The types of hosts you'll meet at your regular South Asian food outlet in the U.S.

This was going to be a review of an Indian cafe in Fairfax, but it got out of hand, so I'll talk about the different kinds of people I've encountered at South Asian restaurants in the US, as a way to build context for the review. The next post will be the review.

First, a little commentary on my experience with most Indian/South Asian restaurants and cafes in the U.S.

They're often manned by youngish men (and sometimes women) who couldn't give a damn about your experience there, because at best they're being paid minimum wage, they see it either beneath themselves to be working there or see the gig as something of a stepping stone into greater things. Either way, they're not there to make you happy or content because why would they, it's not in their interests to improve the restaurants rating. Sometimes this results in remarkably bad experience but most often it's unremarkable and disappointing. You remember vaguely you had an okay time there, you don't know why.

I've written about this in the past, that time we went to a Pakistani cafe in Queens and seven of their servers men and women all Nepali stood in a line and stared at us as we add, often whispering something to a coworker as they looked at us. It was one of the more bizarre restaurant experiences I've had. If it had happened now i'd make it a point to have a good talking with them in a good way but I was far too timid and unsure of myself then.

The second type of folks manning the restaurants are older men who're often the managers and sometimes the owners. The owners are great, they come up to you check up on you, ask what's up, share their family stories and give you a dessert or a drink, on the house. Even if you're just visiting by the area they wish you all the best and genuinely show affection for your presence.

Related are the managers who've been appointed by the owners to take care of the place. Or it could be an ill-suited owner as well. The moment you enter their establishment they see you as a mark, to be bargained with, to be overcharged and be played with. In their tone of voice and the way they deal with you, they want it to be clear that they're the big boss, the person in charge the head honcho and if you've got a complaint they're the one's you've got to deal with so beware! They're not necessarily unfriendly but will often leave a sour taste in your. Something off you'll think. It gets annoying sometimes though cough cough cough Masala in teele square.

Obviously one would prefer to hang out with the passionate but lowkey owner who is good at managing people and customers. They will give out discounts, when there's a contention with customers, they'd rather give away things for free because the stress is not worth a dozen dollars. Nothing against those hardworking managers folks great with people. But sometimes you just want to sit down and eat. And it's polite to talk to people and socialize, though one will want only to eat because of everything else happening and the energy level is low. So against your full will you engage in an extended conversation, attempts to establish common ground. While the food goes cold.

If only there were an establishment with friendly but more professionalized employees...