As a Jew in Colorado, the problem that I have is that pretty much all the bagels in this town suck.  When I was in high school, we used to always stop off at this place called I & Joy Bagels in my home town of Studio City.  It was on the way to good old Campbell Hall and the bagels kicked ass.  They were made the right way (boiled in a giant kettle) with heaps of crazy good whipped into a frenzy cream cheese.  Instead, I have to deal with this:

I don’t want to go all Schleprock here, but this place was serious suckage.

First of all, the place is called Big Daddy Bagels in Lafayette, Colorado.  Because apparently there are a bunch of cajun Jews in Lafayette.  Second, the cream cheese looked and tasted straight out of a Philly econo tub.  And then there’s the bagel.  Bland and decidedly not fresh (at 7AM mind you).  Oh, did I mention that the lady at the counter was too busy yammering about her new ring with some other lady to even say hello or thank you.  She didn’t even look at me or tell me my order total.  But she sure did love that sparkle on her finger.

Since we moved out here in 1995, I’ve found one place that has decent bagels – Moe’s.  The problem?  Moe’s is in Boulder and dragging ass out there for an AM bagel just isn’t an option.  So, I’ll just continue to suffer while I attempt to ingest what the city of Lafayette deems a “bagel”.  Meh.

As a few of you know, in addition to my day job dealing with PoolDawg’s marketing needs and blogging in the voice of a ceramic bulldog, I also teach at Westwood College.  Typically, the two courses I teach are Internet Marketing (naturally) and Customer Service.  The reason I’m bringing this up is that I had a really unique and wonderful customer service experience that I wanted to share.

A couple of months ago, we went out to dinner at Magnolia Restaurant.  The food was delicious as always, but there were some issues from a service perspective.  I spoke with the manager about these issues and in addition to profusely apologizing, he asked me to give them a chance to make it up to us.

No business is perfect, so when a restaurant offers to make good, I’m usually up for giving them a second chance.  This past weekend, my parents were in town, so for their 43rd anniversary, we decided to take them to Magnolia’s.  Per the manager’s request, I called in advance to let him know personally that we were coming.

When we arrived, we were immediately seated and presented with glasses of champagne on the house.  Our waiter, Peter (who I really recommend you specifically ask for if dining there) was exceptionally knowledgeable and attentive to our needs.  The food and presentation were amazing as always (I had the Peppered NY Steak with a beef crepinette, whipped potatoes, pearl onions and a grain mustard sauce) and we had an amazing experience.

When I was presented with the bill, the manager immediately came over and knocked 50% off the cost of our bottle of wine (which was unexpected, unnecessary, but greatly appreciated) and personally thanked me for giving them the opportunity to prove themselves to us again.

I can’t tell you how impressed I was with the overall experience.  It is rare that a business will own up to making a mistake and then go to the lengths that Magnolia did to rectify the error.  If you live in Boulder county or are visiting, be sure to check out Magnolia, a real hidden gem in Lafayette.

Yiddish Word of the Moment:

Geshmak
Definition:  Delicious, tasty, yummy
Example:  Give me some more of that geshmak pepper steak!