riddlemay wrote:Buddy, do you know if John and Jerry plan to continue the policy of "call ahead and tell us what time you want your pizza, or don't show up?"
There's a profound misunderstanding of the call-ahead practice (notice I didn't use the word "policy"), exacerbated by the myth making tendencies of the internet. There was
never a specific "don't show up" code, although at certain extremely busy times, and, as it was expressed by certain individuals (unnamed since they cannot defend themselves due to lack of internet access or experience), it may have
sounded that way.
riddlemay wrote:Don't mistake this question for a complaint about Burt and Sharon's way of doing things. It isn't.
If anyone showed up without a reservation, it was our practice to seat them immediately
if both seating and oven space were available,
and subsequent reservations weren't adversely affected. If immediate seating was not available we would try to find an alternative time and/or date when the customer could return. We would also take the customers order at that moment for the future date/time.
The bottom line is, you were always welcome to show up unannounced at anytime. But, as it's been expressed many times in the past, there was only one guy making all the pizzas, in one oven. There's simply a physical limitation to what could be accomplished. In other words, if you showed up blind, you were gambling as to whether or not you'd get seated and served based on the number of people who had already called in for the night. To paraphrase Dirty Harry Callahan, "Do ya feel lucky? Well, do ya, pun...er, I mean, valued customer?"
riddlemay wrote:I'm just curious whether that practice is expected to continue.
I cannot speak for John and Jerry. However, with those specific parameters and considerations mentioned above, yes, I'm encouraging them to keep in place the call-ahead practice. It will help them plan the evening and make maximum use of the limited space they'll have in which to work. In the best of all possible worlds, I'm imagining a system that promotes the call-ahead option while, whenever possible, taking a more "walk-in friendly" approach.
That concludes the question and answer portion of our show. If anyone wishes to continue reading below my signature, there will be a short history class on the evolution of the call-ahead policy.
Buddy
How The Call Ahead Policy Came To BeThis may surprise some of you, but there was
never a moment in time when either Burt or Sharon sat down and consciously made the declaration that we would only accept customers who called ahead. Instead, that practice
evolved back in the Pequod's days,
at the insistence of our customers.
Anyone who has been to the Morton Grove Pequod's location knows there is a slightly bigger entryway than what we had at Burt's. It allowed people to stand inside while waiting for a table. At some point someone, maybe Burt, maybe me, maybe even a customer, came up with the idea of taking orders while customers waited in line, thus eliminating the wait time for a Pizza once they were seated. This idea flourished and immediately increased our productivity and ability to turn tables. It became
very popular both for us and our customers.
Eventually someone came up with the bright idea, "Hey, why do I need to drive all the way over there to place my order? Why can't I just call in the order from home and arrive just in time for my Pizza to come out of the oven?" So, imagine the first time that happened. We've got people standing in line, waiting for tables, and some couple waltzes in, moves to the front of the line, gets seated and has their Pizza served within minutes.
All of a sudden
everyone wants to call ahead. As Burt pointed out, that practice served as an advantage to the customer. Anyone trying to get to a post dinner engagement, whether it was play, movie, or sporting event, could plan their evening accordingly. By knowing exactly when your food would be ready, you could then estimate your eating and travel times and not risk showing up late. Customers
LOVED the
opportunity to call ahead.
It wasn't until years later, at the new place, that it became a bone of contention. You'd think, in the age of the internet, with unlimited information available to all of us, and the tens of thousands of words written about Burt's Place, that the call-ahead practice wouldn't be a mystery. And yet here we are.
B.