What is QUALITY??? Is quality important??? The Ford Motor company must think so because Ford states "QUALITY IS JOB 1". Is there any difference between products and services in regard to quality??? We all know that there is a difference in the quality of products that we buy; some brands ARE better than others, also economy cars differ from luxury cars. What many people overlook is that there is also a difference in the quality in the types of services that we receive; there are different standards of excellence by those providing a service and by those dispensing a product in the service that they provide. The best example I can give you is a restaurant named BERN'S STEAK HOUSE located in Tampa where I was brought up; for me a trip to Tampa is not complete unless I go to Berns at least twice.

Bern's is now recognized as probably the BEST steak house in the country, if not the world, by most restaurant authorities. It didn't have that reputation when they opened they earned it. The location is an out of the way neighborhood where I was brought up and has not changed. I remember riding by on my bike and Berns was a small not fancy restaurant much different than it is today. The thing that set Berns apart then, and does to this day, is the Quality has always ranked #1 there and striving to always provide the very best both in food and in service. Quotes from the menu state "Because we learned early that if you want to be best at something, you can't worry about the cost. Or the "trouble". "Because we mean it when we say we want you to have a most memorable evening when you dine with us each time you come." Following are a few of the unique and unusual things listed on their menu that they do: grow own vegetables organically, largest variety of wines assembled anywhere in the world, age their own meat, peel tomatoes before serving them, cut and trim steak only after order is placed, use hundreds of pounds of 93 score AA unsalted fresh creamery butter, prepare all vegetables either to your order or in very small quantities, use no left-over breads in vegetable "breading" and use only whole grains organically grown that they grind themselves, bake your potato to order, fly in fresh caviar regularly, hand-sort their green coffee beans to eliminate every single defect before they blend and then roast and grind them, make all their own ice creams, sherbets pies, and whipped cream and the list goes on and on. Anyone wanting to see the menu I have one in the office.

The big surprise is that for what you get Bern's is reasonably priced and I have never felt that I was ever charged too much. I am looking forward to my annual trip to Florida in December which will definitely include visits to Berns. Yes, quality is still important in today's world.