The last folks to dine on the patio were a group of 7 or 8. They had driven into the city from Plainfield to celebrate a birthday, with the big birthday dinner being at Xoco. Unfortunately, the birthday girl’s modified milanesa was not correct (we only got 2 of the 3 requested modifications.) We refired, and while Chef Glenn and Tiffany Ward (TW- one of the all time greats on the wood-burning oven) made sure the replacement was out ASAP, I stayed outside with the table as they were asking all kinds of RB-related questions. It turns out the girl’s parents had come to FG for the first time twenty years ago. They had to wait a few hours for the table, even back in the day. From what I understood of their story, they then ordered one type of fish and received another. To compensate, the manager back then had written on a business card, “Front of the line,” and their next visit to Frontera Grill they impressed the couple dining with them by not having to wait at all for a table.
I thought it was remarkable because their story was a perfect example of our hospitality mantra, “The guest will not always remember what they ate, drank, etc, but they will never forget how we make them feel.” With that story informing my next actions, I put in a comp2mgr ticket for 7 churros, which Wendy made in the shape of a heart. Chef Jennifer and Abby wrote “happy birthday” in chocolate on one of the long dessert platters, and we plated the heart shaped churros with chocolate and cajeta for dipping. We brought this outside with a candle and sang happy birthday to the young lady. 20 years down the line, I hope her memory is as good as her parents!
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