We just got back from a weekend trip to Virginia to visit our son, so we had to eat at restaurants, not something we ordinarly do.  We went to several places and had decent service, but one place really stood out.

On the way home, we spent the night in Mount Holly, New Jersey, Exit 4 on the New Jersey Turnpike.  Our plan was to go to East Brunswick, New Jersey, but traffic was backed up so we called it a night.  There is a Crackerbarrel restaurant there near the motel and we planned to get a good breakfast and head for home in the morning.

We got a fine breakfast, but I have to compliment Nathan, our server.  A nice young man who “gets it”.  From the first approach to the table until we left, he showed a genuine interest in us having a good meal and excellent service.  Everything he did was just right, from sharing the mandatory extras offer to check to see how things were.  I couldn’t help but think, Nathan could do very well in a higher scale restaurant serving the dinner crowd.  Nathan could make a lot of money.

I have no idea why Nathan works breakfasts at a Crackerbarrel restaurant, but the next time I get service like that, you can bet that I will ask that question.  I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with Crackerbarrel restaurants, I’m just saying that when you are served by someone that really does a good job, you notice and you think the best for them.

There was nothing remarkable about our stop at Exit 4, other than Nathan’s service, but we’ve decided that it’s a good stopping point on the return from Norfolk and we’ll probably plan to stop there again.  In a way, I hope Nathan waits on us again, but there’s another part of me that hopes Nathan has moved on and up to some place I probably can’t afford to eat at. Then again, he might be the manager at Crackerbarrel.