Best Restaurant Essay, Research Paper

The Best Restaurant

I always enjoy entering a clean well-rounded atmosphere to eat, but in some cases it is not always a well a rounded atmosphere that attracts me, it is just the plain and simple environment. I look forward to going to a place where great home-cooked meals are served. Sometimes eating in the places like Friday?s, Ale House, Rockaway?s, Apple Bee?s, and the Dugout bores me. Most of these places come with a razzle and dazzle appearance and annoying servants who are out to make a buck by kissing your feet with every desire. The reason why I like Iris?s restaurant so much is because of the usual family atmosphere where only the regulars go like me. Iris?s is also my favorite because of the scrumptious food at a cheap price that keeps coming due to great service unlike at the expensive franchises where food is sometimes forgotten about. The only set back to this homely environment is the amount of fluctuation between regular customers and the ?Snow Bird? customers. Oh, and if you are wondering a ?Snow Bird? is a term used to name migrators from the north especially Canada to Florida during the winter season.

In saying Iris?s restaurant is kept plain and simple I mean the place looks like a shack on the out side with a touch of antique d?cor of wood finished tables, chairs, booths, and more ?nick-knacks? on shelves inside. The restaurant does not look like it came out of Star Wars movie that is for sure. The Star Wars affect is something that would attract ?Snow Birds? anyway. That affects the price which goes up and that is not what a native to the area would look for. A local would look for a typical Sherry, one of the original waitresses, who always keeps the attitude moving by giving the old folks a few jokes and serving it up in style just for kicks. She does not need the loud music or shining lights to do that either. Other reasons are hard to come by but clothing is another key factor to a great atmosphere.

The owners and the staff all are dressed casually in a forest green golf shirt and khakis. They are not dressed to kill so their breasts fall out on your food while they serve you, like at Hooters. They say it gives them room to work their tails off all the time to keep the place spic and span like Mr. Cleans forehead. That includes the area where the customer can?t see also. An example is areas where food is about to be prepared.

Iris?s is different from any franchises located in the area because the food is freshly prepared and not prefabricated in some factory, sent out to the restaurants to be re-cooked (in a microwave), and then placed on a plate to look tasty. The cooks at Iris?s work double time on the orders of food instead gawking of the girls that walks in the front door. Cooks at a homely place hardly get an opportunity to drool because they are to busy getting the food out to the customers. In return for working so hard they hardly ever get complaints about getting the food out faster. The quaint smell of the food is so delightful to ones nose that it adds to the antique feeling, one you would get when you walk into an old-fashioned store front.

This is the kind of home cooked food I was looking for. The different entries come in a large variety of soups and salads to stake and potatoes. They are all made with the best of care and a taste that backs up the homely atmosphere. I like the Caribbean Jerk chicken the best, it?s something the cook added to the menu after I ordered it so much. My parents have tried everything on the menu from fish and chips, buffalo chicken salad, sweet potato fries, liver and onions, to daily specials like eggplant Parmesan, and grilled scallops, and all you can eat fish of the day. The service stays pretty much the same until the ?Snow Birds? show up and then all heck breaks out and normal specials and times to go and not be irritated change for the season.

This exception to ?Snow Birds? arriving makes everything seem to go bye differently. Even the owner tries to keep the common trends going with his regulars by placing, ?Snow Bird feed sold here,? on the large billboard out front.

It is a quiet place except when it isn?t jammed packed with people on Sundays, noon on weekdays, and early Saturdays during busy times and especially the winter season. I have been there on all of these occasions and there is nothing worse then an overcrowded ?Snowbird? infested restaurant. Unlike in the huge restaurant chains, Iris?s is somewhat prepared for the fluctuations of people. One can tell this because of the different lengths in waiting lines. At these large food chains the time triples to about an hour to an hour and forty-five minutes and at Iris?s it is just five to ten minutes longer than usual. It is the worst thing in the world to be sitting there with my stomach in a knot waiting in line to be seated after an extremely tough practice. The staff also has to put up with the stiff tipping and hard talking ?Snow Birds? that say, ?I want my seat right away.? I like the atmosphere best when the crowd keeps their gossip to themselves. Only because they speak loud enough that whole restaurant can hear there obnoxious, irritating, and deafening voices that say I want my ?Snow Bird Feed.? None of the regulars can stand these ?Snow Birds? either.

To me, Iris?s is un-comparable to any other franchise restaurants in town because of its simple hometown atmosphere that can take care of any customer. I can really appreciate the cleanliness and the great company of the regular customers also. The food there is also another key ingredient to my enjoying the restaurant so much. Nothing compares to the freshness of the food served here.