Serving food with a smile

Terms such as “service with a smile” and “the customer is always right” are often lost in today’s world. But for about the past six years, it’s been Donald Glass’ goal to keep these sayings alive.

Glass is a full-time employee at El Bistro at Read Residence Center. Although working at El Bistro is his first full-time job, he’s no stranger to working at Read.

“I started out as a student worker while I was in Groups,” Glass said. “I liked the food at Read and thought it would be a cool place to work, so I applied.”

While working part-time as a student, Glass worked at both the Hoosier Cafe and the traditional Dining Room at Read.

“I preferred to work at the traditional dining area,” Glass said. “I liked the buffet style. Usually it’s the full-time workers that cooked while the student workers cooked at the cafe.”

During Glass’ undergraduate years, there was no El Bistro, as McDonald’s was in its place. Around the time the McDonald’s contract expired, Glass had left for a year, but he kept up with the news.

“I was excited when I heard that an IU-owned place was going to replace McDonald’s,” he said.

Sandra Fowler, director of RPS Dining Services, was also excited about the change.

“I liked the taste tests we first did to decide what should replace McDonald’s,” Fowler said. “In the end, it was a good idea to go with both a breakfast- and burrito-style place, as well as a sandwich place. It gives students more variety.”

Glass was rehired as a full-time worker at El Bistro.

“It was tough,” Glass said about the first month there. “Sometimes there would be 40 to 50 people at a time, which could make working kind of hectic.”

Glass also said unexpected issues like being short-handed and getting used to the new equipment also made work difficult.

“The best way to avoid these things is to learn from your mistakes and plan ahead,” Glass said.

Another difficulty Glass had to get used to was the transition from part time to full time.

“It takes more responsibility to be a full-time worker because you have to make sure things run more smoothly,” Glass said.

While the job can become difficult, Glass said he likes working full-time at El Bistro.

His co-workers also like the job he’s doing.

Glass makes the job less stressful, said sophomore Whitney Sanders.

“I enjoy working with him a lot,” Sanders said. “He doesn’t put pressure on people. He makes the job a lot easier.”

Just as his co-workers like him, Glass said he enjoys working with his co-workers.

“The best part of my job is working with the great people here,” Glass said. “A lot of the full-time people are from this area, so I can connect with them, and the student workers are from different places, so they’re fun to be around.”

A recreation major as a student, Glass said he is content at El Bistro.

“If I wasn’t working here, I’d probably be doing something in park recreation,” he said. “But I’m very happy with what I’m doing.”