Every
summer, my family vacations on Cape Cod because, in the words of the old Patti
Page song, we're “fond of sand dunes and salty air/Quaint little villages here
and there....” As anyone who has visited
the area can tell you, behind each of those sand dunes stands a seemingly
endless string of restaurants and clam shacks with identical menus and
interchangeable names (Ahab's, Capt’n Parker's, The Yankee Clipper…). Each establishment boasts “The Cape's Best Lobsters/Chowder/Fried
Clams.” You can almost imagine that every
buttery lobster roll or fried seafood plate is cooked in the same gigantic
kitchen.
Yet,
for all of their similarities, some of these spots thrive year after year while
others last only to the end of the season.
Why do these restaurants have varying levels of success when they are
all offering the exact same menu? The difference is in the execution:
- The successful
spots offer exceptional hospitality.
Note the smiling hosts, caring managers, and well-trained servers. At
the shack with the longest line of diners, you never have to ask a
sluggish waiter to wipe ketchup from the duct taped vinyl booth or to
bring silverware with the meal.
- Success is also
based on operational systems that are simple and dependable. Sunburned
families can trust that their piping hot dinner will arrive at the table
before the cranky younger cousin finishes a second baggie of oyster
crackers.
- The best
restaurants are well tended with clean rest rooms, new looking menu boards,
and freshly painted trim. Patrons aren’t greeted by the unappetizing scent
of cheap disinfectant, stale beer, old cooking oil, or the dreaded “fishy”
smell.
Even
in the most casual settings, the secrets to success in hospitality are not a mystery.
Placing a premium on care, cleanliness, and
consistency makes all the difference. The companies who do this are the most
financially stable and earn an ever-growing fan base.
Having
returned to Chicago some ten pounds heavier, I find myself dreaming of my loved
ones, laughing around a table filled with succulent lobsters, a quahog or two,
and a round of ice cold beer. Patti Page was right:
If you spend an evening
you’ll want to stay
Watching the moonlight
on Cape Cod Bay.
