That customers bring different expectations to any given experience was ably demonstrated by my recent visit to Margaritaville Restaurant in Sydney. Margaritaville is owned by Jimmy Buffett and in the case of this customer, I have been a fan (or parrothead) for around 35 years and own every studio album Jimmy has released, so visiting the restaurant is something of a pilgrimage and a fulfilment of another item on the bucket list.
I had looked forward to going all day and arriving at the Darling Harbour it was all very exciting, this was a customer experience I was primed to enjoy. After being shown to our seats, I got a few photos taken, and settled in to listen to Ragtop Day, which was being suitably amplified on the sound system (and being shown on the large LCD screens), Every item on the menu referred to a Jimmy Buffett song it was great reminising about the songs and 35 years of parrothead history.
As every Parrothead knows you don't really have to look at the menu, because when visiting Margaritaville it's the Cheeseburger in paradise with a cold draught beer, good god almighty which way to a steer. The burger duly arrived and a brilliant night our was had that was everything I expected of it, the smile on my face was a mile long a as I left, Margaritaville cap on head and the words to Cheeseburger in paradise humming in my head.
The customer next door asked the waiter who the hell this Jimmy Buffett guy was, to then this was just a harbour side restaurant that had just opened. The waited explained Jimmy was an american singer who grew up in South America. The Parrothead in me wanted to tell them that Jimmy grew up in Mobile, Alabama, moved to Nashville and on to Key West, and the rest of the 35 years plus history, but they were there for the food and not the full religious experience. Besides by that point of the evening, I was well on the way to searching for my lost shaker of salt. .
