"Ese Perro!"
"Ese mi doggie!"
I would always shout out upon arrival for work, and my friend Pancho would mirror my salutation back in perfect Spanglish.
Lucy's Restaurant in San Bernardino was my first job in the restaurant industry. In many ways, I could blame that place for a life spent forcing smiles and picking up after messy diners, but that would be like blaming a day at the beach for your sunburn.
In those days of the mid-1990s, Lucy Rodriguez' restaurant was already more than two decades old. Big Danny, her husband, was a no-nonsense cook and boss of few words, of whom I was rather scared - well, like most chefs in my life - especially after I dropped way more cups than I could safely carry right in front of him one day. He didn't have to say a word, actually; the look on his face was training enough.
Uncle Frankie, one of Lucy's sons, was another head cook who kept us teens in check with his irascible nature. He softened with time. Or did we just grow out of our annoying teen years and haphazard ways? As fate would have it, Uncle Frankie and "Big" Grandpa Danny curbed our youthful errant proclivities at the exact right time and prepared us for a life of bosses and consequences.
I say "us," because my best friend at the time - Shaun Cunanan - and I got our busboy gigs because of our friend Manuel - Lucy's grandson. Manuel's sister Sandy was a host, although I think she mainly liked talking on the phone with her friends.
Lucy's son Danny, sister-in-law Patty, daughter-in-law Patty, and best friend Pat also worked there with us. Untold numbers of grandchildren and other family members would follow. It truly was a family business in every way imaginable. Even I felt like family... and still do.
The aforementioned Pancho was an immigrant from Mexico, and we spent many a night after work unwinding in one of the booths listening on the restaurant sound system to Selena, mariachi bands, or whatever new CD I had purchased. We had some great conversations about anything that came to mind - from my college experience or my soccer teams to his former life in Mexico. I was lucky to have known him, and I miss popping back into the kitchen for years after working there to say hello until one day he was gone.
The regular guests were great, too, and made the work so much more interesting. We knew their food orders, their drinks, their kids' names... I knew the one girl would always reach up to steal chocolates when her grandmother was paying the bill at the cash register. Most people were rather pleasant, as I recall; they were happy with their neighborhood family restaurant that always met their expectations. Many we knew their names, and they had their regular tables. They knew their servers by name, because they had all been working there for years, if not decades.
While in college, I would go to Lucy's in the middle of the day to study. I made my freshman Public Speaking class persuasive speech in 1993 on eliminating smoking in restaurants because of my time at Lucy's, which obviously resulted in a worldwide movement. Before remodeling one year, Lucy allowed me to hang a few photographs of mine in the restaurant, and one even sold! When I wanted to introduce my (previous) girlfriend to my brother, we met at Lucy's. When I cared for my dad for a year, and he wanted Mexican food, we'd go to Lucy's. When I needed a venue for a campaign event, I made and served margaritas, and Lucy covered the bill for dinner at her restaurant.
Until recently, Lucy still was going in to the restaurant to make her famous rellenos in the morning. She was the restaurant's longest-serving worker. She loved taking care of people - her family and other families. Luckily, she taught me how to make those rellenos. So, at least that part of the restaurant can live on - and has as far away as eastern Turkey! But whom am I kidding? While no longer a North End San Bernardino fixture for ribeye carne asada, wine margaritas, and more lard than most people wanted to know about, the lives Lucy's touched are as unquantifiable as the smiles, good times, important moments and happy memories that were made possible. Most restaurants will never achieve such a feat in such a way. While California will never have a shortage of Mexican food, few will be family like Lucy's.
