Over the past few weeks, I’ve caught a lot of flack from the global (and Toronto’s in particular) very vocal Jewish communities.
On November 10 last year, I slammed one kosher restaurant in particular and most kosher restaurants in general. And if that were not enough, just last week I slammed the Hareidim in Beit Shemesh for behaving like animals. Without going into the details, I caught flack – and lots of it. And you know what? I’m fine with catching flack --- it doesn’t matter. I call a spade a spade.
Now look at my post of November 14 last year. I’ve been back only once since then. I go back last night, am sitting at the counter eating bean soup and chowing down on a piping-hot Laffa. I’m minding my own business.
“Aren’t you the blog guy, who wrote about us”, the guy behind the grill asks me. “Yup, how the heck did you know?” Who’s the guy behind the grill? None other than the restaurant’s co-owner. And then the other guy behind the grill introduced himself to me. He’s the other co-owner. And so a short conversation ensued between the three of us. It was a simple one. They thanked me for coming back. They told me how hard they work and they told me how much fun they’re having. They then adjusted their cook’s hat and returned to work the grill. Period. Duration of conversation – 2 minutes
Now, there is a picture of me on my blog, I know that. I have been to Dr. Laffa once, just once, between November 14 and last night. They deal with hundreds of people a day - and before last night have never even said two words to the guys at the grill. So how did they know I was the blog guy? They just did! I still don’t know. Let’s just say their eyes are always wide open.
There’s many things I learned from this 2-minute encounter. Here’s just a few
1. Know your customers. Yeah, it’s all well and good to make a great laffa. And it’s all well and good to be able to write a great news release. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. There’s a lot more to making money in a restaurant than standing behind the grill and flipping burgers. Take the time to really understand your customers – that way they will feel that they matter.
2. Love what you do. Whether you’re a street sweeper, a laffa guy or a surgeon, love what you do. I think the late Steve Jobs summed it up really well when he said “To be good at what you do, you got to first love what you do”. He’s right. Looking at the Laffa guys, it’s clear they love what they do. It shows in their attitude. It shows in their food too.
3. Be reasonable. Yeah, the guys at Dr. Laffa could raise their prices by a buck here and a buck there – their food and service is that good – but they are not. They’re keeping prices reasonable, filling their restaurant most nights and I hope are making a decent living.
4. Be humble. The guys could have told me how much money they’re making (as most entrepreneurs would have done, BS or not), how busy they are etc. etc. Nope, not these guys. They spent almost the entire two minutes we spent together telling me how they really focus on their customers – and I like that. Makes me feel good.
Oh, and if you ever go there, order a laffa. Slap these guys on the back and say hi. Shalom.
3 comments:
Went to Dr. Laffa yesterday for take-out. At 5 p.m. on a Sunday evening, the place was packed - they were lining up for seats and take-out. Great food, great prices, great business model.
I couldn't agree with you more! Dr Laffa is great food, down home as we say, and in an incredibly warm atmosphere, amidst the cold weather of Toronto! I took all my kiddies there for a Chanuka treat meal. My son says, "mom, this food is sooo good". I said, "so go and show your Hakoras Hatov and tell one of the hard working men behind the counter". My 8 year old boy marched himself up to one of the first workers he saw, and said, "I just wanted to tell you how good your food is and how much I like it". The man, who happened to be co-owner of Dr Laffa, was so touched that he personally came over and gifted our table with a whole tray of donuts- on the house! Not too shabby!
Your write up on Dr. Laffa was excellent and the praise was well deserved. We ate there on your recommendation and it was great, will cetainly go again.
You say it like it is - keep up the good work
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