With an income driven by tips, customer service is the most important thing to those who have made careers out of waiting and bartending in Pike County.
Those relationships lead to customers returning on a regular basis and, in many instances, having servers who know exactly what their order will be before they wlk through the door.
Customers expressed their appreciation by voting on five finalists in the Enterprise-Journal’s Readers’ Choice contest.
Cheryl Young
The veteran of the nominees is Cheryl Young, who has been a server for close to 40 years. She began her career at the former high-end establishment Yesterday’s and then moved to the Dixie Springs Cafe, where stayed until it burned down in 2017. Now, she’s back at Dixie Springs at The Mallard.
Edward Malta built The Mallard after the fire, and his family members, including the late Ann Carruth Jackson, had the Dixie Springs Cafe before the late Keith Byrd and then Joe and Kristine Kimmel bought it.
And all of them have employed Young.
“I started at Yesterday’s and I worked there until the owner decided to move back to Florida,” she said. “When they left I applied for a job at Dixie Springs.”
Young said she has never met a stranger on the job.
“Mostly, I like the people. I got to know them over the years. I developed a friendship with my customers,” she said. “Working around people is my passion.
“You’ve got to love people to do what I’m doing.”
Young said restaurants are more modernized with computers, but people remain the same.
“Over 70% of the people I wait on, I know, they’re consistent customers,” she said.
Young said the recent COVID pandemic showed how people depend on servers and bartenders.
“I guess they were not really considered professionals until the pandemic,” she said.
Young said serving and bartending should be treated like other professions. As an example to show it is not that way, she said many in her profession aren’t offered 401 (k)s, but she hopes that changes.
“You have to be passionate about it to make a living,” she said. “I wouldn’t change it all because of the wonderful people I’ve met over the years.”
Oscar Seles
Oscar Seles became a server at El Dorado Mexican Bar & Grill on Veterans Boulevard to support his family nearly a decade ago, but the job became much more for him through the years.
Seles said there has been a variety of customers through the years, but he has enjoyed meeting them all.
"You see different people every day," he said.
"Oscar has been a revered member of the El Dorado family for nearly a decade now. His dedication to customer service and his infectious laugh are recognized throughout our McComb community," said restaurant manager Uri Medina. "Countless families warmly greet Oscar, who has a special place in many peoples’ hearts as he has seen families grow and times change, but Oscar has remained a steady comfort as a friendly face. We are so thrilled that the McComb is expressing their affection and appreciation for our beloved Oscar."
Sonya Tucker
Sonya Tucker had plans to become a social worker, but on the way she began working at Tortilla Soup Irresistible Mexican restaurant nine years ago and stayed ever since.
“I really like to talk, so this is perfect,” she said. “You get to talk and you get money for it.”
Tucker did not have the money to go to college to become a social worker, “so I decided, in order to talk to people, listen to people, you can be a bartender.”
One of the things she’s seen change on the job over the years is the influence cellphones and social media has on people, even when they’re dining out.
“I feel like social media and technology, it’s a really good thing, but also it’s separating people all the time,” she said. “They’re on their phones. They don’t talk anymore. When you have that human touch. It makes a difference.
Tucker said she’s developed relationships with her customers and gotten to know their tastes.
“I like to know about my customers and memorize what they like,” she said. “They are my regulars, so I know what you want before you even ask for it.”
Logan Finch
Logan Finch went to work at Buddy’s in McComb in December 2009, expecting the job to be “a short-term deal until I just figured out what I was going to do.”
After 13 years on the job, it looks like he has it figured out.
“I enjoyed meeting new people, making new friendships. It also helps that Beth (Hemeter) and Joley (Fortenberry) are very easy to work for,” he said.
Finch has seen changes in the clientele, with the crowds ranging from college-age to retirees.
“It’s more of a cycle,” he said. “It just repeats itself, honestly.”
The bar itself has changed over the years. It started out as Dickerson’s Grocery, an old storefront that sold beer and kept a few common pantry items on hand to ensure its customers had something to bring “from the store” when they returned home. It’s still in the Dickerson’s building, complete with uneven floorboads, but Buddy’s has expanded over the years with a back deck.
Finch said Buddy’s cook, Sharon Wells, “one of the best cooks, if not the best cook in the area.”
Buddy’s boils crawfish on Wednesdays from mid-February through June.
“We’re actually in the talks of pouring a concrete slab and covering that and possibly doing grilled oysters the months after grilling crawfish,” he said.
Lisa Turner
Lisa Turner said the bond she had with her customers at La Mariposa Mercedes Cafe in Magnolia helped her get through the toughest time of her life, when her son died in an auto accident a year and a half ago.
Turner’s customers got to know her and her late son, Braylon Dear, over the years. He was 2 when she started work there eight years ago.
After his death, she received about 200 condolence cards, many from customers.
“The outpouring support of my customers, that is the reason I am there,” Turner said.
Mercedes Ricks, who owns the cafe, was always accommodating and gave her weekends off when her son played travel baseball, and she’s especially grateful for that time she got to spend with him.
“He grew up around my customers,” Turner said, who has been a server or bartender for close to 14 years.
“I started when I was 16, 17,” she said. “I was at Waffle House.”
Turner said she became a bartender at age 21 before going back to being a waitress. She knew some of her customers prior to working for La Mariposa.
“I have a very personal relationship,” she said. “They’ve followed me from other restaurants.
“It’s always been the customers,” she said. “Where I’ve been for eight years, it’s definitely been the customers who have kept me there. Everyone says I’m a good listener.”
