Whats For Lunch?

As an entrepreneur, I'm always intrigued by small businesses, home-based or not, that exceed the expectations of their customers in a big way.

Let me tell you about one of them.

Recently I spent some time with my daughter in her college town of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We were spending the day getting her apartment ready for her return to school in the fall. When it was time for lunch, she wanted to take me to a restaurant in the small town of Northport, just to the north of Tuscaloosa.

Northport is one of those typical southern small towns whose downtown area has been converted into a delightfully quaint shopping area. Central to it is a restaurant called City Cafe.

What an experience.

We arrived at the location at 11:30 a.m. Typically I like going to restaurants for lunch at that time so that one can "beat the rush." I commented on this to my daughter before we arrived; she just laughed.

When we walked in, I understood why. I faced a room with

  • a lunch counter to the left (full)

  • booths to the right (full) and

  • a line that stretched all the way to the back wall and then circled around.

    Like visitors to Disney World, we automatically took our place at the end of the line. Then I began to look toward the front of the line and realized that it continued on into another room (which I couldn't see). So I asked my daughter, "where is the FRONT of this line?"

    Her response - "you'll see."

    Sheesh!

    So I began to look around at the diners surrounding me. Their plates were piled high with what can only be described as "down home Southern cooking." And the diners themselves? A quick glance around the room told me that this establishment attracted customers from every walk of life. At this moment, however, they all had one thing in common - the serious business of eating.

    Meanwhile, the aroma was making my mouth water. So I turned my attention back to the ultimate end of the line. When would I have my turn?

    About 15 minutes later we made our way to the next room. It was there I discovered that the front of the line ended at the doorway between this room and yet ANOTHER room. Both of these rooms had two rows of booths on either side. I didn't count them, but my estimate is about six on each side of the room, making about 24 booths in total. They could sit as many as four to a booth.

    I looked around for a hostess; there was none. Then I began to understand the system; you waited in line with your party, and when someone got up from one of these booths, you just went and sat down. Period.

    The waitress appeared at our table almost instantaneously, cleared off the previous diners' plates, wiped the table, and took our drink orders. Actually, what she said was, "Tea?" And you're an idiot if you order anything else. It's important to note here that if you order tea anywhere in the Deep South, it is understood that it comes iced and sweetened. If you want it any other way, you'd better tell them that.

    Time to check out the menu. It was at this time I realized that City Cafe operates five days a week only - Monday through Friday. The lunch menu consisted of your choice of entree and/or vegetables which you chose from the list for that particular day of the week. The price of the meal was determined by the number of vegetables and entrees you chose.

    This was Tuesday; my choices included fried green tomatoes. Who was I to pass this up? Beef tips with rice and steamed squash rounded out my meal, but I could just as easily have chosen from a dozen other tempting selections. It was tough to pass up the fried okra and steamed cabbage (my daughter chose the cabbage along with chicken-fried steak), but I was pleased with my meal. Dinner rolls and cornbread were, of course, provided as well.

    And the tea? Try drinking it to the bottom of the glass - won't happen at City Cafe. It's another person's job to make sure of that.

    The price for both our meals? I spent $10.75 - but $3.00 of that was a tip. No kidding. She and I had dined at a well-known restaurant chain the night before and the tip for that meal was the same as the price of the City Cafe meal itself.

    Guess which one I enjoyed the most?

    About The Author

    Cathy Bryant's newsletter, HomeBizJunction Herald, has just entered its fourth year of publication. Subscribe today by visiting her website, http://www.homebizjunction.com, and you will benefit from her practical, no-nonsense information on how YOU can achieve your dream of working from home!

    In The News:


  • pen paper and inkwell


    cat break through


    Basic Levels of Consumer Integrity that Presently Permeates Society

    Reality is not always pretty. But here is a tad... Read More

    Debt Elimination Scam

    May people these days have a problem with mounting debt.... Read More

    Five Ways To Wow Your Client

    Running a business is about providing goods and services to... Read More

    Your Voice Print

    "Mountains are built one pebble at a time and climbed... Read More

    Hit The Jackpot With Customer Complaints

    Our most powerful instinct is to avoid customer complaints, but... Read More

    Leverage Customer Capital First

    If you're still dreaming about raising outside capital for your... Read More

    Losing Angry Customers

    This article offers five ways to help you deal with... Read More

    Responding to Complaints

    It's possible that in the course of your business dealings,... Read More

    Passing the After-Sales Test

    Some time ago a major UK food retailer decided to... Read More

    Are You A Coward? I Was

    Over the last month, I have come to hate emails... Read More

    Adjustment DENIED

    It's just a simple thing ? I bought a new... Read More

    How To Boost Your Bottom Line With Two Little Words

    I hate to sound like one of those cheesy get-rich-quick... Read More

    We Sell For Less and Our Stores Are a Mess!

    What kind of image do you present when marketing your... Read More

    Cultivating the Trust Factor

    In today's highly competitive economy, it is difficult to maintain... Read More

    Have You Hugged a Customer Today?

    It all started a couple of weeks ago when a... Read More

    Make Sure You Get The Customer Perspective

    Businesses that fail, often forget to seek out the customer... Read More

    Writing The Book On Great Customer Service

    Q: One of the big chain bookstores recently opened up... Read More

    5 Golden Online/Offline Business Rules To LIVE Or DIE By

    Whether online or off, if you plan on running or... Read More

    Communicating Value

    Abstract: People buy for their reasons, not yours. This article... Read More

    Managing Your Business When One Client Takes Alot of Your Time

    How often has your schedule been thrown out of whack... Read More

    Accountability

    The Call Center world is an intense pressure-driven environment continually... Read More

    Customer Feedback: Everyone has an Opinion - USE IT!

    Have you ever been in a department store and known... Read More

    Your Actions Tell Your Clients How You Expect To Be Treated

    There is a widely accepted principle of human behavior that... Read More

    Get Customers to Stop Calling You--12 Easy Ways to Save Money with Online Customer Support

    Despite rumors to the contrary, the Web is not dead.... Read More

    Small Business Customer Service Can Work Against You

    Is the special treatment you designed specifically to keep customers... Read More

    Do You Want More Profits? - Follow The Golden Rules Of Providing Good Customer Service

    Last night I was at my computer and a Skype... Read More

    The death of customer servie

    The other day a reporter call to interview me on... Read More

    The History of CRM -- Moving Beyond the Customer Database

    Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is one of those magnificent concepts... Read More

    Customer Service and The Human Experience

    Historically, customer service was delivered over the phone or in... Read More

    Customer Service and Call Center Outsourcing, Whats The Buzz?

    The buzz is all about customer service and call center... Read More

    Customer Service - A Lost Art?

    Is customer service a lost art? Before you answer that... Read More

    The Number 1 Rule for Businesses - Be Professional

    Have you ever walked into a store and things looked... Read More

    The Great American Customer Service Unawareness Campaign

    Q: I'm so sick of you so-called business experts always... Read More