Where Everybody Knows Your Name

The other night, my wife and I had the awesome opportunity of going to dinner with customer service expert, Jeff Toister and his wife.  You’ll all be pleased to learn that we really kept the nerdy customer service talk to a minimum.  We met up at a fabulous Italian restaurant called Antica Trattoria right in our neighborhood.

I knew Jeff and his wife really enjoyed this restaurant but didn’t realize they had been faithfully going there for the better part of a decade.  Throughout the course of the evening it became very apparent why they are loyal customers.  Here’s what I observed:

1. The atmosphere was amazing- The outside of the restaurant, located in a rather unassuming storefront, gives way to an authentic and charming interior– giving you every indication that you are about to enjoy a terrific dining experience.

2. The food was top notch- Great service and atmosphere only go so far if you don’t have a quality product.  The food at Antica Trattoria is wonderful and their new menu was fresh and exciting.  That in and of itself was reason to come back.

3. Everybody knows your name- It quickly became apparent that Jeff and his wife are regulars.  Every server in the restaurant at least came by and said “Hello” and our main server spent quite a bit of time talking about life with us.  The owner even paid us a visit and thanked us for dining in his restaurant.  How cool and how rare is that?

As I was thinking about this experience, I could not get the Cheers theme song out of my head.

Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.
Wouldn’t you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,
and they’re always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.

You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name.

Did I mention that the bartender sang an opera version of “Happy Birthday” to one lucky guest?  Maybe I should go back and ask him to sing this song in opera.  The fact of the matter is, Antica Trattoria understands what it takes to get and to keep customers.  It all starts with being a place where everyone knows your name.  Now that they know my name, I will certainly return–very soon.

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