What Makes a Restaurant Work?

Restaurants seem to be a type of bellwether as to the economy. They’re one of the first new things to open and one of the first new things to close. They tend to be a leading indicator of how things are going locally. The fact that a couple of new ones that aren’t a part of a chain have opened in Hickory is a good thing.

I’m not sure why restaurants tend to be so responsive to business cycles. Other than my very first “real” job at Kentucky Fried Chicken, I’ve never worked in food service. That job lasted for two of the longest weeks of my life, and it didn’t take long to figure out that I needed more than $2.05 an hour to keep continually frying the tips of my fingers, even in 1977.

One new restaurant locally is on the square downtown called Josh’s on Union Square. Locating a restaurant on the square is, in itself, an act of faith given the lack of anything else to draw people there. Other than two or three restaurants, most everything downtown closes up about 5:30. Several restaurants have tried to make a go of it over the last few years, and this one is even in the place of a failed restaurant, but has been sufficiently remodeled and changed so that you don’t look at it and go, “Oh, that’s an old Pizza Hut turned Japanese restaurant.”

This one I predict will make it. The food was very good for the price, but more importantly the service was excellent. The hostess meets everyone at the door and greets you pleasantly, and wait staff are attentive and pleasant. They’re chatty, but not intrusive. I especially like the fact that the owner’s father was going through the dining room greeting people and making sure that everything was acceptable.

One night when we ate dinner there, our meals seemed to take an exceptionally long time to come. We were engaged in conversation with friends, so it wasn’t a big deal, but soon the waitress came over with a tray of drinks that we hadn’t ordered. She explained that there’d been a slight mishap in the kitchen (probably explained by a loud crash that we’d heard earlier), offered apologies and a round of drinks on the house and said our food would be there shortly.

That is a classy way to deal with a delay. It wasn’t necessarily the drinks, although that certainly brightened the conversation – it was more important that we received communication that explained the situation. After all, things happen – that’s forgivable. But we weren’t left like airline passengers sitting on the runway wondering both what was going on and when we might expect a change in conditions.

They were also offering a new weekend brunch option, so we decided to try that with the family the next weekend.

Wow. A prix fix menu (something that only people with teenagers can truly appreciate almost as much as the words, “all you can eat”) with an appetizer, an entrée and a desert.

The selections were varied enough that you could decide if the meal was going to be more breakfast or lunch (such as an omelet versus chicken and pasta in an Alfredo sauce). Above all, though, the service was again excellent with our waiter assisted by two others who had primary responsibility for other tables but were obviously assigned to backup for our group of seven.

This restaurant, I think, will make it despite a tough location unless something terrible happens. The experience was enjoyable enough that it’s worth going back downtown. Unlike many other restaurants locally, every time we’ve been there they’ve been busy, and they’ve been open long enough that it’s not just the “new place” buzz.

Josh’s is a nice place. The prices are reasonable, the bartender talented and the ambiance is nice. Most importantly, though, the service is excellent and you truly feel as though they are glad to see you walk through the door.

It’s worth a trip downtown, even after dark.