…an impossible effort to synthesize the antithetical self-indulgent and communitarian impulses of the era from which it sprung

Re: a few earlier comments on customer service at the Del…

Regardless of whether on-site management is ‘traditional’ or handled through worker consensus, a decline will set in when the owners or primary decision-making group start to become unresponsive or unconcerned with the ill effects of inconsistent service. This can lead to a self-perpetuating downward spiral for any business. As time goes on, these people often proceed to hire others similar to themselves, which results in a further deterioration of service orientation toward customers or clients. Eventually, as I’ve witnessed in the past, the minority of staff who plea for a focus on improved customer interaction may find their proposals dismissed or even ridiculed by management.

Given the typically self-centered nature of our culture, those who conduct staff hirings at places like the (former) Del need to diligently seek a high aptitude for service and social skills from among the pool of job applicants. You have to consciously hire for these qualities, and also be willing to turn away friends of current staff. There are plenty of hard workers out there who have only a limited understanding of customer service, some of whom will go as far as to argue that it gets in the way of doing their jobs efficiently.

Some worker-run operations have been smart enough to set up a board of community members (which also includes employees) who act as overseers or as a source of feedback. Such a board may remain fairly passive much of the time but swings into action when the public begins to sense a breakdown in service quality and operations. It acts as a reality check — and a brake — when internal staff dynamics lean too far toward dysfunction. …As to how such a board might have fit in with the Del’s operation, given its unusual distinction of being privately-owned while worker-managed, I don’t know.

In my limited experience, I was never treated in a surly manner by the Del’s wait staff. On occasion, they came across as indifferent or aloof; and then, when a regular customer walked in, the personalities of the staff would suddenly brim with life. This two-tiered service behavior, while less than welcoming for newbies, was hardly unique to the Del. Still, my experience aside, the slowly growing perception of service decline did do hurt through word of mouth. By the late 90s its internal work culture needed reinvigoration.

Although customer service during the initial years might have been better overall, there’s an old anecdote (or urban legend?) said to date from the very early 70s: a guy in a business suit showed up at the Del after work, only to be all but pushed back out the door due to, in essence, his failure to outwardly comply with the bar’s culture and informal dress code. Borrowing from that era’s lingo, in order to patronize this establishment, you’d best not look like part of the establishment.