A little bit of kindness will get you far. A little bit of chocolate cake will get you even farther, as one restaurant manager, a husband, and his wife who had just given birth found out.

Francis writes:

It is often said that people will complain way more than they praise, so I’d like to do my bit to even the odds a little. I’m writing to sing the praises of the manager, Lee, and staff at Bertucci’s Brick Oven Restaurant at One Blackfan Circle, Boston MA.

Last month, my wife gave birth to our first child at a hospital near this restaurant. Unfortunately, he required some additional minor medical care, and was readmitted soon after being discharged. The stress of becoming new parents and having to return to the hospital so soon had left us rather frazzled. We decided to order take out from Bertucci’s, and placed a phone-in order. When we arrived at the restaurant, we discovered that there was a mistake with our order, due to there being similar items on the menu. Now it was a much my mistake as theirs as I did not pay much attention when they told me on the phone how much it would cost.

We were not that upset about the order, and were quite happy to wait. We were also happy to pay for the item ordered by mistake. But when the manager, Lee, came, she insisted on giving us the entire order for free.

And then when she came back with the order, she noticed that we were wearing the New Parent badges and tags from the hospital, and saw that my wife seemed a little upset. She then said, ‘Do you need some chocolate?’, and then disappeared and returned with a massive slice of chocolate cake, again on the house.

Needless to say, we were very touched by the kindness of the staff that evening!

On the one night in the next year that Francis and his wife might be able to go out to a restaurant again, I bet Bertucci’s Brick Oven will be on the list when they’re deciding where to dine.

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