its stride, so there was a very long list of draft beers, which I read out loud at the table and I was never shy about not knowing the ever-changing list by heart. I think that kind of endeared me to guests in a way because they wouldn’t remember the entire list either! I think that’s the thing. When you’re a server, you should do a really good job getting guests everything they need but never be so stiff that you don’t seem like a human. Smile, inflect, be yourself, but always be professional. There’s a line there and even in that casual neighborhood bar, I knew where it was and I never crossed it. As a diner, it feels good to know that the server cares and that they want to help you have a positive experience. From the server-guest exchange, you can often tell if they like working there and if they were being treated well by the owners and/or managers. That is huge for me. I feel like I am good with vibes and they make me either want to come back soon or never, ever again.
A tight menu
A huge menu is one of my big (and few) restaurant pet peeves. Right up there with cold butter and being rushed through the meal. For me, a tight menu – let’s say 8-12 appetizers/salads/soups and 8-10 entrees is spot on. Around there, anyway. I want the restaurant to help guide me to what they do best and what they want me to experience as a diner. I find expansive menus to be completely overwhelming and unnecessary. Please tell me what's good.
What are some of the things you love about your favorite restaurants?