Good Service

I was in Tucson yesterday for my Holiday visit with my nieces. We ( me, my sister and her three daughters) went out to a Mexican restaurant chain well known in Arizona, but which doesn't exist beyond the Southwest. We ordered a cheese crisp (a tortilla toasted till crisp with melted cheese on top) something we always used to get when the girls were little. One of us didn't want green chillis on top so we got it half and half. We ordered five different drinks, three different sodas, an ice tea and a water. One side of the table ordered burritos of some kind or other, one with rice, one with beans. Our side of the table got three different combination plates, along with three different sets of sides. The waiter brought us refills for our drinks without being asked (which is fairly standard at least here). The only mildly negative comment was when the waiter was gone after delivering the main course. One niece sighed that she had not ordered her burrito enchilada style (with sauce on top). But no one had asked whether it normally came that way while we were ordering, and she ate it all anyway. All those different things and not one real mistake by the waiter. He came by several times, always in a very timely fashion and even cleaned up a small spill.

Too often when I eat out with a friend here in Phoenix, the waiter can't keep two drinks straight or remember when two people asked for separate checks. I was told ahead of time someone else wanted to pay yesterday, so I hope she gave our waiter a very nice tip.