Red Robin wins on service

For my birthday supper we planned to dine at Red Robin out in Langly, with our friends Bill and Colleen (and baby.) As usual when it came time to order our drinks, I happily ordered a Guinness. Our server came back shortly to inform me that they didn't have any, so I was to choose a different beer for the night.

Soon after taking delivery of a Rickard's Red beer, we had a change in servers. Our new guy, Ryan, quickly took our food orders and basically did his job.

Part way through our meal Ryan came back, asking if we wanted another drink. I had declined, as I wasn't drinking the beer I had in mind, and that it was okay. Ryan then asked me if he could find a Guinness, would I want it, to which I let him know that I would, but that others had searched before him and they didn't have any in stock. He left and I thought nothing more of it.

Ryan eventually returned, with a freshly poured Guinness in hand and the rest of the server crew in tow, to sing me a happy birthday song. It turns out that he left the restaurant to go get some Guinness just to be able to serve me the beer of my choice on my birthday. This then became the most appreciated Guinness I have ever had.

All in all, it was a pretty fantastic birthday with an unexpected touch of kindness from a complete stranger. Yes, he was only doing his job, but he did it far better than most. When I look back on yesterday I won't really remember that Red Robin was out of Guinness on my birthday so much as I will recall Ryan stepping out to fill my drink order.

Now if you will excuse me, I have a customer satisfaction survey to fill out.