A Regular Customer Knows the Menu Better Than His Own Staff — He’s a Little Embarrassed, But Grateful
Pexels/Reddit
Regular customers can sometimes surprise you.
In this story, an employee noticed a long-time customer seemed to know the restaurant menu better than some of the staff.
He even helped a new hire explain dishes correctly and handled a mistaken table like a pro.
While he felt slightly embarrassed, he also appreciated how helpful and polite the loyal customer always was.
Read the full story below to find out more.
We have a regular who knows our menu better than some of our staff and honestly I have mixed feelings about it
This guy, I will call him Ron, has been coming in every Thursday night for like two years straight.
Same section. Usually the same table if it is open.
He always orders the same thing to start.
Then, he switches it up for his entree.
Meet Ron…
He is super polite. He is an easy table and a good tipper. No complaints.
The thing is, Ron knows our menu inside and out. I mean, he actually knows it.
Not just in a “I come here a lot” way.
He knows which dishes have nuts, which ones can be made dairy free.
He knows what the soup of the day usually rotates through.
He knows which apps the kitchen takes longer on during a rush.
This man was training a new hire, and they stopped at Ron’s table.
A few weeks ago, I was training a new hire.
I was walking her through the floor during a slower Thursday.
Ron was already seated. She stopped at his table to introduce herself.
She wanted to practice her menu spiel, which was sweet.
She got a little turned around on the modification options.
This was for one of our pasta dishes.
Another customer thought Ron was part of the staff.
Ron calmly and politely filled in the answer for her.
He was correct. He gave more detail than I would have.
She looked at me. I just kind of shrugged.
Last week, a different table flagged Ron down by mistake.
They thought he was staff. He handled it so naturally. He pointed them toward me.
Then, he went back to his bread.
Now, he’s not sure how to feel about this.
I genuinely do not know how to feel about this.
On one hand, Ron is lovely. He has never been weird about it.
On the other hand, I am a little embarrassed.
A Thursday regular has a better retention rate on our menu.
This is better than people I have trained for three weeks.
He loves it when Ron comes there to eat.
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He came in last night. I thanked him for the help with the new girl.
He said, “Oh, I just like the food. I pay attention.”
Thursdays are my favorite shift.
I think Ron is part of why.
Ron sounds like a dream customer.
He is not only loyal, but he pays attention and stays respectful to the staff… and somehow he became an unofficial menu expert of the restaurant.
You know you’re serving good food and offering great customer service when someone like Ron visits your place regularly.
Do you agree? Let’s read the responses of other people to this story.
This user shares their personal thoughts.
Here’s another honest opinion.
Another person chimes in.
He sounds incredibly smart, says this one.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a restaurant employee who decided to put the staff over customers despite the official policy.
Finally, short and simple.
Looks like their employee of the month isn’t an employee, but a customer.
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