9 June, 2011 - A Lesson in Customer Service From The Best Restaurant in Maui

9 June, 2011 - A Lesson in Customer Service From The Best Restaurant in Maui

There are not too many restaurants in the world that my husband and I go back to, year after year, five years in a row. In fact, the Lahaina Grill is THE only one. It isn't the cheapest, the view from the table isn't spectacular, and with us living in Australia, it isn't exactly a stone's throw away. Here's why.....

Lahaina Grill is a very rare breed of restaurant that knows not only how to attract customers, but to keep them coming back, by making them feel extra special. We live another country away from Hawaii, yet our own Sydney restaurants don't even acknowledge us as repeat customers when we return, even the hatted ones. How can a restaurant in the little town of Lahaina (Maui) have that degree of attention to detail? 

Lahaina Grill does it by addressing us by our names when we arrive, by seating us at our favorite table that we've sat in all the other times - and here's the EXTRA SPECIAL bit - they give us our favorite server every time, Michael, who we absolutely adore and have a ball catching up with. In fact, going to the Lahaina Grill for us is like taking up where we left off the last time.

Yeah, yeah, I can almost hear you say. We'd do that too if you came back year after year.  But here's the thing. They made us feel fantastic from the very first time that we dined there.... the smiles, the graciousness, the lack of arrogance that one frequently encounters in fine dining establishments. And so we returned, again, and again. Now, dining at the Lahaina Grill for us is like visiting family, minus all the baggage.

So what about the food? In a word, divine. A symphony of flavours (okay, okay, that's four words). As an appetizer, my husband and I shared a warm pecan crusted goat cheese and baby aragula salad with Asian pears, oven roasted Hana baby beets, with a poha berry honey mustard dressing at US$16.

For a main meal, I had the grilled pacific salmon fillet, with sauteed spinach, Kula asparagus, broiled olowalu tomatoes, served with Thyme wild rice. I'm sorry, I failed to record what my husband had as I was too busy enjoying my dish. That was US$39.

With a selection of over 350 wines from notable wineries and boutique vineyards across the world, I was a tad confused as to which white wine I would pick to go with my salmon. I need not have worried. Michael, our server, was kind enough to let me taste 3 whites until I decided on the one that complemented my salmon exquisitely, an '09 MacMurray Pinot Gris from the Sonoma Coast.

The interesting thing is that my husband and I have paid far more money at so many other restaurants around the world, yet none have given us half the experience of the Lahaina Grill. What's so difficult about going the extra mile to make your customers feel welcomed and valued? Why aren't more restaurants doing this? Isn't this as essential to good customer service as ABC? It is for this very reason that Lahaina Grill has been voted best Restaurant in Maui for an astounding 18 years.

The other fine dining establishments of the world, and most certainly Sydney, could do much worse than take a leaf out of Lahaina Grill’s book.

Lahaina Grill

127 Lahainaluna Rd. Maui, Hawaii (USA)

http://www.lahainagrill.com/

Victoria Ugarte is the Founder and Director of Postcards From Millie, a womens travel website. Based in Sydney, Australia, she draws inspiration from the courage of mind and spirit of her muse, Amelia “Millie” Earhart. Victoria spends 3 months out of every year traveling the world and writing about her adventure vacations on her website, keeping her readers posted on exciting destinations, itineraries, travel tips and resources, and challenging women to go beyond their current boundaries so that they may come home to themselves. Join Victoria and Postcards From Millie’s women travel community on  http://www.postcardsfrommillie.com/

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