12 Diner and Coffee Shop Regulars Who Became Family: a Pizza Named After One and a Five-Table Proposal

“A local pizza place decided to name the pizza I normally order after me.”

There is a local pizza place a block or two from my house. I get pizza from there once or twice a month, not that often, and I always order the same toppings: mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, and feta.

Someone heard me ordering it and asked for the same thing. So the pizza place added it to their special board, called “The Mirarom”.

I feel weirdly honored.

An ice cream counter · 2 years of visits → a 9 out of 10

A regular who had been coming in for more than two years asked for a “surprise me” flavor, and the person behind the counter knew exactly how short that list was. She is picky and obsessed with raspberries, so the answer was raspberries rolled together with cheesecake: icy and smooth at the same time. She said she loved it, which almost never happens, and gave it a nine, because she doesn’t believe anything is perfect.

“Making the regular customer happy”

“Regular customer caught me crying last week, came in today and gave me this.”

“Something amazing happened.”

I only get my regulars, who always come in on Thursdays. That’s when it gets weird.

My 1st regular table brings me a pack of my favorite chocolates, that coincidently are from the place my boyfriend first worked at when we got together. I don’t make this connection.

The 2nd regular table I serve gives me a dozen of fake daisies.

The 3rd regular table I get gives me a little keychain of the Statue of Liberty. My birthday is soon, so I think it’s because of that.

The 4th regular table brings me a gift card to my favorite dress shop, saying, “Happy birthday!”

The 5th regular table gives me a card, signed by everyone from my work, and to go home and meet up after hours at my work.

At 10:00, I go back to my work, expecting to see all my co-workers and find my boyfriend. That’s when it really hit me, and before I knew it, he was on one knee, proposing through happy cries that were barely softer than mine.

I met him when I was still serving, and he was working at the chocolate shop.

What really got me was that my (now fiancé) went to my co-workers, who all went to my favorite regulars, and planned this out. They all had a group chat, apparently, and planned who would get what gift to give me, and what would happen.

“Gerry is 84 today. He comes in every day. Happy Birthday!!!”

Just some appreciation for my regular.

I was a regular at this restaurant for a year before I started cooking here.

Half order of fried chicken.

We always give him extra food.

He loves [a brand of cheese puffs] (it’s a Canadian thing) so chef got him a [bulk] pack of them today.

We are in a very small town, I don’t think he’s ever left. Worked every job you can imagine for a west coast old boy. Lots of logging n fishing.

A coffee shop counter · the same order every time

Some regulars never need to say a word. At this coffee shop, one customer’s cookie is already wrapped in a napkin and the same iced coffee is already poured by the time they reach the register. The order hasn’t changed in a long time, so all that is left to do at the counter is say hello.

“We love our regulars (no cookies were harmed in the making of this)”

“I went to brunch at a small-town cafe today. Sat at the bar with some patrons which is where I learned that for Christmas, the cafe bought all their regular customers a custom coffee mug with their name on it. I just can’t get over how wholesome this is.”

“This made my day...”

I own my own taco place.

Lots of regular customers who come in 1-2 times a week for lunch.

My son graduated from 8th grade and they had a celebration for them yesterday with the actual ceremony this morning.

He was wearing one of the hoodies for the restaurant to the carnival. Lots of food trucks for the kids to eat from. One of them is a lemonade/shaved ice truck.

They commented on his hoodie saying they were going to my place after the celebration because they never not go when the truck is on our side of town. Went on to tell him about this nice lady that never gives a bad recommendation, gives their kids stickers and popsicles, and is the most detailed person about what is on or in something when it is new.

My son asked him, “Glasses, long hair, often wears a pink cowboy hat, and would never ever recommend putting bacon or ranch on food? If so, that is Mommy.”

Turns out my son was correct. The guy told him he was a lucky guy.

Made my ego and heart grow 3 sizes yesterday.

A breakfast place · free coffee every morning → breakfast for the staff during the shutdown

“Nothing wrong with a customer who never pays, they will take care of you when you least expect it”

We offer free coffee with breakfast purchase all weekdays, and we have one guy who comes in every morning and just drinks coffee. He is a regular, and he goes and sits in a back booth, reads the news and talks with us. Typically he will have one or two friends join him and his daughter will come by too.

We never ask him to pay for coffee as the guests he brings us take great care of us. Since the dine-in shut down, this man has been amazing to us. He comes by when we open and asks us what we want for breakfast, and he even gets enough for the 2 people in the front and our 2 cooks as well, all in exchange for a cup of coffee.

“A love letter to the brunch + diner servers of the world”

I’ve been in the industry for over a decade, and I’ve worked breakfast for over half of it. I currently work in a diner, and despite wanting nothing to do with eggs during my shifts, I often find myself at the counter of a different diner ordering an omelette on my days off.

My server today was a sweetie — a total veteran, and I commiserated with her after she took a frustrating phone order. When I told her I also worked at a diner, her eyes lit up. The tapping of her nails on the POS system, the gentle hum of the [coffee maker] brewing a pot of decaf, the calls of “coming out!” and the sound of the kitchen door being donkey kicked open.

We see people before they’ve had their coffee, we have regulars’ egg preferences memorized, our lives become intrinsically intertwined with whatever community we serve. There’s nothing quite as comforting as a freshly refilled cuppa, a plate of pancakes, and a kind person lovingly calling you “honey”.

I see you, I love you. Thank you.

A restaurant · once a week, alone, with a book → a book club of two

Kelly has waited tables for years, and one of the regulars Kelly remembers best was a mom of five who came in about once a week, alone, with a book. Servers usually leave readers in peace, so Kelly did.

Then one day the woman sat down with the exact book Kelly was reading, just at the beginning of it, while Kelly was almost at the end. Kelly told her to hang on tight, because it was about to get crazy. They swapped numbers that day and spent the time after trading book recommendations back and forth.

“I could write a BOOK about how many beautiful moments I’ve had with regulars. It’s not always chaos.”

“So in this coffee shop I work in, it was these regular customers 50th anniversary of their marriage so we had all set up this surprise for them and the food and drinks were all of course on the house.”

They come in every single day without fail for years! The letter on the table is the invitation we gave the man the day before.

They were, they absolutely loved it!!