Caroline Horne

Professor Williams

February 27th, 2011

English Paper

Are There Really Ninety Nine Reasons to Be Happy at 99?

Walking into any restaurant you are immediately hit with the smell of food, the

atmosphere of the people eating and working there. Since I was born, restaurants were always

and still are a big part of my life. I decided to do the Ninety Nine as my project because I was

curious to see the differences between a chain restaurant and a family run old western bar. Many

people will come and go out of restaurants just eating and leaving but never truly take away the

complete atmosphere and feel of the establishment they are eating at. I believe that by doing this

project I will gain a real feel for how much hard work goes into running a nationwide chain.

The Eagle Brook Saloon in Norfolk MA has always been a very important part of my

life. It is where I have spent a lot of my childhood and teenage years. Whether it was having

soccer parties there or spending every Saturday and Sunday day hostessing, the restaurant world

has a very close place to my heart. As well as being my place of employment it is also a major

part of my family’s life. I was born into a family who owned a restaurant. I work and visit my

cousins, aunts, uncles, siblings, and parents. It is the best feeling in the world to come home from

college and know that there is a place where you can go and catch up with people you have

known for your entire life. Even if they are not blood related I definitely consider the Eagle

Brook part of my home. These employees that have been there forever have always supported

me and have even helped me make major life decisions. I do not know what would have become
of my life if it was not for this “family” I have at the Eagle Brook Saloon. As well as being a

place where my family is, it is also a place where my friends are. The first thing we all think of

doing on a weekend night is to go have dinner or dessert at the Eagle Brook. While we are there

we almost always see people from our high school, whether it is a coach, teacher or a fellow

student. It has always been such a great atmosphere because even though it is an old western bar

feel it is completely surrounded by sports items; whether it is a softball from the local state

championship team, a plaque from a little kids soccer team that is sponsored by the restaurant,

hundreds of thank you letters from local teams that come for team dinners the night before a

huge game. Due to owning a family run restaurant I have always wondered what is different and

what is similar in a chain which led me to do this paper on the Ninety Nine chain restaurant.

The Ninety Nine restaurant was established in 1952 by Charlie Doe. The Ninety Nine

restaurant here in Bridgewater is where you will often find a lot of college students since it is the

closest restaurant to campus. It is located in the downtown area and it is a perfect place to

celebrate a birthday or to just get a break from the school food on campus. The outside of the

restaurant is surrounded by bushes and trees. Some of the stores surrounding the restaurant are a

Roche Brothers, Subway, and Burlington Coat Factory. When I first walked into this restaurant,

what immediately caught my eye was the set up of the waiting area. It is a small space, but there

is one long booth that about ten people can fit on. There are also pictures of other Ninety Nines

from this area. One of the pictures is of the first Boston restaurant, which was created in 1971.

Another feature present in most of these restaurants are the plaques that list the ninety nine

reasons why you will enjoy the Ninety Nine. The first plaque states the founder’s motto and what

they hope you have a good time when you are at the restaurant. The second plaque is the Ninety

Nine’s story, and explains the story about how the horseshoe came to be the symbol for the
Ninety Nine; the owner of all the Ninety Nine restaurants, Charlie Doe’s wife gave him a

horseshoe when he first came up with the restaurant idea for good luck and now it has stuck and

is a major American icon. Another plaque reason number thirty nine, states the information about

car side to go and the phone number for the Bridgewater Ninety Nine. While I was sitting in the

waiting area for my table to be ready, I also noticed the types of people that come into a chain

restaurant, mostly families with little kids or large groups of teenagers. I think the atmosphere of

this Ninety Nine gives a very warm and welcoming feel, especially because you are greeted by a

hostess opening the door for you and welcoming you to the Ninety Nine. The hostess also wishes

you a good night when you leave. I think that this is fantastic because it shows you how the wait

staff are going to try their best to make your time at the Ninety Nine the best possible

experience.

Once my party was called to our table we were brought in to a table near the corner of the

restaurant. The restaurant was completely packed, possibly because it was St. Patrick’s Day. The

wait staff, hostesses, and other employees were all wearing either a red, black, or gray shirt that

had the Ninety Nine logo on the top left side of the shirt. As well as all being very uniform, they

also had on headbands, leis, and other green items for St. Patrick’s Day. Our waitress was very

friendly; she had brown hair and a very bubbly personality and she did a fantastic job making

sure that we got everything we had asked for. While we were sitting at the table I looked around

to see how everything was setup. We were sitting at a six person booth, and there was another six

person booth beside us. There was a four person booth to the front of us. There was also a lamp

hanging in the middle of the table from the ceiling to give almost a fine dining feel to it. On the

wall next to us was a picture of the West Bridgewater junior - varsity soccer team. Right beside

that picture was another plaque with one of the ninety nine reasons you will enjoy and want to
come back to the Ninety Nine on it. It was reason number seven which states, “We won the

Nation’s restaurant news menu master’s award but our customers are the real winners.” I believe

that this reason does a good job of exemplifying why you should come back because every time I

have dined at a Ninety Nine they always do their best to please every customer. Reason number

eleven was also right near us stating, “We aim to please.” Whether it is pleasing you with the

delicious food or pleasing you with the staff and how well they serve your needs as the customer

they do try to please everybody. While I was there the television which was located in the top

right corner of the building, was showing the Boston Bruins game.

The atmosphere is always great; there is always music and everybody is so friendly. On

the night I was observing, many of the customers were college students, having the special

“green beers” for Saint Patrick’s Day and just enjoying the time with friends. The table beside us

was also college freshman, one of the players being on the soccer team. I wonder if they go there

often or if it was just a one time thing. There were also multiple families with their friends

celebrating the holiday dining near us. In addition I saw many girls with basketball uniforms on.

As well as it being a hot spot for college students I believe that it is also a hotspot for teams after

games or practices. From what I have observed, the people who eat at the Ninety Nine are very

friendly and just want to enjoy the casual dining aspect of the chain restaurant, Ninety Nine.

When my friends and I received our food, I noticed that all of the plates were white, but

each one had a different colored rim, such as green, yellow, red, and orange. I also noticed the

ketchup bottle had a similar color scheme to it. The bottle had the number ninety nine with a

horseshoe and the writing and picture was in red and yellow. It resembled a Heinz ketchup

bottle. Another item that had a particular color scheme was the steak sauce. The scheme was

green, yellow, and red. The food was fantastic but it was definitely a hard decision to choose
what to order because the colored menu had many different pictures and great descriptions that

made everything sound so delicious. There was also a special green addition to the menu sheet

that listed the St. Patrick’s Day specials such as green beer, corned beef and cabbage, and a

biscuit sandwich. You could find this list on the doors right when you walk in to the restaurant,

on the tables, and even in the bathroom. I believe that by doing this they really got people to

purchase these new items.

In Conclusion, my history with the restaurant business has made me gain a real respect

for other restaurants and how they are run. I believe that the Ninety Nine has done everything

they need to do in order to get people to come in and enjoy their restaurant, whether it is the

people there, the food, the design, or it may even be one of the ninety nine reasons you will

always enjoy this restaurant. It is perfect for family get together, birthday parties, team breakup

parties, and any other function that you may need a venue for. By observing the Ninety Nine

more and more I truly get the feeling that even if the restaurant is not run by just one family, you

can still get the same feeling you get when you walk into a family run establishment.