What Do You Want?

Chris and I decided to dine out for dinner tonight at a local Italian and Greek spot called Bella Roma. If you like Italian and you haven't been there, you need to visit us and we'll take you. It's absolutely delish!

Now, we haven't been to this spot in quite a while, so I had almost forgotten about the waitress we seem to always get when eating there. To put it simply, she's a bitch, but she's one of the best servers I have ever had. How, you say?

Well, hear me out on this one. Having worked in the restaurant business as a server, both Chris and I know that a friendly face and good service usually go hand-in-hand. But this girl has changed our perspectives completely!

She approaches the table with a matter-of-fact face while saying, "Hey, how are ya'll tonight?" in a clearly monotone voice. Tonight, she gave us a little treat by forcing a fake smile on her face after asking the question. Then she says, "What'll you have to drink?" At this point, you feel like any moment she's just going to ask, "What do you want?" But she keeps it textbook.

I asked her about the special (spinach tortellini), which she said was "real good" with about as much enthusiasm as she could muster up. When she came back for the order, she grabbed up the menus like we had taken them from her to begin with. And that is what her motions are like throughout the entire dining experience, very harsh and fast, but her timing is perfect. I said to Chris at one point, "I'm going to need some more Dr Pepper soon," and a minute later she came over and grabbed my glass to refill. I don't know if she has ESP or could read my lips or what. Chris thinks our table was bugged. But she is always like this. You always have drinks when you need them. You always have bread and napkins. It's just great.

And even though the place was pretty full, we got in and out of there in less than an hour. If we had gone to Applebee's, we'd still be sitting there waiting on some half-ass cooked pasta with no flavor and I wouldn't be able to share that experience with you until who knows when!

Bella Roma is the business of a sort-of friend of mine. I did a story about his family when I worked for the paper, and he was always trying to get me to do stories after that. But he was still always nice. When he first opened the place, I think he was trying to hire the cute little girls as waitresses but even verbally expressed to me that he was frustrated to not find good service. I guess he wised up and went for not-so-attractive-but-damn-good servers. Homegirl is a little hefty and doesn't have the most beautiful face. Partner that with the lack of friendliness and she comes off pretty drab. But if you need that soda refilled, look out! Cause she's on her way over! I know I'm no horny guy, but when I go out to eat, I just want good service.

Now, if your appearance makes me want to vomit up what I just ate, that's a different story. But such is not the case here.

Moral of the story: she may not be friendly or that pretty but man she can serve! Plus, we got a free dessert to go since we knew the owner. How sweet is that!?!