A restaurant to be remembered.

37% wrong. 99% happy. 

The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders is a restaurant in Japan where all the servers have dementia. 

37% of orders are delivered wrong, yet 99% of customers are happy.

I’m thinking..

You have to be a special kind of person to willingly go to this restaurant. 

But then again, maybe all you have to do is be in touch with humanity. 

Isn’t this how commonplace generosity should be? 

Remember when we were kids and our parents would pre warn us about our behavior before we went out? 

“Ok Man, we’re going into this store, I need you to be on your best behavior. Please don’t touch everything you see. Please don’t embarrass me.” - Mom

I imagine this is what knowingly visiting The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders is like, but the restaurant itself is your warning, preparing you to be generous because generosity is expected. 

“I am about to go into this restaurant, I need to be my  most generous self. Patient and kind. Please don’t embarrass yourself.” - Man

Fine, they didn’t get your order right.

You can still get generosity right. 

(There is a place for mistakes and there is a place for generosity.)  

How can we invite both into the same space? 

It's in that space that a 90 y/o server says: “I used to think I couldn’t do this job, I’m so glad I came.” 

It’s in that space that a diner is so inspired by the staff that she asks to take a photo to show her elderly mother who thinks her life is over. 

It’s in that space that an employee says: “Living in a nursing home exciting things rarely happen, I was so excited to serve. It made me happy.” 

As far as I’m concerned, the only mistake is that more places aren’t like this.