Today we’re starting a new blog series featuring short profiles about our customers, aka restaurants that are “On the Fly.” Each post will include the customer’s answers to a few questions about their restaurant. We’re doing this to help show people who are considering using Schedulefly what kinds of restaurants enjoy our software. We tend to think our customers generally run fun restaurants, focus heavily on their staff’s happiness, have cultures focused on teamwork, etc. We’ll see if we’re right as we get responses from them for these posts. We also thought it would be fun to learn more about our customers in their words.
So we start with Arch Rock Fish in Santa Barbara, CA. We asked co-owner Jeremiah Higgins (@Jeremiah_HJL) to tell us about his “neighborhood joint”…
Describe your restaurant’s culture.
The culture that we strive for is one of family and community. We keep our communication open with our staff, and share in our successes and failures together. We each strive to get a little better at what we do each day. We support the staff in their goals in life, and they support ours. We strive to keep the concept simple, easy to “get.” Our food is simple but flavorful. Again, easy to “get”, not fussy. In fact, my business partner, Chef Scott, strives for no more than three ingredients to complement a piece of fish or protein, so that the quality and simplicity of the dish stands out and speaks for itself.
What do your staff members say is the best part about working at your restaurant?
I didn’t feel comfortable answering this question for the staff, so I posed the question to them. Here is what they said about why they love working at Arch Rock. [A quick aside – We noticed that Jeremiah used his Schedulefly Message Wall to broadcast this question to staff members. Nice way to use the wall Jeremiah!]
What I love about working at Arch Rock is the family that has been created. We all work together from the morning cleaning dude to the closing dishwasher. There’s a strong camaraderie that has been solid since day one. And it shows through to our customers – Kami
A few things I like about my job are the great people I work with- from the dishwashers, to fellow servers, to management. I can confidently say that I have experienced the most teamwork and general cohesiveness among staff members since working at ARF . I also like that you guys (Jeremiah & Company) try to keep us (the staff) excited about ARF, not just the guests excited. Of course, the food is great but that goes without saying. – Ruby
I believe one of the best parts of our restaurant is how close everyone is, and how easy it is to communicate between all staff members (with schedulefly). – Kyle
The best part about working here at ARF is I have the best boss! Aka Germeister/J-Bear 🙂 I love all of the employees and the food is delicious. – Laci
The best part is everyone we work with is super awesome! Best staff ever! – Courtney
How do you keep your team excited to work hard every day?
I’ve said this before, and at the risk of sounding redundant, my first thought of the day every day is of my staff. I try to remember what our goal is as a company, and as I get ready for work I put myself in their shoes and try to see the job as they must see it. I cannot go into work in a bad mood. If I do it sends a ripple effect through the restaurant. I motivate myself, no matter how bad of a day that I am having, and I hope that this motivates the team. That, along with guest speakers in the food and wine business, and planned field trips with staff really help keep everyone interested in this fascinating business.
What’s the most fun part of running your restaurant?
There isn’t just one answer here, but if I had to choose my top three, I would choose #1 The staff is like family to me. They motivate me to never give up, even when we have a tough day. #2 The guests that support us, I have been in this business for nearly 20 years now in Santa Barbara, and the people that I have come to know as guests have become some of my best friends. They too have become a part of my very large foodie family. And finally, my #3 favorite part of running a restaurant is that no two days are ever the same. If you like food, wine, spirits, entertainment, history and travel, the restaurant business is for you.
Why is your restaurant successful?
Our restaurant is successful because we have been lucky enough to find a business that we are passionate about, and then in turn have been able to inspire guests and staff to care about it too…
Thank you Jeremiah and the team at Arch Rock Fish! Your and your team members’ responses are inspiring and very enjoyable to read. Keep up the great work building an incredible restaurant, and thanks for being “On the Fly!”
The Schedulefly Crew