The Joys of a Local

When you're a bachelor and just don't feel like cooking that day it's comforting having a local restaurant you can drop into and be treated like family. It doesn't have to be haute cuisine and it shouldn't be expensive, just decent food in good quantities. For me at least that role is filled by East Side Marios at Oakville Place. It's when you drop in often enough that the staff recognize you that it's important to be known for your pleasant, undemanding personality and for leaving decent tips. That's when they go that extra mile for you in finding a well-lit booth in a quiet corner to sit and read even when they're busy. When the waitress knows your regular tipple is a pint of Guinness and you prefer a garden salad. When they accommodate your preference for angel hair pasta even though the menu now includes roast potatoes with your favourite dinner. When you're welcomed with a smile, offered seconds where appropriate and left alone to enjoy your food and not given the bum's rush if you want to linger over coffee and finish the chapter you were reading. It's the feeling of being treated like family.