Where Are You a Regular?

[Honkman]

We are regulars in San Diego (where we live) at a few restaurants (Cafe Chloe, Alchemy, Linkery, Starlite, Urban Solace) and the staff recognizes us and we sometime get an extra dish or something for free. It also helps that some of the restaurants don't take reservations or reservations are hard to get and they often help us to get still a table. We also always like to have a very slow paced dinner anywhere we go and it is often necessary to explain this to new restaurants but at these places everybody knows our preferences and we can have a relaxed night. It also happens from time to time that a servers "warns" us that a particular special is not realy good if we are planning to order it.

We are also making a lot of short weekend trips to LA (much better restaurant scene than SD) and several restaurants there are starting to recognize us also and some of them call us some of their best customers (Animal, Bistro LQ (which hopefully will reopen soon), Providence, Hatfields, Tar Pit)

Edited April 6, 2011 by Honkman (log)

[lancastermike]

Any place that would have me as a regular, I would not care to go to.

(Thanks Groucho)

[suzilightning]

my comfort place, where i feel best able to walk in to eat, is about a mile from my house. The Warehouse Grill and all the folks working the bar know to bring me a non-alcoholic arnie palmer (if it is warm) or a mug of tea(if it is cool). other than that i order different things.

if i head for Thai Nam Phet (www.thainamphet.com) they see me and bring a Thai iced tea and the curry puffs then ask if i want anything else.

recently i have been going to Texas Smoke BBQ (www.texassmokebbq.com) on tuesdays after the gym and on the way to a meeting. when i walk in the owner asks me which empanadas i want. i am soooo prectible.

when we go to Quattros in Pleasant Valley it is so nice to just be able to talk to other folks about how they raise their animals and share recipes with them.

[Jenni]

My family have become "regulars" at a Turkish restaurant called "Oz" in Bristol, even though we don't go that often. The lady knows that my Mum and I often like to order a number of starter dishes each instead of a main, that I like plenty of cream with my baklava, that we will always order a lot, and she has also got used to my Dad's "interesting" sense of humour. Perks include a warm, familiar greeting when we come in (as of visiting relatives returning after a long time away), always giving us the same table, and the kind of friendly chat that one gets when your server knows the kind of things you like ("You know I told you my mother-in-law makes the best baklava? Well, she is in town so you must try tonight!" "That fish dish you like is on again, we're doing it very slightly differently now so let us know what you think."). And on my Mum's birthday, we were given a bottle of sparkling pink to take away.

[paulpegg]

My wife and I have become regulars at Eleven Madison Park in NYC. We only go there about a half dozen times a year but they never fail to recognize us. We usually get the same waiter and enjoy our short conversations with him. It doesn't hurt that I have invited myself into the kitchen and met more of the people behind all their fantastic food. Danny Meyers has built an empire based upon customer satisfaction and Eleven Madison is at the top of the pile.

[Peter Green]

I'd probably be considered a regular by the Four Seasons in Bangkok.

The perks? You'd think superb service, but the service is already very good to begin, so the differential isn't as much as you would thnk.

The most beneficial perk is that, as the Four Seasons staff are either rotated through properties, or poached to different operations, I keep on coming across people who remember me from those brunches and dinners, and can help me with what's happening at new (and old) venues around Thailand.

Well, okay, maybe the service is quite superb, too.

[janeer]

I'd probably be considered a regular by the Four Seasons in Bangkok.

It's a tough life.

[Gregg]

Smoke, a BBQ joint in Basalt, CO (slightly better than average food, killer staff)

Restaurant Six89 in Carbondale, CO (wonderful food, excellent staff, go if you have a chance)

Billy's in Lincoln, NE (good food, nice staff, super quaint and cozy, best Manhattan ever)

[Steve R.]

I guess that when you dont cook at home much and go out as regularly as we do, the answer to questions like this can be long. We're regulars at La Mancha (a Spanish place around the corner from where we live), Henry's End (a really nice upscale American food place in our neighborhood that has a game menu in winter and great soft shells at peak time), at Otto, at Chestnut, at Redhead (well, we've slipped a bit on this) & at Ali's Kebab Cafe. And, to a lesser extent (but where we're immediately recognized and greeted), at at least another 6-10 places (like at Devi/Tulsi, or anywhere that Hemant goes). Honestly, I'm not sure what we get out of each... some comped drinks and a better chance at a bar seat at Otto, some comped drinks/dishes at the others... but what we love getting out of each is the feeling of comfort that goes with being known and, therefore, feeling more at ease & being able to engage in conversations with others.

Guess we gotta get back to Locanda V. and finally get to Purple Yam, huh?

[Toliver]

Much to my chagrin, I discovered I'm a regular at my local Von's grocery store. This past weekend a checker there called me by my name even though I hadn't swiped my membership card, yet.

Of course, the checker has been there since rocks first cooled and I guess I have been a customer there since then, too.

[psiweaver]

ahh carbondale, co went to boarding school at a time there. I really liked a chinese place that was right near Colorado Rocky Mountain School. There was also a wonderful steakhouse type place that i enjoyed there.

[patrickamory]

I was recognized at the original Palm on Second Ave today and given one of those huge booths by the bar for a party of 3! Love those guys...

For smart ordering here, the ticket is the double strip for 3 people, rare.

[technophile50]

When I was in high school, a consistent group of us would go to a local Mom & Pop pizza place. We always got a "works" pizza, except some of the guys didn't like anchovies - one once said "they taste like guano". Pop, who worked the counter, would ask us if we wanted "your regular", and call out to his wife, "Two large works, hold the guano on one", laugh, and then we'd watch the room to see reactions from other customers.

The only place I'm a regular now is Dual Supply hardware store - Wes will make special orders for me, and before I retired would stay late if I called, so I could pick up stuff on my way home from work.