King Burrito is a 6/5.
The food is solid and portions are generous, but the customer service is on another level. Let me tell you about Janet. She is braver than the troops, more generous than Santa, and went so far above and beyond that she converted me to a King Burrito fan for life.
So my flight from LaGuardia landed around 8:15 PM. I was famished. The mini-pretzels on the plane did not hit like I needed them to hit.
In my Uber to the hotel, I started to realize that Bentonville is not exactly New York. By that I only mean that most dining establishments here are not open after 9:00 PM. For an NYer like me, who on average eats dinner at 8:30 PM, that is culture-shock.
Starving and realizing my ETA to anywhere was 9:00 PM, I called in an order to King Burrito. A wrong turn or two later, I arrived at 9:05. It was closed. Door locked, dining room lights off, parking lot empty. Tumble weeds may as well have been rolling through.
I was heartbroken. I hadn't eaten in 11 hours. I felt my stomach digesting itself. My abs and back were touching.
Desperate times call for desperate measures though, and I was desperate. We pulled up to the drive-thru window and knocked. As someone who has worked a fast food drivethru or two, I recognized this was almost certainly a futile effort. King Burrito was closed. With no other options, I began trying to make peace in my soul with a gas station hot dog or hotel granola bar for dinner.
Then, like an angel from heaven, Janet appeared. "I'm sorry, we're closed," she said. The response you would expect from a restaurant that is closed.
"Please," I pleaded. "I tried calling in an order like 15 minutes ago. Is there any chance it was made?"
Janet looked skeptical but--maybe out of pity or maybe just because she is a true American hero--she offered to check the back. She returned a moment later. "I talked to the kitchen. There's still someone here who can make your order. I asked them to stay and get you your tacos."
Not since my wife said "I do" at the altar have I heard such beautiful words. My spirit lifted; my heart sung; my stomach gurgled in delight. Soon, Janet handed me my order. At this point, King Burrito had ostensibly been closed for more than 10 minutes. Not only did Janet stay late to accommodate a tardy and somewhat rude customer, she convinced someone else in the kitchen to do the same.
Literally, she had zero incentive to do that. She just worked a full shift and had plenty of closing tasks to do before she could go home. But out of sheer generosity and good will, Janet stayed and saved my day.
So yes, this review is long but epic stories deserve telling. And Janet deserves a life-size statue in her honor. If she's a cashier, she deserves to be the manager. If she's the manager, she deserves to be the owner. And if she's the owner, she deserves to be the King Burrito President and CEO.
Thank you, Janet, and thank you all at King Burrito. I'll tell all my friends to visit. And if I'm ever in Bentonville again, I'll be back too (though next time by 8:45 at the latest). read more