by Donna Calner
Many of us know someone who can be found in rural restaurants every day (or even multiple times a day): the retired farmers and widows who breakfast at the place the rest of us call. House of knowledge. New moms who meet for coffee and complete sentences and quickly leave when it’s time for bed. Old couple who will take their lunch to the corner table as long as one of them can drive.
Regulars rub elbows with businessmen, sales reps, long-lost relatives, hunters and fishermen, tourists and motorists, motivated to find dive bars and diners.
Also important to the mix are those of us who often eat less. And we want to support our supper clubs and casino restaurants, taverns and truck stops, barbecue joints and any other kind of mom-and-pop places that serve food. Because they are important to our rural communities.
The hospitality industry is tough everywhere, but even more so where the population is thin. Here, a neighborhood is measured in miles rather than blocks so a restaurant is likely a destination rather than a stop along the way. Here, average incomes are probably lower than in more urban areas but food costs can be higher. Here, the labor pool may be considerably smaller. Where a volunteer fire department takes longer to arrive, insurance premiums reflect that. Where municipal service does not reach, a restaurant owner needs a water well and septic system. Where it takes longer to restore power after an outage, a restaurant owner risks losing everything in their cooler if they don’t install a backup generator.
There is little we as consumers can do to address many of the concerns that give restaurant owners sleepless nights. But there are some simple things we can do to show our appreciation to rural restaurants and their employees. Here are five.
Make it mindful. Your presence is a transaction, but yours Patronage A relationship that supports a local business and local family. A friend of mine eats out almost every day instead of cooking for one. It’s not just about food. Most of the time, he plans to eat with people he cares about as he makes it a point to nurture relationships. When he is alone, he engages with those whose paths cross his that day. He makes others feel that they are important and valuable. He works this magic at local restaurants, making more than the check amount. Patronage creates a symbiosis between a restaurant and the larger rural community.
On a smaller scale, Bill and I became more conscious of our eating decisions. For example, we now meet friends who have dietary restrictions at a local restaurant instead of entertaining at home so they can choose what to eat (plus I don’t have to “clean” the house). With another friend, a chance to meet up for a meal later took us out of the house and into the gym in the winter.
Create memories. My family didn’t go out to eat when I was little, so I have special memories of times like dipping french fries in ketchup with my dad. And as an adult, I treasure the memories made at the local restaurant—like Jonah, as a toddler in a high chair at Kubah, with long eyelashes and a magnetic smile that drew women of a certain age across the room as they waited for their fish to be fried.
We have fond memories of a previous incarnation of a place just up the road. Back when we were working 80 hour weeks in the outdoor entertainment business, we would go to Porky’s Place on Sunday nights. It was a traditional Wisconsin tavern: burgers and fries. Patti Cline on the jukebox. A cup of dice on the counter for The shake of the day. When Porky was working alone, he would pour our beers, take our orders, “order up” by going to the half-door between the bar and the kitchen. Then he can serve drinks and take orders for someone else. But soon he pokes his head into the kitchen and “discovers” that the “cook” is “sleeping” there. He will disappear to wake up any good lazy so-and-so. When someone came back to the kitchen it was our job, as usual, to keep the word that he had gone to wake up the cook. He reappears shortly with our food, shaking his head at how hard it is to get good help.
Manage expectations. Not every meal brings a floor show like Porky’s. But each place has its own characteristics. Know them regularly. Others may not, but we can manage our expectations. For example, there are still addresses in my neck of the woods where it’s difficult to tune in to a major sporting event. During the playoffs, it’s wise to check game schedules before planning to meet a soft-spoken or hard-of-hearing friend for dinner at a restaurant.
Someone coming from a place with many more options may think their expectations are reasonable until they meet the reality of a rural restaurant. The supper club we go to on our anniversary doesn’t take reservations – not by phone, not by app. When you arrive, you go to the bar and list your party for a table. wait In warm weather, we wait outside on the deck overlooking the lake while enjoying an adult beverage. Here, the stars of the floor show are usually loons but sometimes a float plane takes off or lands on the lake. After a while, someone comes out to take your order. Later, they come back to tell you your table number. When you walk in, your table is set up with a Tasting tray. Then comes the salad, then the entrée, then the tempting tray of dessert options. The speed is means Make food an occasion.
Imagination and reality. It takes hard work to create the impression that everything is relaxed. According to the National Restaurant Association, 63% of adults have worked in the restaurant industry. We should have some insight into what is going on behind the scenes. We can be better at recognizing how we, as patrons, can make an experience memorable in a better way.
For example, one restaurant owner I spoke with was slammed by several unexpectedly large groups on a Friday night. Like most places here, they don’t take reservations. But they appreciate a call when a large group plans to come. This gives the restaurant the opportunity to call another server, thaw more fish, or even adjust what’s in their next meal delivery.
It doesn’t take that much effort to imagine how things feel on the restaurant side. While the barista waits in a line back up to order, the blender drinks really what do you want When they are refilling the salt shaker, what are they trying to stop? When the weather’s bad and you’ve got nothing better to do than hang out, what doesn’t it cost a server to turn that table?
be kind Social media and online reviews give customers the opportunity to expand their experience. This can be great for a rural restaurant – or not so great. And even a great place has a bad day from time to time. Mother used to say, if you can’t say something good, don’t say anything. So say something nice about the restaurant in your rural community. Share good thoughts in Facebook groups everyone monitors for local gossip. Save constructive criticism for when you can have a personal talk with the owner or manager and they might appreciate it.
Donna Calner writes from Langlade County in rural northern Wisconsin.
this Article appeared first The Daily Yonder and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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Previously published with dailyyonder.com Creative Commons License
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