SELIGMAN, AZ — If food orders at the Snow Cap take longer than expected, it’s because John and Bob Delgadillo have their hands full abusing the customers.
It’s all part of a unique customer relationship effort, and it works: Their antics have people flocking to the restaurant from all over the world, if a babble of languages overheard on a Tuesday in September is any gauge.
The tone is set before customers walk into the tiny order area — if they can find their way in at all. A doorknob with a “pull” sign will yield only frustration: It’s on the same side as the hinges. The real doorknob is located on the other side of the door.
This assumes that potential patrons haven’t been scared away by the sign outside proclaiming that the Snow Cap serves “Tacos Malts Burritos Dead Chicken” or “Cheeseburgers With Cheese.” And, truth be told, the cheeseburgers and malts are good.
Once inside (patrons order indoors and carry their food to outdoor picnic tables), the ritual of attempting to obtain lunch begins. Customers requesting a “small” ice cream are presented with a thimble-sized serving. (The Delgadillos will cheerfully take it back once everyone has had the opportunity to gawk and laugh.) If patrons want ice in their sodas, they are initially shown a cup with crushed ice rising 2 inches over the brim.
There’s no winning with these boys: Order a half-cone of ice cream and you will be presented with a cone that has literally been cut in half. Get smart, and ask for a whole spoon when given the choice, and you’re likely to wind up holding a spoon with a hole in it. Give up and ask for a straw, and you’ll be presented with material that might have been yanked off a scarecrow.
Chances are better than even that your change will end up in the hand of the patron behind you, or to your side, or pretty much anywhere but in your hand. Mustard is served —
Well, there’s no point in giving away all their secrets.
The Delgadillo brothers are carrying on the customer-chivvying custom of their father, Juan Delgadillo, who built the Snow Cap in 1953 as a roadside stop off Route 66. The Delgadillos have a routine for nearly every order, and every time they pull off these gags — which they’ve done thousands of times — their own amusement shines through.
The Delgadillos even pay a nod to CRM. A small sign hangs outside, reading, in part: “We hereby make notice that this business reserves the right to slap senseless any customer who becomes too demanding! (This will in no way affect good customer relations.)”
It doesn’t. Sit for a while at one of the benches and watch the faces of the people coming out. A huge majority of them are smiling broadly.
The next time I’m in Seligman, I’ll be back for more abuse. You can count on it.
RICHARD H. LEVEY ([email protected]) is a senior writer for Direct. His Loose Cannon column appears every Monday on Direct Newsline (www.directmag.com).
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