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DEL.ICIO.USService With a Smile
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABOVE: DUDE, where’s my Jell-O? The cafeteria is the place to go for great service.
Photo: Andy Sharp/AJC staff
The hairnets. The missing teeth. Those long, drawn, Southern accents that sound like Tim Blake Nelson in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
There’s really nothing quite like a trip to the cafeteria. I went to an S & S for the first time in years last week (this was after spending most of the afternoon at the emergency room at the VA Hospital, so go figure).
I have wonderful memories of eating at the cafeteria when I was a kid — the carving station with the roast beef absolutely fascinated me, and those little potatoes that are served with it? Well, I would think about it all through church. I always started with my tray pointed towards the Jell-O, though. Back then, it was almost always red (what flavor is red?) and had Cool Whip or Rich’s whipped topping squirted all over the jiggling cubes.
And then there was dessert: chocolate cream pie with miles of meringue piled on top, all cut so perfectly into clean, neat slices.
Let’s face it, my taste in food has, well, changed a little since the days when I could get high on Jell-O. But I had a perfectly good meal that night (fried chicken, green beans, salad and one of those fluffy, buttery, roll-like things that serve as bread.)
The thing that struck me was the service. It was excellent. The only place in Atlanta I’ve had more attentive, pleasant service is the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead. The Dining Room is exquisite, and offers a dining experience unparalleled in the city, but I have to say that S & S is going one on one with them on service.
Everyone behind the serving line was pleasant and polite, but not gushingly so. Once seated, a server made sure we always had enough water and iced tea, and brought us whatever we needed whenever we asked for it. He was seriously Mr. Johnny-on-the-Spot, and delivered the goods like a stealth Navy Seal — often we didn’t even know we needed something until he got it for us. At no time did anyone intrude, tell us their name without us asking, bend down to the table as if we were toddlers and explain the day’s specials, spill anything on us, or act put off in any way, like maybe they’d rather be, oh I don’t know, yachting off the coast of Greece or something. When we had a question, there was a prompt, polite answer. It was perfect: other than the smiles, we had no idea we were being waited on, until what we needed just showed up or was anticipated.
It was an S & S Cafeteria. Four of us ate for $30.
Have you encountered really great service in a place you least expected it? Where?
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Dining
Comments
By Lily Toad
March 26, 2008 4:50 PM | Link to this
Did you really have to add the “missing teeth”? The rest of your sentence, although stereotyping, wasn’t as insulting. But still, if S&S reads your opening sentence, do you think the people who gave you such good service would like it? If not, ask yourself if you would make that kind of comment in front of the people you are talking about.
By meridith ford
March 27, 2008 12:31 PM | Link to this
Good comment, Lily Toad. Thanks for keeping me in line. You’re right.