Longtime server at Georgie’s practices “Bruce Magic” to best help guests and face life’s challenges

By KATHLEEN O’CONNOR/Lincoln Chronicle

A table at one of Lincoln County’s finest restaurants should be more than a meal but the highlight of your day.

Bruce Birt, one of the most experienced servers at Georgie’s Beachside Grill in Newport, is committed to making that true for each guest he serves. His interest and ability to make everyone feel welcome has become legendary at the restaurant. Customers and restaurant employees call it “Bruce Magic.”

Birt hasn’t always worked in the restaurant industry. After graduating from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo he spent many years in San Francisco as an account representative for National Cash Register.  By the mid-1990s as technology changed, he moved to a software company, then changed his course again to real estate sales in 1997.

Birt and his wife, Pati, had moved to Newport that year seeking the freedom to own their own businesses, she as a personal chef, and he as a real estate broker. He quickly recognized that the Oregon coast is a remarkable place and built his real estate company on the premise that people moving here weren’t just buying a home – they were buying into a way of life. At one point he had the largest real estate website in the country, focusing not just on the homes he had for sale, but also on all the opportunities the Oregon coast has to offer.

After the economy collapsed in 2008 Birt closed his company and began investigating what to do next. With a lifelong interest in food and cooking, and not willing to leave Newport, he began working as a server at Georgie’s. Until recently he also worked at Ona Restaurant in Yachats and found that his many years of experience with all sizes of businesses and all types of people provided the perfect background for making dining out a first-class experience.

Question: How has your background in sales helped you as a restaurant server?

Answer: I have been fascinated with sales ever since reading a book called How to Buy a Car when I was in college. The book was memorable because the author exposed every negative ploy a salesperson might use. I was working on a marketing degree at that time, and I knew many of the jobs that might be available to me when I graduated would likely be in sales. That realization led me to focus on learning about positive salesmanship instead. I read books by all the most influential people in the field — Zig Ziglar, Tom Peters, John Wooden.

Several concepts became clear and were repeated by all those authors. The most basic one is that every salesperson must know their product inside and out. Most importantly, however, is the principle of truly knowing your customer. To do that you have to listen very carefully so that you can present the product that genuinely meets their needs. Effective listening requires that you ask the right questions, be truly interested in the client, and learn about their priorities and their problems.

In a restaurant knowing your product means knowing the menu inside and out and knowing what the kitchen can and can’t do. Knowing your customer means you find out what they are celebrating that day, why they are visiting the coast, what they usually order. My goal is for each guest to have a truly delightful experience while they are at Georgie’s, not just a meal. To achieve that I strive to be genuinely delighted by them.

Q: What is “Bruce Magic?”

A: Very early in my career I decided to define a personal moral code – a way to live my life intentionally.

I wrote it down, and I review it almost daily. I’ve tweaked it many times over the years, and at some point I began calling it “Bruce Magic” because by being true to my stated values I find there is magic in almost every personal interaction that I have. I strive to present my best self to everyone in my life — my co-workers and friends and all the restaurant guests. In return I find that each person has something to offer me, which makes me a better person for the next guest or co-worker or friend — and the cycle goes on throughout the day.

Many of the employees at Georgie’s are young, without much background or practice in human relations, and if they ask, I am happy to share some of my life philosophies with them.

Q: How did your childhood affect your approach to life?

A: I grew up in Southern California with two brothers, both of whom had health issues. Because I was healthy, I always considered myself to be the lucky one, and I worked hard not to cause any problems for my parents, always getting straight As and generally staying out of trouble.

I didn’t realize it as a kid, but my dad was teaching me about human relations and sales throughout my childhood. He was a nationally recognized agent for AAA insurance, and everyone in town knew him. We couldn’t go grocery shopping without dad visiting with three or four people in the store – he knew all about each of them.

Q: What challenges do servers face?

A: Each person in a restaurant has a critical role, and we have to work together to make every guest’s dining experience memorable enough that they will return time after time.  The host/front of house must seat people so that no server is overwhelmed. At Georgie’s I often will serve 30 tables in a shift, and if three or four tables are seated all at once in my section I’ll have a hard time providing timely, attentive service to all of them.

Because Georgie’s has a beautiful view of the ocean, guests often request a window seat. We assure them that the restaurant is designed so that every table has a view, and some of the tables farther from the windows are actually more desirable because they are quieter and more private. Occasionally the food is not to the customer’s satisfaction and must be remade. We don’t argue with them – we simply listen and find out what we can do to make it right.

Georgie’s has been part of the Newport community since 1998, and everyone who works here takes pride in the fact that we are a place where people come to celebrate. They come to celebrate all kinds of things — birthdays, anniversaries, reunions, departures. We have the privilege of going through many stages of life with our guests.

Q: How does “Bruce Magic” help you deal with life’s setbacks?

A: I try to make “thank you” the sentence I use most throughout the day, and I work to focus outwardly. Everyone carries their own kind of magic, and if I can help them find that magic it reinforces my own.

I am facing a major life change right now. Pati, my wife of 34 years, passed away in August. I am relying heavily on “Bruce Magic” to keep me grounded and help me navigate this new territory, to have courage. I know I will continue to do some of the things we loved to do together, especially wandering through farmers markets and spending the day cooking with the ingredients I find.

Tell us a secret.

I am constantly engaging with people – the restaurant guests, my co-workers, my friends – so everyone thinks I am an extrovert. In fact, I am like the lion in the Wizard of Oz — quite shy and introverted. I have spent years teaching myself to be outgoing.

• Georgie’s Beachside Grill: Website: georgiesnewport.com; Email: [email protected]; Facebook: GeorgiesBeachsideGrill; Phone: 541-265-9800

• Kathleen O’Connor is a Waldport freelance writer who can be reached via email at [email protected]