LA Visitors-- Wao'd 'em at LSC

Our close friends from LA are in town for the Green Build conference at McCormick Place. So, for the last couple days, we've been showing them and a few of their colleagues some of the sights and tastes of Chicago. Because of where they're all staying, we're geographically constrained, but we've managed to get around a bit.
Night before last, we took them to Honey One, which was a huge hit, and last night, we all piled into Lao Sze Chuan. They had expressed an interest in pizza, but Coal Fire was closed so, promising that for later in the week, we descended upon a frigid and nearly deserted Chinatown.
As usual, LSC came through brilliantly. I didn't take pics (they already think I'm a little crazy), but here's what the six of us ate:
Potstickers (just okay)
Chengdu Dumplings (hot-as-hell hit of the night)
Szechuan String Bean appetizer (finely chopped, with bits of pork and fermented black bean-- delicious!)
Twice-Cooked Pork
Salt & Pepper Shrimp
Tony's Chicken (they licked the plate!)
Orange Beef (waiter's suggestion- just adequate)
Combo Pan-Fried Noodles (good mainstream balance to the hot stuff)
Beer. Lots and lots of beer (we brought, as LSC's liquor license always seems to be in a state of flux).
I'm always fascinated by visitors' impressions of our city. One of the main topics of discussion was how cordial they find restaurant personnel in Chicago. Likewise, they made mention of how indifferent the service can be in LA restaurants. In my experience, I'd have to concur. Wonder why that is...

Lao Sze Chuan
2172 S Archer Ave
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 326-5040

Paul SL wrote:Likewise, they made mention of how indifferent the service can be in LA restaurants. In my experience, I'd have to concur. Wonder why that is...

Perhaps it's because all of our servers aren't out-of-work actors working in between sitcom auditions?

aschie30 wrote:Perhaps it's because all of our servers aren't out-of-work actors working in between sitcom auditions?

Good point. Maybe some of them could at least act the part of a good waiter.

Having cooked in LA for 6 years (87-93) I can tell you it was near impossible to get serious professional waitstaff. Calls like "I've got to get my head shots dude", "the surf is amazing" or "I've got an audition" were routinely used prior to dismissal. Nearly everyone had a hyphen, waiter-actor, bag boy-writer, carhop-dealer, it was very difficult there, but truthfully anywhere, to find good help with a good work ethic. While I understand doing more than one thing career wise, or doing something to pay the bills while working on something else, oddly enough, the stars of my teams were usually from the midwest.

#1 best employee I had there grew up on a farm in southern Illinois. I hired him immediately because of that detail. I rightly figured that anyone with that background would know how to put in a good days work. Although he had very little fine dining experience (I taught him that) you can't teach character. The traits he learned growing up were what led to his success. Whenever I staff projects I'm involved in, I go for a type of spirit often over technical abilities. You can learn that. He recently googled me and contacted me after all those years. He now runs Hiltons all over the country and wanted to thank me for giving him a chance. It was me that thanked him though.