We do a lot of amazing things with our associates to assure the absolute best guest experience possible. In fact, we’ve created so many coaching and training techniques, we challenged ourselves to boil it into a very straightforward message that associates and guests can see every time they visit a Hwy 55 restaurant.   

  We created “Love Your Neighbor”

It’s a way of thinking and an icon emblazoned on all of our correspondence, menus and even uniforms. To us, as members of the Hwy 55 family, this icon reminds us of our responsibility to serve each other and our guests with authentic hospitality.

Those three words are extremely powerful.

How West Virginia Hwy 55 Employees Showed Their Love

Little acts of kindness carried out daily by Hwy 55 employees make it a special place to work and a special dining destination for communities. Here’s the story.

West Virginia restaurant creates braille menu for blind customer

By Michelle Gant – Fox News
October 12, 2018

Now that’s some good customer service.

A restaurant in West Virginia created a braille menu for one of its regular customers who is blind.

Employees at Hwy 55 Burgers Shakes and Fries in Huntington noticed how Lisa Blankenship always had to have someone read the menu for her, which gave them the idea to create a version suitable for their vision-impaired patrons.

“We talk a lot at Hwy 55, in general, about love your neighbor, and that’s a concept that comes to service but also beyond the service. What sets us apart is that we do try to reach out to our customers in a way that’s personal,” Hwy 55 operator Erin Downard told MetroNews.

The restaurant contacted Cabell-Wayne Association of the Blind to create the new menu, which they now have several copies of, not only for Blankenship but anyone else who might need it.

When staff presented the menu to Blankenship last month, she was thrilled with the kind gesture. “She got to read it that first time and just had that joy on her face. The first thing she said was, ‘I get to read it myself!’” Downard told WOWK-TV.

Blankenship, who often visits her favorite spot twice a week, called the Hwy 55 employees “wonderful” and thinks other places should follow their example.

“They don’t make it feel like an inconvenience for them if you’re handicapped,” she said. “All restaurants should try to accommodate their handicapped patrons because it really will make a lot more people come in, and I appreciate it so much.”

If everyone practiced that simple phrase in their daily lives, think how wonderful life would be. One way our cooks practice this philosophy is by making great food for our guests in five minutes or less. 

There are countless opportunities every day for our wait staff to make a guest’s day. They open doors, smile with warmth and WOW our guests by putting their wants and needs before their own.

We teach not to think about tips—but rather about serving your neighbor. It’s amazing how the tips come in when you reverse the priority of things.

Of course, as a company we have to make money to keep the lights on. However, we can best do that by taking care of each other and our neighbors so we’re a preferred dining destination.

Love Your Neighbor simply means extending yourself to others, regardless of how it feels to you.

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