While the economy is down, Rick “Baja Rick” DiRienzo isn’t letting that stop him from having some fun at Rockin’ Baja Coastal Cantina.
“What we try to do is keep an upbeat attitude with our guests, with our employees,” he says. “We want everyone to have a party atmosphere when they come in here.”
So at the restaurant chain, the food and drinks must be tasty, and if a server wouldn’t eat or drink something him or herself, then send it back. If someone is celebrating a birthday or graduation, treat that person to something special and make him or her feel important.
“We need to create a party when people come to dine with us,” the founder and president says. “It’s like going on a mini vacation. We have to give them a party atmosphere to have fun with it, and by doing that, the guests will keep coming back.”
Smart Business spoke with DiRienzo about how he creates a fun and successful business for his more than 200 employees despite the down economy.
Get employee buy-in. We have to get everyone on the same page. Everyone has to buy in to (the culture) or they won’t be able to work here.
I’m not the one who does that — my managers do that. They’ll call people out if they don’t look like they’re paying attention. They’ll say, ‘Go on home. If (you) don’t want to listen to what I have to say and if you don’t think it is important enough to you, then go home.’
We only want people who are really committed to our entire philosophy, which is service-oriented and taking care of other people. If you start thinking about yourself too much and not about your customers, it’s not going to work.
So they’ll tell them, ‘John, are you sure you want to work here because it doesn’t seem like you do?’ They’ll get that hint that they either come to work ready to listen and learn or else they don’t. It’s a tough attitude sometimes, but you have to. You can’t afford to have people here that won’t give your guests service.
Give customers what they want. Listen to your guests and listen to your customers. They’ll tell you what they want to see and what they want to hear. One of the biggest faults all of us can have is not listen to what the guest is asking for. You need to provide. We don’t know the word ‘no’ or ‘can’t.’ We can do anything. If we have the food in the restaurant or the alcohol, we can do it. It doesn’t matter if it’s on the menu or not.
Never say no to a guest or a customer if at all possible. There’s a lot of different people who will want some sort of vegetarian meal — we only have one vegetarian meal, but we’ve got all the product — we’ve made vegetarian pizzas on tortillas. We’ve made vegetarian fajitas. If people want to come in and just get 5 pounds of crab legs, we’ll sell them 5 pounds of crab legs. They’re coming to us and spending money, so why not accommodate them. Usually the people who ask for something special, they’re more than happy to pay a price for it. They just want to be able to get it.
You have to fight for every dollar you get. There’s no reason to turn anybody down on anything. It’s like my father always said, ‘Everything is for sale. Just attach your price to it.’