Closing Times, Late Guests & Customer Service

When restaurants close seems to be a squishy thing. Many establishments close at their posted times come hell or high-water. Some places close their doors early if they're having a slow night. I hate when I walk into one of those- rushing to get in at a reasonable time before closing, only to find out that they already did. Others shut down their kitchen before they actually stop accepting people- you can have a drink or coffee and dessert, but no dinner. I once had a restaurant tell me that even though it was opened for another 15 minutes I could get food from them but only as take out. At Shevek & Co. we do NOT have a closing time, we have a time when we will do our last seating- which is the time we post. This can be inconvenient, since it takes an hour and half to two hours minimum to dine with us. But as long as someone doesn't push it- like their being told our last seating IS at, say 9pm, and then they show up at 9:15- we have no problem staying late. (Showing up late like that is just rude.)We want every guest to have a dining experience as opposed to fueling by simply eating food. For that they could have gone to McD's. But we also eventually want to go home.

We are open later than many of the local restaurants. One way I know this is by how many people walk into my place saying they were told I would still be open at some other restaurant. We accept the business gladly. Besides, waitstaff know that later diners often tip better. We even have accepted guests after we have started cleaning the kitchen. Tonight was a perfect example. Two gentlemen showed up about 15 minutes after our last seating and asked if we would serve them. I said yes, but with restrictions since our broiler, ovens and flat top griddle had been turned off about 10 minutes. It had been a slow night, but we still had a table eating their last course and then they would be having dessert. The restrictions was that they could have any soup, salad our summery cold pasta dish or any other cold dish and Pissaladiere which was still hot. I was honestly not going to fire everything back up in the middle of the kitchen clean. If it had been busy and we had several tables which had more courses yet to come I would offer anything on the menu but restrict the amount of courses they can have. After all, not counting dessert, we have many a table share 5 to 7 courses. These 2 gentlemen were thrilled not to have to eat fast food and loved what they chose. They promised to eat at our place when next they returned to Silver City. My question is simply why don't other restaurants understand this level of customer service. It kept us at the restaurant an extra 20 to 30 minutes, but it made us satisfied future repeat guests. That after all is what will keep us in business. I am realistic- if someone comes in and there are no other guests left, the kitchen is completely cleaned and we're in the last couple of minutes of closing procedures I will apologize and refuse to serve them. But as long as there are other guests still eating why not feed a hungry traveler. (If all the people who we have fed under these circumstances over the years would just review us on the various websites that rate restaurants we would have a couple of hundred extra reviews on line.)

Customer Service: not everyone appreciates our attempt to give professional European-style service, but I believe that our attempt to do so is what sets us apart. Knowledgeable staff that can talk about every dish, wine and beer on our menu is more important than their potential entertainment value. If you want someone to tell you jokes, mine is the wrong restaurant- though it does happen. (If you want them to laugh at yours, remember that not everyone has the same sense of humor.) But if you want professional non-intrusive staff who can steer you to dishes and drinks you will like- who will give you a night of impeccable old fashioned service- then come join us. We will gladly give you a Dining Experience to remember. The dress is casual- my statement when asked about the dress code is, "My staff must be dressed up, you need to were a shirt, shoes and something to cover the naughty bits". The dishes include street foods from various Mediterranean countries. But the service is what you used to find in New York at the finest restaurants- though without the attitude, unless you "go there" by choice. Our goal is simply to try to give you the best experience we know how! And that is what customer service is all about.