Patio Season is Here
When the weather is nice, lineups start to form outside restaurants, bars and pubs for those who want to sit out on the patio.
Last weekend, my girlfriend and I were in the mood for a patio adventure. I really enjoy the patio atmosphere at a specific place in Pitt Meadows called the Gillnetter Pub, which is situated right on the Fraser River. You can imagine how packed this pub can be on a hot and sunny Saturday just before half price appies are cut off at 6 p.m. When we arrived last weekend, the inside of the pub had a few good spots to enjoy the great view but the patio itself was full. T
here was a sign greeting patrons as they walked in stating that the patio was at full capacity.
I asked if we could wait for a spot outside and was told that there was already another group at the bar who was waiting. Since there wasn’t any encouragement to wait for further availability, we opted to go somewhere else. We headed further east to Maple Ridge to the Kingfishers.
When we arrived, the parking lot was filled to the brim. When we found a parking spot on the side of the road and went in to see what the wait would be, we were immediately greeted by a hostess who told us there were three groups ahead of us for the patio – but many people were leaving soon as they had been seated for quite some time. We sat at the bar and ordered our drinks. Before we had even finished, we were seated on the patio facing another view of the Fraser River.
I give these two examples to illustrate the difference in how businesses manage expectations and the overall levels of customer care.