As I have written before my family is originally from New York, and as a descendant of The World’s Greatest City I consider myself to be something of a pizza snob.
There are few places on the planet that compare to the heavenly construct of even the most basic corner pizza place in NYC.
Even now as a 30 year resident of Southern California I continue to search for a great slice.
Great crust, fabulous sauce, and just the amount right combination of cheese all cooked to golden perfection.
Enter Mama D’s Italian Kitchen.
While reasonably priced food that also tastes good is a draw, that’s not why I go back to Mama D’s time after time.
You see, Mama D’s performs the amazing feat of creating an exceptional dining and service experience with a wait staff whose average age is, by all appearances, under 25.
Forty-five minute wait to be seated? Have some focaccia bread with garlic butter dip – on the house. Under a blanket if you’re chilly, with a magazine if you’d like.
Hands full with your to-go order? No worries because someone will be racing to the door to hold it open for you.
Here are more comments directly from Yelp:
The happiness level [while we waited for our table] rose another 40% when the calamari guy came around and offered fresh calamari and marinara to us as we sucked on our beers and perused magazines under the full moon.
The table next to us needed reading glasses for the menu, and a box came out with different glasses for them to borrow- something I’ve never seen before.
All the staff here is amazing. They even have a sign up that reads something like, voted the friendliest staff in OC. That is no lie. During our meal, staff members would come up, say hi, and ask if we needed anything.
Go for the food. Go back again and again for the service!
Mama D’s is the Nordstrom’s of Italian restaurants!
During one visit I had a chance to talk to the owner and asked him his secret.
How does he manage to extract that level of service and commitment from his young staff when so many businesses fail miserably?
“I want this to be the best job they have ever had, or will have,” he said.
How many leaders, in any industry, view their staff from this perspective?
What extraordinary behavior do you extract from employees when this becomes your primary goal?