By Gary Malicki
Great Customer Service and a Memorable Birthday Dinner
One of my favorite things about sharing my EVL Village Life stories is when something unexpected happens.
I’m very in-tune with exceptional customer service and when it happens, I often create a social media post to recognize it. Technically, this story begins about four months ago when some friends offered to treat us to dinner at ‘Villagio’. Since my wife is afflicted with a garlic allergy, we called ahead to place them on alert. We connected with the manager, Andrea, who assured us that a great dish could be arranged minus that bulbous flowering irritating plant that so many people love. The short version…Andrea took the time which maximized our experience.
Flash forward with me back to Villagio with my wife and son to celebrate my birthday. It was on a Sunday and I chose to sample their all-you-can-eat pasta bar being commandeered by Corey, the very hard-working pasta chef. Our terrific server, Mike, said he would swing by to let us know when the meals would be arriving so we could dine at the same time. Who could have guessed that a very large party would create a long line at the pasta bar which, inadvertently, threw off the timing?
Recognizing the awkward situation, Mike escorted me to a closer position in line and strategically placed me to stand behind a young man. Mike knew him to be a new bus boy who worked there but on this evening he was there as a patron, not a worker. I also thanked the couple behind me for the accommodation as it was like cutting in line but with permission to do so.
The young man I was placed in back of turned to me and said, “Good evening, sir. How are you today?” I responded in kind, so impressed with his respectful demeanor. I let him know that I was told he was a bus boy at the restaurant and said, “That’s a hard job.” He replied “Yeah, you have to be fast”. He said his name was Parker and that he was a sophomore at Ellicottville Central High School. I told him it was my birthday and he wished me a happy one. We had a most pleasant and unexpected conversation while standing in that line. He said he really enjoyed the people he worked with, “they’re all very nice”.
I really felt this chance exchange with Parker was really significant as I assumed most fifteen-year-olds at his current station in life are either yacking it up with friends or have their eyes glued to an iPhone. But not this courteous and bright young person. This moment gave me real hope about the current state of our youth and hope for the future. I was so impressed with him and appreciated his permission for me to take his picture for the little story of this chance meeting.
Before leaving, we met up with Andrea once again who told us that Parker was one of their newer bussers and doing a great job. I’m not surprised. Before heading for the door, he actually got up from his table to shake my hand and told me that it was a pleasure meeting me. Actually, the pleasure was all mine.
As a little side-note, The Girls of Grosh were performing there that evening and, among many great tunes, blew me away with a fabulous rendition of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Over the Hills and Far Away’ (one of my all-time favorite songs).
A great chance encounter, a tasty meal, a superb staff and good music made this evening perfection.