What It Means

A Place of Hospitality is a certification program that recognizes independent restaurateurs who have not only made a commitment to provide exceptional personal hospitality to every patron, every time ... but who have actually succeeded at it! The certification cannot be purchased and a restaurant cannot pay to keep it -- they must live it (and deliver it!) every day.

To become certified, a restaurant must meet very specific standards of staff and management education, service to guests, community involvement and demonstrated results. This is why your comments via the online feedback system are so important. Constant feedback enables the restaurant to catch and correct minor lapses before they become institutionalized.

The Missing Link

It always seems ironic that the competitive element most responsible for success in the hospitality business ... and the piece most visibly absent ... is hospitality itself!

You can be adequately fed and reasonably served in most restaurants, but how often do you experience heart-felt caring and personal connection -- that warm feeling that tells you the restaurant's staff is delighted you are there and it matters to them that you have a great time?

A Place of Hospitality is out to fix that -- to make hospitality the rule rather than the rare exception -- and to allow independent restaurants to operate with effortless excellence.

The Ripple Effect

We believe that one restaurant can do more good for the well-being of a community in one day than all the mental health professionals in town will do in a year because the restaurant will touch more people.

Human beings tend to treat others the way they themselves are treated and it has to start somewhere. Who better to trigger a resurgence of hospitality in the world than the hospitality industry itself?

When guests feel well and personally served, they leave the restaurant feeling better about themselves and life in general. As a result, they will naturally tend to be more considerate of the people they deal with. In this way, hospitality has a way of paying itself forward.

Courtesy begets courtesy.

When a business is focused on creating community, treading lightly on the planet and nurturing personal relationships with their patrons rather than simply trying to pry money from their clutching fingers, it increases trust, return business and enthusiastic referrals. So hospitality and good stewardship is also good business practice.

Better yet, we believe that once the dining public has experienced the warmth of true hospitality, they will be less tolerant of the indifference and callous attitudes found in many corporate eateries and inept independents. They will favor -- and be drawn back to -- certified Places of Hospitality.

The ripple effect from restaurants delivering the experience of heart-felt caring to every patron will start a self-reinforcing cycle of caring and consideration that can gradually transform the communities they serve and make life more pleasant for everyone ... and we could certainly use more civility on the planet!

Yes, courtesy is indeed contagious ... and very, very compelling. It is noble work.