"You've come to the right place." Is this a new thing?

Perhaps coincidence, but two meals in a row--Tuesday night at Parthenon and Wednesday noon as Pasteur--I was greeted this way after I came in and asked for a table. Is this like drawing smiley faces on checks so that the word went out in some restaurant magazine that you can increase customer satisfaction by telling people they're going to be glad they came?

(As it turned out, not so glad either place. Parthenon knew we were in a hurry (we'd turned down some things that would take too long) but it still took 50 minutes to get our order to our table. At Pasteur my calamari was so tough that I ended up having to tuck a half-chewed piece under my bowl. Neither problem would make me swear to never darken their door again, but I'm not rushing back, either).

My response to "You've come to the right place" would be "I sure hope so"
As awkward as the statement is, it beats the hell out of "Is everything delicious?" --- the question that every waitron was asking a diner (in mid-chew) a couple of years ago.

So funny you bring this up, just last night someone said this to us at Anteprima (where everything was delicious, btw.), and it struck me as odd.

If someone says that to me, I will be obliged to F with them:

"Are you certain?"
"You're absolutely right: You've been served!"

hmm, what else?

JoelF wrote:"You're absolutely right: You've been served!"

Winner!