I set off on this writing journey with some loose guidelines.  One of my self-imposed rules: don’t dog on the customers lest they be able to identify themselves and create real havoc for us.  But I need to unleash a few gripes before I burst.

Red Moon's lunch buffet -- amazing food, even better value (perhaps too valuable, as you'll see...)

For as long as I can remember we have offered our lunch buffet to-go.  You pay the same price as a sit-down diner ($7.50 including tax right now), we hand you a three-section styrofoam container to fill on your own to your heart’s content (see the problem coming?).  Easy lunch.  Great deal.

I’ll preface my gripe by saying my complaints stem from our own failings.  We don’t have a list of rules about how much food a person can really take.  It’s implied.  Fill your container, *close it* and be on your merry way.  I hate rules — they bog down the flow of life and they could potentially make us look like small-picture, micromanaging, nickel-and-dimers.  All things I hate about doing business.  It feels nit-picky and greedy.

I see our lack of implicit regulation of the to-go buffet process as a nod to the customers’ own ability to traverse the two-way street of human dignity.  In other words, I’m expecting them to be reasonable.  After all, it’s utterly surprising how much food fits in those things — it’s potentially way more than even the most spirited eaters can consume in a single dine-in buffet sitting.

Instead, I see people doing the most greedy things.  Yes, times are tough — but stuffing food into the container, mashing it down and compacting enough food for a family of four atop what’s already jammed inside is not okay, lady.  I’d had enough that day: “if that thing doesn’t close as it’s designed to, you will pay double,” I blurted during a complete absence of patience.

I am now forced to withhold the plastic shopping bag from customers until they are making their way out the door because of the lady who insisted on tossing more than a half dozen appetizers into her plastic bag rather than her to-go buffet container.  You are ruthless — but not as ruthless as the woman who used both sides of the container to take fried chicken wings that would have otherwise retailed at $20.  So much for my made-up “closing the container” rule that day!

To the guy who hovered at the steam table waiting for more of a chicken dish: You’re welcome to spoon some of the veggies into your container, too.  Never mind the fact you just discriminately scooped a good $8 or so in chicken breast into your container, bypassing anything green… what about your health?

Today, another instance of greed.  My dad gets really angry at this type of thing.  Today he said, “My blood got boiled. I only know how to [sic] them off.”

See, he did.  He asked an offender if s/he  had taken enough and asked the person to consider his/her health.  See, that’s some bold stuff right there!  But somehow my dad gets away with it.  Or perhaps the customers write it off as some sort of Chinaman babble to which they needn’t pay attention.

This, however, is clear: people make rules for a reason.  And I’m beginning to think a better policy for us that won’t seem too verbose and regulatory is the charge-by-the-pound method of to-go buffet pricing.  People pay for what they take.  We may lose a few customers, but as dad said today, we’re free to “[sic] them off” since we’re losing money on them anyway.

Business is business and we have costs to meet.  But I want to remain flexible and hospitable and welcoming to any and all who wish to come *fairly* enjoy our buffet in the manner he or she sees fit.  We will find a way.

UPDATE 12/11/09: For all the angst some of these people cause, it’s worthwhile to also note the potential they have as word-of-mouth advertisers.  Perhaps we lose money each time they come and take so much food.  But it’s also true they may be huge fans who are always encouraging others to come by.  So not only is it not a wash… it’s beneficial for us.  Oh, the nuances of doing business.  In fact, dad probably shouldn’t have opined at the steam table the other day.

Right off the bat, I’m going to make it clear that I have only one side of this story — the small business owner who is trying to make it through a relatively rough patch: Tin Tat Kwan, owner of Red Moon Chinese Cafe.

A few months ago, when I was still living in Michigan, I learned that my dad had severed ties with the local Pepsi bottler in a huff — something about outrageous prices for the syrup restaurants mix into soda and inflexibility in getting deliveries of just one or two boxes of the stuff when we needed it.  Deepening the discord, Tin Tat found out from a friend/neighbor/franchisee of a huge national chain that he was paying LOTS more for the soda than say, a sandwich shop that also serves Pepsi.  Dad was pissed, to put it lightly.  He always says he requires a “special touch” from anyone he does business with.  What does that mean?  Well, that every once in awhile, a sales person, agent or rep stops in to B-S a little and have a bite, (a free bite at that)!  Pepsi wasn’t even coming close, according to dad.  All of this drove him to put an end to a nearly three-decade old relationship.  Pepsi let a 30-year customer walk away.

Tell me:  when should that happen?  When do you let a longtime customer get that upset?  Reminder, I’m telling only one side of the story.  Perhaps communication was a problem.  (I bet it was, actually.)

So for the last few months, Red Moon’s been serving canned- and two-liter soda.  Not the best quality for a sit-down restaurant, in my opinion.  But it’s been working and dad didn’t have to deal with Pepsi directly.

Starting soon, we will not deal with them at all.  Ever.  Not a single one of their products will touch Red Moon again.

Goodbye Pepsi. The Red Moon will bid farewell to Pepsi products later this month, after a nearly 30-year relationship, the Kwan family will wash its hands of Pepsi in favor of Coca-Cola.

This week, we signed up to exclusively sell and serve Coke products.  And what is Coke doing to make us feel welcome into “The Coke Family?”  The syrup is incredibly cheaper.  They are getting us two coolers to store canned sodas for our takeout customers (two!), and they have more flexible delivery options.  They’re also getting us a brand new soda fountain and running all new lines.  A fresh, clean start.

Now if anyone from Coke finds this blog entry, I wouldn’t go patting yourselves on the back too soon.  While we’re pleased with your offerings thus far, do not forget about “the special touch.”

If anyone from Pepsi is reading this, you ought to figure out how this happened.  Even if things got heated… where was the person with a passion for customer service who should have come by to make things right?

Wow.  My head is spinning with ideas, concerns, changes, worries and more.  One week at the Red Moon and I still feel like I haven’t done much to help.  But then I’m reminded of my goal: K.I.S.S., as we’re told in storytelling: Keep It Simple, Stupid.  I am here to improve upon our strengths (like great, amazing, carefully- and lovingly-prepared food, as well as friendly, family-like service). Stick to the basics.  That alone should drive more business.

And thankfully, it’s pretty easy to keep my chin up about the process — because I get constant reminders–big and small–of how much people genuinely respect and love my dad’s food.  It’s gratification that makes me feel amazing inside — like our family has really done something successful.

Minnesota Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe tweeted this pic, saying we "have good chinese food!" A day later, more than 800 people had viewed the photo.

Yesterday, Minnesota Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe came in and tweeted a picture of his specially-ordered Beef, Chicken, Shrimp and Broccoli to his 8,700 followers.  Now, I wouldn’t normally go blabbing about our regular celebrity customers (he is one of them) — and I didn’t have to break the news here (Haha, “news.”)  He wanted to share that he was really liking our Chinese so he used Twitter to make that public himself.  How awesome is that?  Twitter rocks.

But there is a long list of gratifying moments from the past few days that are equally satisfying.  And they have nothing to do with NFL players.  On Monday a new customer came in for takeout — his daughter was in Eden Prairie for an extra-curricular activity.  They actually live more than 30 miles away.  Ironically, at the same time, a customer had driven 25 miles from about the same area just to pick up some takeout.  They got to chatting about a Chinese place closer to home.  Our dedicated customer said he didn’t like it.  The new customer said he loved it.  All of a sudden, I had a lot to prove to this new guy.  The test would be if he came back tonight to try something else while his daughter was back in town for her activity.  He did.  We passed the test.  He loved Monday’s order.  I cannot tell you how good that feels.

I’m grateful we have loyal, hard-working employees who’ve stuck with us through busy and slow.  But I can tell you right now, nothing beats a Kwan at the front of the house to tell our thankful customers how thankful we are, to make heart-felt menu suggestions and to make sure people are truly taken care of.  A million thanks to all of our customers.  You’re fun to talk to.  You’re enthusiastic about good food.  We wouldn’t survive without you!  I can’t wait to spend the next year chatting with all of you, new customers and old customers.