You Snooze...You Lose

Yesterday was my birthday. I love birthdays. Who doesn't like being greeted all day by your family and friends with a hearty "Happy Birthday"? Even strangers will go along when they find out it's your special day. Plus, Angie always goes out of her way to make sure everything is to my liking. This year, Meredith even came home over the weekend to celebrate with me. Daniel bought me not one, but two cookie cakes. And John grilled me a burger. I really couldn't have asked for anything more.

Usually, when a family member celebrates around here, we'll make the dessert that they want, take them out to eat wherever they want, etc; and yesterday was no exception. Angie made my favorite dessert...pumpkin bars. She learned the recipe from watching Paula Deen on the Food Network. They are sooooo delicious!


mmmm...pumpkin bars

For supper, we went to eat earlier than typical because Angie had to leave for work at 6:40. I wanted to eat light because John had offered to grill me a hamburger (his specialty). So, we opted for sushi. I figured I could eat a sushi roll and still have room for a burger later. We decided to go to Kyoto. Unfortunately, that was a big mistake.

I used to love this place. Unlike the other sushi bar in Monroe, Kyoto's atmosphere is more subdued and suitable for my tastes. However, over the last two years, the service has been hit or miss....mostly miss. Obviously others have felt the same way because I noticed that Kyoto has changed its menu. (When people quit going to a restaurant, isn't that one of the ways to lure them back?) At any rate, we entered the restaurant behind a couple of young ladies, who were promptly seated. A waiter walked up to the host station, never made eye contact, and asked "Three?" I could immediately sense that Angie wasn't pleased with his introductory skills because she sarcastically stated to him...with a smile...."Hi, how are you?" He got the message.

He escorted us to a table and sat us in the main dining area. Our table and the table with the two young ladies were the only ones occupied. After ten minutes of no welcome, no service, we began to get anxious. The young ladies were greeted by a waiter and served their drinks. We, on the other hand, were offered no service. I did observe three different people in the dining room...the manager and two waiters. However, they were preoccupied with lighting candles on all of the tables. None of them offered to assist us...no greeting...no water...no service. Well, before 15 minutes had passed, we decided to leave. If the place would have been busy, I could understand. But they had more waiters than they had customers...and, yet, not one offered to serve us. As we left, I saw the owner sitting at the bar visiting with someone. When we made eye contact, he said, "Thank you!" I thought to myself, "He is painfully unaware that he just lost three customers...forever."

Where did we go? The China Cafe on Louisville. When we entered, we were immediately greeted by Rachel...hostess/waitress extraordinaire. She will go above and beyond to make your dining experience pleasant. Angie mentioned that it was my birthday and Rachel slyly went around me and began whispering to Angie. (I knew something was up but I didn't know what was coming.) Our meal was delivered promptly and it was so good! After we finished, I walked to the counter to pay our bill, but Rachel motioned for me to sit back down. A few seconds later, she presented me with fresh watermelon slices, a sliced orange, several fried biscuits, and a lit candle! She even sang "Happy Birthday" to me. Rachel understands something that the clods at Kyoto still haven't learned. Your customers are your livelihood. Make them happy...they come back and they bring others. Treat them wrong...they never come back and they tell other people about their bad experience. I'll be back to the China Cafe really soon and I hope you can go with me. As for Kyoto, "Sayonara!"

By the way, John made me a burger later last night that was nothing less than spectacular. I have to admit that I almost couldn't eat it. After eating triple delight, General Tso chicken, moo shoo chicken, some watermelon, an orange, a biscuit, some cookie cake, and a pumpkin bar....I was dangerously close to popping.

Do ya think you could get me some stretchy pants for my next birthday?