We took a walk down the Santa Monica pier yesterday evening, and decided to have dinner at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. The restaurant, themed after characters in the Forrest Gump movie, isn’t intended to be fine dining, but definitely achieves fun dining.
Not being a food critic, I can’t really comment on the shrimp (everything tasted okay to me), but I did see some outstanding examples of terrific restaurant customer service.
I was a little skeptical at first. The hostess who greeted us was fairly perfunctory, and led us to a table. No smile, no eye contact – we were just a couple more customers that needed seats. Moments later, however, a terrific young server came by and won us over instantly. He had a big smile, and made a point to ensure that we understood how the restaurant worked (it has some really funky features), and helped us with our drink order. Really pleasant, and quite intent on making sure that we were comfortable.
Part way through the meal, he approached us and introduced us to a young woman, explaining that he was on his way home, but that she would be looking after us. “She’s a lot better than I am, so I know you’ll be treated right,” he said. True to his word, we were indeed treated right.
I watched the other serving staff buzzing about, and saw that all of them, without exception, were engaging their customers, laughing and creating a really fun atmosphere. It made for a fun evening. Well done!
