How Gulf Coast Locals Pick The Best Roast Beef Poboys

One sandwich can tell you everything about a place, especially when the bread is either perfect or impossible. We talk about what separates a great roast beef po-boy from an overrated one, and why Gulf Coast locals obsess over the details that tourists might miss: thin New Orleans-style loaves (we get into Gendusa and the broader “good bread” standard), the right kind of messy roast beef, and the kind of service that makes you want to come back without thinking twice. 

We start with a quick home-kitchen detour that turns into a lesson in patience and flavor: fermented garlic and honey (yes, it can age for years) and a batch of peach brandy that’s been sitting long enough to earn a taste test. Then we tip our hats to the people who shaped regional food talk, including Tom Fitzmorris and Frank Davis, plus a personal memory of meeting Frank at the studio that reminds us how tight-knit Gulf Coast food culture really is. 

Jeff joins us with a Mobile, Alabama report that will make you hungry, from Dimitri’s roast beef po-boy with short rib to a wild Oyster Rockefeller po-boy stacked with oysters and a Parmesan-style sauce. Back at home on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, we name our go-to answers when someone asks, “Where do I get a real roast beef sandwich today?” and we get honest about what matters beyond the plate: clean bathrooms, calm dining rooms, fair tipping, and how one bad auto-gratuity decision can turn a good meal into a story people repeat for a year. 

If you care about Gulf Coast restaurants, po-boys, and the small signals that reveal real quality, you’ll feel right at home here. Subscribe, share this with a hungry friend, and leave us a review with your favorite local roast beef spot.

Transcript

Welcome, Music, And Food Talk

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Here we are again.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Professor Longhair bringing us into Oh, actually, as you know, I mention it a lot. It's not this is Professor Longhair's music. The young man Ethan Lingwood is actually who plays this piano. And my goodness. I wish I could do that. I wish I could do that. But it puts you in a good mood. A good mood to talk about, especially about food in some restaurants. I have a buddy of mine coming over in just a little bit. He's gonna come in the studio and talk about some restaurants that he and and he really goes to a lot of restaurants. He eats out of I thought I ate out a lot. He eats out quite a bit. So he knows about the uh the local restaurants, uh,

Fermented Garlic Honey Plus Peach Brandy

SPEAKER_01 1:05

the good places to go, and we're gonna talk about that. So, two things I wanted to go kind of backtrack a little bit on. Recently we talked about, and my wife corrected me on this. So I was talking about the the fermented garlic and honey that I made. And I said, Oh boy, it's about a year and a half old. And I tasted it and it was wonderful. It was good. And she said, she said, Tim, she said, that you did, we we did that three years ago when we sat up till two in the morning peeling garlic to make this stuff. We made about 72 jars, something like that, 70-something jars. And just to, you know, a lot of most of them I just gave away to friends that liked it kind of stuff. But it's been three years. What I was thinking about and talking about is I also have some peach brandy that I made. And it's a year and a half old. And so I got the two confused. So last week we were talking about, and I got them confused, and that's the I got this plant, this peach tree from my buddy Gary down in Galliano, and it was about a foot high. Anyway, now the thing just grows out of control. I get more peaches than I know what to do with. And a year and a half ago, I made, I don't know, probably four or five gallons of peach, which started out as just peaches, you know, squeezed to a degree. And then you add, you can add any kind of liquor you want, and then just let it do its thing over time. Well, now it's a year and a half over a year and a half old. I tasted it and it's decent. I don't know what the rest of because I use vodka in some, I use uh, you know, bread, use some scotch in some of them. So I I have no idea. I'm gonna get my buddy to try them and let him be the guinea pig and see what see what happens just in case. So anyway, I just wanted to revisit that because uh my wife said that that's not, you know, that that's not correct. So I I stand corrected on that. The peach brandy is only a year and a half old, but the fermented garlic and honey, and y'all should try that, look it up, see how to make it, and the benefits of it. It's really nice. Three years old, and it's good. So anyway, glad to be back and and doing some shows. You know, this isn't, boy, I tell you, you you I listen to different podcasts because I, you know, you're driving or what have you, you can turn them on, and you could go back when you stop and go right back to where you left off. And but you know what? It's not the easiest thing in the world. You you'd think it would be, boy,

Food Radio Legends We Miss

SPEAKER_01 3:40

that's it. You know, you just sit down and you talk for a little bit and that's it, but it's not. We had, I don't know if you're familiar with Tom Fitzmorris. Tom Fitzmore had the the food show out of New Orleans for 30 something, 30, 32, 33 years. It's still gone on. But him personally, and I can say honestly, I've listened to it every bit of every one of those years and followed him. I say follow, he would have food, eat clubs occasionally. I got to enjoy some of that. I met him a couple of times when he would, he would do a show out of a hotel where a restaurant is or the lobby or what have you. I've I've done I've I've met him there a couple of times. Anyway, it's a shame he passed away. His wife does the show. Now he would do, I think it was two hours a day. His wife is doing, it's yeah, it's two hours a day. His wife still does the show. But two hours a day, five days a week. Nobody else, nobody else in the country come close to Tom Fitzmorse when it comes to food. You can look him up, listen to some of his older shows. I'm gonna tell you, very interesting. If you if you like New Orleans, I mean, because he was almost strictly New Orleans, although he'd talk about other things, very informative. So anyway, yeah, look him up. And you know, another one I've talked about him in the past is Frank Davis. Now, Frank Davis, if if if you're from this area, the Gulf Coast, New Orleans, you're gonna know Frank Davis also, unfortunately, he passed away. But what a wonderful, wonderful show he had. You know, he was on, I think, if I'm not mistaken, it was eight hours every Saturday for the weekend live show. He'd do a sports show, hunting and fishing in the morning. And I think around 11 or 12, he'd do food. And then he'd do other, you know, uh other things, other subjects. He, I don't think I can't remember him ever getting into political stuff. Same thing with Tom Fitzmorris. I think he just stayed away from that. And and I think, you know, I like that idea too. You know, this is let's just get away from all of that. Frank Davis, and and again, I was corrected again by my wife, boy, I tell you. So in one of the shows, I was talking about a few different people like Tom Fitzmorris, Frank Davis, and some others. And I said, Oh, Paul Proudhone. And I said, I never met him. And I included Frank Davis too. Well, it turns out I never did. I think I saw Paul Proudhone one time. My dad, my dad was a cab driver in New Orleans, and and occasionally we'd get to go ride with him. And then when we were, when we were in the French quarter, for whatever reason, and in our own car with my dad, he'd show us all around the city, tell us that, you know, this is where this happens and what have you. And I think we saw Paul Proudhon coming out of one of his restaurants one time. But I never met him. But I'll I'll if you ever watch his videos, it's it's the man just loved cooking and loved food, and you can see it when he's talking about it. It's just a wonderful person, at least from what I can see and watch for many years on TV. And when it comes to Frank Davis, I said, I said, I never met him. And this was several shows ago, maybe eight, ten shows ago. And I said, I said, yeah, and I but I was thinking of more Paul Perdome. And she says, You don't remember? She said, we went to New Orleans on our honeymoon. And we, and that's one thing I wanted to do is go to the studios. I think it's called Basin Street now, right off Canal Street, where the studio was. And sure enough, I tell you how times have changed. All we did was walk in. I think we had to go up some stairs to the studio. And we just kind of walked in, and there he is behind the glass. Him and I think his producer was Frank. And there was a few other people, regulars there. And you just, you know, we walked in and I said, hey, you know, on my honeymoon, and we wanted to come see Frank Davis. He let us come in. We took a picture with him and the crew. It was just wonderful. So I did meet Frank Davis. Wonderful, wonderful person. And he's got some great, well, well, you talked about a cook. He's got some great recipes, he's got some great uh recipe uh books out there. So anyway, the the you know, down in New Orleans, anywhere in the Gulf Coast, that's that's pretty much what we talk about is food. You know, when something bad happens, we talk about food. When something good happens, well, we we we talk about food. So that's what we're doing today. In fact, I wanted to uh we're gonna talk a little bit about bread too. But first I wanted to see, let me see if my buddy's here. Hold on, let's hold just one second here.

unknown 8:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

Okay, come on in. Come on in the studio, sit down, grab a seat. Let's see if we have Jeff on to put your earphone. There you go. Okay, can you hear me? Yeah, thanks for having me. There we go. Nice ride over. Yeah, it wasn't. You don't live far.

SPEAKER_00 8:55

The weather's nice finally.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

You're you're right in Gulfport. Yep. You live in Gulfport, and we were here in Long Beach, so you just write down the road. Wasn't a bad ride. Ten minutes. There you go. Ten minutes. I'm worth 10 minutes. I'm gonna keep you here because of your your experience in restaurants. I'm gonna I'm gonna keep you

Why Gulf Coast Life Centers Food

SPEAKER_01 9:10

here for for just a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 9:11

All right.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

Not long. So well, tell me this. So I understand you went over the weekend, you had a convention you went to in Mobile.

SPEAKER_03 9:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Now, I I love Mobile. I've been there many times. We go there sometimes, we take the bikes, put them on the back of the car, and and then we ride around all well, we ride all over the place in Mobile. It's a sister city of New Orleans. A lot of the streets are named the same. If you go down Dolphin, they call it Dolphin, but you know, it's really dolphin, I think, like in New Orleans. And a lot of the architecture from from you know many, many hundreds of years ago is the same. You know, you have the Spanish iron and what have you, but but in particular, the food. There's a great food scene happening there. Where where did you where did you go and get something to eat? And I heard tidbits about it, but what was so good about it? First tell, what was the name of the place?

SPEAKER_00 10:07

So it was called Dimitri's, and it was on Dauphine. Nice area. It was not a lot of people, so you could just enjoy yourself. But their specialty is Pow Boys. Okay. And I got the roast beef. Well, it's it's got short rib meat and roast beef. And it had uh Creole mustard, it had some provolone. They had their own version of an au jus, and it was so tender, juicy, I didn't even end up using the au jus. A friend of mine got the Oysters Rockefeller.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

I saw a picture of that.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

And I gotta say, I'm not much into oysters, but they probably had about 20 oysters on that sandwich.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

So just so I'm clear, that that's an oyster Rockefeller Powboy.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

Yes. Nice. Had a nice Parmesan sauce on it. The bread was delicious. It it it wasn't overpowering. It put the emphasis on the what the contents.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

Well, let's uh we're gonna come back to bread in a little bit. Don't let me forget. So I'm glad to hear that the bread was good. Do you know what kind it was?

SPEAKER_00 11:19

I didn't ask them that, but if you had to guess it wasn't I it had to be somewhere like a Leidenheimer or something that's from out of Louisiana. Because I think New Orleans and places, they have some of the best bread you can get from the bigger. No doubt about it. No doubt about it. It's not a generic sandwich, you know, hoagie bread. Yeah. Uh but it was light. The crust on the bread was just perfect.

SPEAKER_01 11:46

Was it uh toasted or or pressed or it was toasted a little bit. Okay, good. That's how I like it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

But I'll have to say, after I ate that, I was so full. They're very generous on the toppings and the the whatever you're picking. And it was just an enjoyable place to.

SPEAKER_01 12:05

How much was it? How much was the sandwich?

SPEAKER_00 12:06

It was about $20 for it. Which you said you you were full. Oh, stuff.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Yeah, and you're not a small guy.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

No. Not the log tab.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

Yeah. So so so a big sandwich. So you could actually, if you wanted, you could you could probably take some of it home if you wanted to.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

Yeah, or you know, yeah, you and your wife, Sarah, whatever, you could split it and you would still be well satisfied with what you had.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Yeah, that's what we did. I'm gonna tell you about that another local place. And haha, I know about it, and you don't yet.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Yeah, that's what I heard about.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

So I'll fill you in on a restaurant. So mobile. So it was a night and I I know you've eaten at many other places there, but what is it, what is the atmosphere like now? Because I haven't been there in maybe eight months.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

So it is like you said, it's kind of like when you I think, especially used to have in New Orleans, these just nice, easy-going areas. You walk around, you're relaxed, and there's a lot of small, looks like locally owned restaurants. And I don't think there was one that I passed by. This was 5 30 Friday that didn't have a ton of people in each one of them. Yeah. But it wasn't busy, it wasn't loud, it was relaxing. And Debris It's basically a a bar. Now de Breeze is another place. No, that's the place with the uh roast beef oysters. You had you could sit at the bar, they had a t bunch of tables with sit six people. It wasn't loud music. You could talk, have a conversation. And I asked two or three people in there that was eating what how they thought about it, and they said, We're here every week. Really? So staff, awesome. They make sure your drink's free fill, which is that's kind of one of my things, you know, make sure I got something to drink. But it's someplace if I was over there staying, I would definitely go back again.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

So, how about this? Now you're you're because we have a lot of tourists in the area, and let's say you're back home now, and let's say that you you run into uh a group of tourists, okay, and they're in downtown Gulfport, and they say, Look, where can we go? We heard about roast beefs. We're we're too far away from New Orleans to go today, but we want roast beefs today. But we want a real good one, authentic. Where would you tell them to go? Say two places. Where would you recommend?

SPEAKER_00 14:40

So one place that I do frequent is Toronto's and Wool Market. It's always packed.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Now, so just for everybody listening, Wool Market, just give them an idea.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

That's probably if you're in Gov Port, 15, 20 minute ride.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:55

It's not a big place, but it's it's always packed. It's consistent, which is one thing I think uh people that really like food, they want to know when I go to this place, my food's gonna be good. And again, their service always excellent. Now it's a sliced roast beef, which I do like. When you before you eat it, take the paper towels out at the table, take off about at least 15 of them and stack them up. It's gonna be all over your hands, all over your face, but you don't care because it tastes so good. And I would say the second one, which I think you agree on this one, is Fayard's. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 15:35

It's more of a now Fayard, just to let everybody know, that's a gas station.

SPEAKER_00 15:39

Yeah, it's a gas, it's just a gas station with a low deli.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

They got a few places to sit, but they're there, I think their main thing is to go. Yeah. And if you go in there, there's always people waiting. Yep. It's a different roast beef. I think it's more kind

Mobile Find Dimitri's Poboys

SPEAKER_00 15:55

of chopped or pulled, but it's it's not dry. It's it's got look nice and juicy. The seasoning is is excellent.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Now, if you go to the one on on Pops Ferry, I think it is. I uh don't quote me on that, but I think it's Pops Ferry Pass Road area. Yeah, so if you go to that one and if you get there early enough, you'll get the pot roast roast beef. But they sell out quick. And then they have the regular slice, which is fantastic. But I think, and I think you'd agree with this. We'll talk, I'm gonna because I want to talk about this with the bread. Because first of all, what that other place you're talking about, uh what what kind of bread were they using?

SPEAKER_00 16:36

So it Toronto's I'm not for sure, but I do know this. There's two or three good breads, me and you've talked about this that you get, and it's usually from New Orleans where you get the good bread. When you bite into it, you just go right through it.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

The worst thing you can get is no matter how good the the roast beef could be, and it's like you're just tearing at the bread. But the crust is really good. It's just it's light and it works good with the sandwich. It doesn't take away from it. Right. And I think that's where a lot of places have they just I think they concentrate on the fit on the what's in the sandwich and not what's around that sandwich.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

And I think the bread can be just as inviting.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

No, there's no doubt about it. Now, from what I understand, uh Fayard's uses gendusa bread from New Orleans.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

That's what I've heard, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Now I'm gonna tell you what. If you haven't heard of gindusa, it's G-E-N-D-U-S-A, gendusa bread from New Orleans, you need to try it. It's like like Jeff, like you were saying, it's you ever you ever go get a sandwich somewhere or a hamburger? And and everybody's bragging about this hamburger. And then uh from a restaurant, especially the fa uh the the chain restaurants, they're real bad about this. They bring you the burger, and it's about eight inches high. You and then but but when you look at it for a minute, all you're seeing is two giant pieces of dough. And and you can't get your mouth around it, it's obnoxious. Now, what we're talking about with uh especially the gindusa bread, it's thin. Wouldn't you agree it's thin?

SPEAKER_00 18:25

Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_01 18:25

Not a lot of dough in it. Lightly, lightly toasted, which is perfect. And man, when when all everything that goes, it just complements whatever you put on it.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

I think also with most of these that these big national chains, it's just it's just regular bread. Yeah, hoagie, hoagie stuff. Right. I mean, any any of the Poboy places, as good as what's in it, you bite into the bread and it just it's a disappointment. And I I honestly think you have to go local. Yep. You no chain or franchise I've ever seen really locks in on that. But locally, any good place, they're not gonna skimp on the bread.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

No, they know better. They know better.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

You know, especially down here, reputation and referral is gonna make you or break you. Oh, yeah. And if it's really good and consistent, people you ask somebody where you go, where do you go? It's gonna be the same two or three places.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

Yeah. It is. You're right. There's there's a couple of places we frequent. I just, you know, they're they're just nice quality food, you know, decent atmosphere, good employees. It's nice to go and you see the same waitress, you know.

SPEAKER_00 19:45

Or the waiter. I I I I get used to somebody waiting on me. Yeah. I know a place y'all took me to, the daiquiri place. Yes. And uh last time we went, the waitress was leaving. Yes, that's right. Please tell us where you're going. She was super nice, friendly. If she was having some problems that day, she didn't bring it in with her. Yep. And I think that goes to making the food good too.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

There's no doubt about it.

SPEAKER_00 20:15

If the service is not good, you know, you're like, well, yeah, it was good, but you need the whole experience. Yeah. And I think a lot of places, it's hard for them to get that going, but the good places they concentrate on every aspect. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

Now, I tell you what you since you mentioned is Long Beach Dacri, is what you're talking about, right on Jeff Davis. We go there, I'd say we we go there quite a bit. Now, before, you know, I had some downtime health-wise, you we would go all the time because we ride bikes just about every day. And we'll ride up there and burn off some calories and have a daiquiri and put them right back on.

SPEAKER_00 20:53

Yeah, you uh you made me try uh cheeseburger pizza. That's right. And I didn't I didn't do the pickles, but I was really surprised that I liked it.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Yeah, it's on cauliflower cauliflower uh crust.

SPEAKER_00 21:07

That really surprised me. All I could think of was cauliflower, which I'm not much into.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

You never know, you never know to do it. But you didn't know the difference. No way. It was very so here's what I like about that place. They don't claim to be Commander's Palace.

SPEAKER_00 21:20

Right.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

You know, you know you're going there. It's it's not a bar type atmosphere either. It's it's I don't know. They they just You could bring family.

SPEAKER_00 21:29

Yeah, oh yeah, definitely. No smoking. Yeah. It's I mean, and it's just it's just a local, you know, they got their own decor. Clean, very clean. When you walk in, you sit down, have your drink, get something to eat, and I don't know, it's relaxing.

SPEAKER_01 21:47

It is. It's for it's for when you you know you're going to a place where you're not getting gourmet food, and you know that going in there, but you're not getting bad food either. Right. On the weekends, they have a special. I think it's Saturday and Sunday, maybe. Fish and and shrimp plates. And it's reasonable, very reasonable, and it's good.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

That's why if you're

Roast Beef Picks And The Right Bread

SPEAKER_00 22:10

if you're not from here, you need to ask locals. Because a lot of times if you're not from here, you're not you don't know anything about these specials.

SPEAKER_03 22:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

And sometimes it's not even advertised, but if you if you go there, you know. Yep. And one thing, because we're still kind of small town, those are what's really good at most of these local wrong restaurants. They have these specials, they just do them every once in a while, and it they just really do it right. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

Yeah, they do. They do. And that's I think that's the that's the nice thing as you're able to recommend a place. And and you know, a big thing with me is is restrooms. Are they clean?

SPEAKER_03 22:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

Just for the amount of traffic they get in, that DACRI place, and I say DACRY, they have a band that comes on the weekends, a Friday, what have you. I'm not too big on that because it tends to be a little too loud for me. Not just not there particularly, just in general. Place that has a band, it just you want to be able to talk. Yeah, you want to be able to talk. And anyway, so that's just a personal thing with me. But going back to the bathroom stuff is they have incredibly clean bathrooms. And and to me, I've always felt like, you know, the owner goes in that bathroom. They see what's what you know, what's behind the backsplash in the cracks behind the toilet. I mean, you know, sometimes you go in a place and it's like, man, this hasn't been mopped in years. And I'm like, yeah, no, I think I'm gonna get a glass of tea and go.

SPEAKER_00 23:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:46

And go somewhere else. Because the you know the owner in management sees it.

SPEAKER_00 23:51

Well, and you know who kind of I hate to say it sets the standards for clean bathrooms is Bucky's. Yes. You're right. One lady said they were interviewing her, and her daughter got embarrassed. She says, I would eat the Bucky's nuggets off the floor. There you go. It's it's you want to know that they take care of everything.

SPEAKER_03 24:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

And I honestly think if the bathroom's that clean, the kitchen's also got to be kept clean. Probably. I mean, it's just I have way back did steam cleaning on hoods, and you'd be surprised the places you thought this place is gonna be immaculate. And then you get back in the kitchen, you're like, wow. Yeah. But you go to some little small, locally on place, and everything's just it's spotless, even the floor. Yep. And I I think that's just a good impression that you gotta all around different people focused on something. And if the food's really good, but they go in the bathroom and it's horrible. They're like, you know, uh Yeah, I I agree on it. Sure. So I think that that says a lot, like you said, for the Zachary place is the little things is what keeps you going.

SPEAKER_01 25:05

Yeah, I do like to see the same people. That and I know in the restaurant business, you know, I had a little, you know, uh we had a seafood market, we sold, you know, a lot of seafood and and fresh seafood and stuff. So I I have a I have an idea. Not you know, not with, you know, doing salads and po-boys and and what have you, mostly just seafood. But I do understand the business and and and I know how tough it is. And you you just can't you just can't wing it.

SPEAKER_00 25:35

No.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

You know, you you you have to uh you have to know what you're doing. But but going back to the having regular people there, that is really nice. And I know the business in in itself, it's made for people coming out of school, high school, and just a little starter job. But man, I tell you what, some good advice. If you can get a good and you know this is gonna be a keeper here, then you you you need, you know, it it's all about paying. You pay right, maybe some insurance if you can. And I'm gonna tell you what, the longer a person stays there, especially a waitress, it just seems like the more the higher tips they get too.

SPEAKER_00 26:13

It also says something if the same people are there year after year, they're getting treated right. Yes. You know, because it's even at Toronto's, there's this same waitress. A guy used to work for me, that was his ex-girlfriend. She's been there forever. She's over the waitresses, and she's on top of things. Even if it's not her table, she comes over and checks on you. And I think that's nice that everybody's kind of helping each other. Yeah. You know, if this one's busy, she and your drink slow, and they come and take care of you. Yeah, that's right. Uh you can also spot at some places people that are just miserable in their job. Yep. I've got to be able to do that. But I think like you said, Dak replace, I've been to Toronto's and some others. And for the most part, I see the same people. And that pretty much tells me the owners are doing it right.

SPEAKER_01 27:15

And and I look, I and I don't take it away from them if I if I don't see this, depending on the restaurant. Like with, and I don't keep using a DAC replace, it's a positive, but places when I say like that, they're good to have people come. You can have some young people come in and just get a taste of working. And you can't pay a person top dollar, and they they they don't know any, they're out of high school. They don't or they're in high school and they're still learning everything.

SPEAKER_00 27:42

It helps them, it helps them to be social. It does, and it's a stepping stone. Because teenagers today kind of have got away from that.

SPEAKER_03 27:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:52

And if if you can deal with people in a restaurant, and it because everybody has their own little quirks about what they want, if you can deal with that consistently and manage to take care of all these different personalities, that's going to help you in a lot of other ways. No doubt about it.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

You know, I was talking last week, I think, about Parish Restaurant. Now, I I I happen to love the place. It's it's a beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 28:15

Up in there, you had a food show there. Yeah, that was we must have had 60, 70 people.

SPEAKER_01 28:20

There's about 80-something people we had at a food show.

SPEAKER_00 28:23

Everything was really good. They had a the bar area I thought was relaxed. Yes. It is. It you didn't walk in. It's it's nice, but you you walked in relaxed.

SPEAKER_01 28:37

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 28:38

Some places you walk into and you're like, it's like going into a house where it has all the fancy furniture, and you, you know, I don't want to, but just to go in and just even with a bar, you plop down, have a drink, and just talk to people.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

It is. And and the the reason I mention that last week I was talking about, and I'm you know, we're talking about management, restaurant management, and so forth. The difference in, you know, you go to a place and let's say you have a problem, and you tell the manager or the owner, whoever it is, and they just get all sour-faced on you, and it's that's a problem. And, you know, it just we don't, I I wouldn't call this a problem, but I mentioned it last week. Here's the difference in what I consider very good ownership management. We had, we had, I told you, we we bought some, my daughter had some crab cakes, and for some reason, I don't know, maybe the top fell off of the salt shaker or something, but it was just overly salted. So I tried a piece and the two others that were with us, they tried it and said, Yeah, it's it's a little it's it's a little bit overboard here. And so the other one was sitting there, and the owner walked by, his name is Lee, very nice guy. And uh I said, Hey Lee, I said, do me a favor. I said, would you tell, I said, we didn't eat off of this one. Would you take this in the back and maybe you and the chef taste it? See what tell me what you think. And they said the same thing. You know, yeah, that that's that's just something happened. But that's the difference in in an approachable person that's concerned about their restaurant, their food, what is it tasting like, and they want to know. And so I don't know. And you can like you said, you could spot these people, a waitress that just somebody licked the red off her candy that day. And and and I don't look, they could have a bad day. Right. And and that's okay, I'll give them that. But if you consistently go back and you get the same service, well, now it's time you don't go back for about six to eight months.

SPEAKER_00 30:36

And they also I don't I I think you're like me on this. It irritates me when people don't take care of their servers. Yeah. I mean, you don't have to go crazy. But if they've if the food was really good and they've just really been attentive, they're working hard. Yeah. They might be having to clean the table, also wipe the table. They're back and forth on their feet. You know, show your appreciation and give them a good tip. Correct. I mean, it's I almost think it's a little rude not to. It's it's it's it's kind of like something doesn't require tip, but you just really heap praise. Yeah. And that's how you heap praise on a waitress or a waiter is you take care of them. You know, some people say, well, you know, you chose that. Yeah, but you enjoy being there. Yeah, that's right. So that shows you appreciate it. And I I've seen some waitresses, you know, you talk to 'em and have a pretty big table. And I've been known to s ask, just you know, out of curiosity, what did they give you? And she's, you know, they're like, well, you know, it could have been better. And it's you want

Clean Bathrooms Specials And The Vibe

SPEAKER_00 31:55

the you want their spirits up. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 31:57

You know, because we've been to a t we I tell you, I'm gonna tell you, in fact, I I I kind of teased it a little bit a couple of shows ago about an experience we had lately. And and I'm gonna I'm I'm gonna mention it. I won't say the place, but I'll tell you the scenario, the the true situation that happened, and tell me what you think about it. But just to fall back on that thought about big table, not getting tipped. We were at, in fact, we were at Long Beach Dacri. And my wife and I sitting there at the bar, and we ride on our bikes. So I have my helmets on another seat, and and I remember, you know, looking out because we're watching the bikes, looking outside. But there's a table, got up. It was just two people, maybe with a child. They got up and and and you know, and they were on their way out, and the waitress went over to the table, and you could tell it was like something happened, you know. Did they, you know, did they mess the tape, put ketchup all over the table? Something happened. And and then she went and talked to the uh another waitress, and you could tell they chatted for a second, and you could tell what what something happened. So I asked the other waitress who she talked to. I said, Hey, I said, what happened with with that? Was they okay? Was the what what happened? And she says, Well, they would just hear an awful long time and they had a you know drinks and they had this, that, that, and and uh, and didn't leave them a tip. I said, Oh, really? I said, No. Okay. So when we anyway, long and short is when we finished, I tipped my waitress, and I tipped her also, for the one that walked.

SPEAKER_00 33:33

Well, and that's one thing I can say, because we've we eat places together. And you're like me on this. I don't leave my table a mess when I'm done.

SPEAKER_01 33:43

Yes, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 33:44

You know, some of the things that you're doing. You don't have to clean it, but you straighten it out a little bit. You know, and I've got everything stacked up, it's ready to go. Because that's those little bitty things. You're c you're coming back and they know you. Right. I mean it's like Sully's when I go there. I usually try to get the same person. But two or three of them, they know it. They know me when I come in, they're always nice. And to me, even if I guess if you have children, don't just walk away. Because you uh you probably would do that at home. And it happens. You you want your experience to be good, but you want your server's experience to be good. I'm gonna tell you. Look, we're they they can turn that around on you and be like, I'm gonna give you your service. Right. But that's it. Yeah, it's like I bartended a long time ago, and I was fixing a drink one night, and this guy said, Well, why does my rumming coat not look like her rumming coat? I said, Well, you know, I said, I gave you an ounce of fat, and well, her look stronger. I said, Well, this is back a long time ago. She gives me a $2 tip every time. And he said, Well, what does that make? I said, That's an extra shot. Uh-oh. I said, if you take care of your bartender, your waitresses, they're gonna hook you up sometimes. You're right. That's very they might put a little something extra on the plate. Here's a little something for you. And so it's it's about everybody needs to be nice. Yeah. And the one place you don't want to be rude is a restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 35:33

Yeah, especially before you get your food. Well, here's okay. So here's the not a scenario. This is real life. This happened to me and some friends that went to a local restaurant. Seats plenty. And so we're we're uh we walk in, there is 12 of us. Okay. It's on a Sunday. Now, to to be fair, in one sense, and it's just the truth of the matter, is because I talk to a lot of waitresses and waiters, is church groups generally do not tip good. That's a that is that yeah, that is according to the out of the horse's mouth, not mine. But you ask waitresses, and they'll tell you, you get a big table in, you know, that's why they have that added 20%, whatever. Okay, so here's the situation. We walk in, it's 12 of us. We don't have tables, a table ready for that. But we can put you in six and six. Okay, no problem. We get we in six on on one side, about twelve feet away. Our friends are sitting at another table. We both get two different waitresses. Okay. The friend of mine from New Orleans, well versed in in food, restaurants, and and wine. I'm not so much on wine, but he was, and he wanted a bottle of wine, and I said, okay, look, pick pick you a bottle, what you want. And so he got, you know, him and his wife got a bottle, and we all split it. But he picked up his glass, and it was, it would come out of a spotted dishwasher, bad. And mine did too. So did his wife's, and so did one other person at the table that was drinking wine. And so he's sitting there wiping his glass, you know, because he's, you know, he's into he, you know, it it doesn't taste right if the glass is uh isn't clean right. It's a little bit of a psychological thing. It is, I think it is, and and to to him it was at least, and me too, probably. And so anyway, he's cleaning it. So that was the first bad thing. We ate the food, the food was good. I can't say it was bad, it was good. Experience was good, waitress was good, but when we got the check, his table, and it says tables over eight, twenty percent added. Now, they've already left money on the table. If if especially if if I'm gonna tip because I try to do more than that.

SPEAKER_03 38:05

Right.

SPEAKER_01 38:06

But they came in and and sat, and so here here's what happened. After the meal, all of us are sitting that table and this table. We're looking at our bill, and we look at the menu and it says eight or more. This is six or more. Well, we're six. And and they add the 20%. So here's what happened. And it was two separate waitresses, two separate tables, two separate waitresses. They didn't pull tables together, about 12 feet away. Yeah. And so instead of everybody talking about the experience, the food, the service, everything, go, this was nice, you know,

Tipping Fairly And Avoiding Bad Policies

SPEAKER_01 38:45

what have all of that. It was all about, can you believe what they did? Now, nobody said anything. We didn't cause a scene. Right. But I can tell you the people that I was with and and and our group, they left money on the table. Now, I I think they did that. Well, first of all, they shouldn't have done it because it went outside of their policy of eight or more. And boy, it just rubbed me wrong. And it's been, you know, it's been it's been almost a year. All twelve that I know of have not gone back. And it was it was a sour taste. And you know how many times they're gonna tell the story?

unknown 39:23

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 39:23

Probably to everybody.

SPEAKER_00 39:24

More than if it was good.

SPEAKER_01 39:25

Now, I won't mention the restaurant's name. I think in all fairness, because the owner wasn't there to say, hey, make sure you charge them, even though they sitting at separate because we walked in together doesn't mean anything. Right. You couldn't accommodate 12, that's fine. Setters at different tables, that's fine too. Different waitresses, that's okay. All of that's good. But anyway, it was just it I I feel bad uh for for the for the restaurant because this is 12 people, eight of them local, the others from New Orleans, that are probably won't go back.

SPEAKER_00 39:59

Out of twelve people, it just pyramids. It does. That person tells one person that bad bad news travels faster than good news.

SPEAKER_01 40:11

It does.

SPEAKER_00 40:12

And I think I understand why they sometimes they add that tip for a large table. But sometimes, and I know there's no way for them to know who's gonna tip good. Sometimes that costs the waitress some money. Sure. Because you're like me, I don't mind doing 25%. You know, if the service was great and everything, but sometimes you could be sho the people could be, well then that's all you're getting. Right. You know, but I'm just the type if I got everything was great, I like to show my appreciation. Sure, absolutely. I mean it's you know, it's you're you're gonna have some people that go in a restaurant, they might they might be repeat customers. I've had this with my business, but they always go and fuss about something.

unknown 41:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:05

And then I've asked a customer, I said, why do you keep coming back? Well, you always do such a good job. I said, but every time you come back, you fuss. He said, Yeah, I know that's just kind of my personality. And he still comes back. Yeah. So I I think it's uh you know, it's some of those things I think we talked about. They gotta fine-tune some stuff.

SPEAKER_01 41:26

Yeah, the management that day was off. The the manager was there and saw the whole thing, was even at the at the reception desk when we got there. And like I said, I I I think it is a fact that, and and I don't want to say we were a church group per se. Right. But at the same time, according to waitresses and waiters, church groups have a bad reputation. And that's not, I I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's everybody decides there there's 12 people, everybody's gonna throw a dollar up. I I don't know how it works, what what's in their head, why they would do that. But according to the people who actually receive the tips, they'll tell you hands down, that's who that's the the tables they cringe at. And same thing, you know what I've asked? I've asked because we have a lot of events here. I think we've mentioned this before, is we have cruising the coast, Jeeping, okay, which is an older crowd. Right. Jeeping, scraping scraping the coast. And I asked the waitresses, probably at four or five different restaurants, what group tips the best? And I said, What about because we just had Jeep in the Coast. I said, What about Jeep in the Coast? And they all just kind of shrugged their shoulders.

SPEAKER_00 42:46

That's surprising because that's not a a whole lot of super young people at that, you know.

SPEAKER_01 42:52

Well, actually, well, it does have I don't know, it does have a group of uh young people. But but as far as the the tipping goes, uh you know, uh it anyway, that was their that was their vote. Right. Wow. The best was cruising the coast. You said cruising the coast hands down, the best tippers.

SPEAKER_00 43:08

But that's the old they have a different thinking on things. Look at how meticulous they were on these cars. And they did it right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:16

So I think they appreciate I think it's just an older, older crowd. Yeah. I think I really do. And then scrapin' the coast, I think they said it's the worst because that's the even younger group for the most part.

SPEAKER_00 43:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:27

And and they're coming in and ask for stuff to go, and they're not giving you yesterday's paper.

SPEAKER_00 43:32

So I I've actually I talked to a friend of mine's daughter before, and she's pretty blunt on when she gets good tips and when she doesn't. And she said usually they're difficult to wait on, the people like that leave a mess, and everything is like a big deal, like ordering, ordering, complain about, yeah. Yeah. And I think a good analogy for that is. Selling cars. I did it briefly. The person on when you sell a car that you make like the 50 bucks on, that person is going to be back every week. This is this ain't no good. This ain't no good. But you get a person that comes in that says, Look, I treat me right, and they're always happy. Yeah. And you know, let's be honest. Bartending, waitress, and it's just like anything else. Some people are good at it, and some just don't have the personality for it. Yeah, that's right. And it's if you're bartending and waiting tables, you got not too much, but you gotta go up and kind of talk to the people. How's your food? Yeah, that's right. So really be nice. Don't just come up, you need anything.

SPEAKER_01 44:46

Yeah. Oh, I've had that I've had that kind.

SPEAKER_00 44:48

Because then your your first thought is no.

SPEAKER_01 44:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:52

And and to me, there has they have to know the right time, like uh refill your tea, your drink. Right. You know, don't come up right here in the middle. You just took a bite, how's your food? Right.

SPEAKER_01 45:04

Or yeah, there's so many, there's so many no-nos in waitressing or waiting.

SPEAKER_00 45:09

It's not an easy thing. I couldn't do it.

SPEAKER_01 45:11

Getting in people's person the personal conversation, getting too personal with people, tell them too much about your business, or whatever the case is. Not just not your uh counseling or psychiatrist.

SPEAKER_00 45:23

Right, right. So and I think that's why you have to listen.

unknown 45:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:28

If you're at the table there with kind of listen to what's going on. You can kind of get an uh idea of how people are.

SPEAKER_01 45:34

Good waitresses and waiters, they they they know the the look what to look for, the signs. Yeah. But isn't it interesting how much just being personable with people, watching, looking at restaurants, restrooms, all of those little things go into having a good experience and the restaurant having a good business. So I don't know. This has been a nice little learning experience, you could say. And how about next time and and your your world travels? Okay. Fill us in on a few other restaurants as as you come back next time.

SPEAKER_00 46:06

Well, one place that uh you recommended next time I'm a mobile, I'm going to is it Chuck's Chuck's Fish House. Yes. Chuck's Fish House. I looked at the menu and it was I think it's pretty reasonable. And some what they had was seemed really nice. I'm gonna definitely that's something it is.

SPEAKER_01 46:24

I've been there many times, and Mobile is talking about Chuck's Fish House. And it is, it's excellent. That's an excellent recommendation. Yeah, you need to go. You need to go. So I'll let's hear about that next time or some of the locals, and and we're gonna go eat some gindusi bread.

SPEAKER_00 46:41

Yeah, maybe just eat the bread. Just the bread.

SPEAKER_01 46:45

All right. Well, look, guys, nice being with you again. You know, this music also takes us out of

Closing Thoughts And Next Stops

SPEAKER_01 46:55

the Gulf Coast Food Show. I'm your host, Tim Harrison, and it's nice being with you again.