Late afternoon. The afternoon drive from Dublin to Galway completed and suitcases transported from car to bed & breakfast, we slow-strolled the length of High Street and Quay Street, the main corridor of Galway’s Latin Quarter, home to many of the city’s best-known shops, pubs, and restaurants.

Looking for a place for a light dinner, we passed pub music venues to which friends had referred us – Taaffes, Tig Coili, and Tigh Neachtain. We passed Murphy’s Ice Cream (based in Dingle, a place to try after dinner). As we reached the end of Quay Street, we could see across the way the Spanish Arch, marking one corner of the Latin Quarter.

We turned to retrace our steps, stopping in front of the restaurant, Martine’s.

“Did anything appeal to you?”

“No, not really”.

“How about going back to Taaffes for a pub dinner and some music?”

“I’m not up for that tonight. I just want some place warm, simple, and easy.”

At that point, we heard, “Looking for dinner tonight, folks?”

A mid-twenty-ish man, menus in hand, stepped out of the Martine’s doorway in our direction.

“Yes, we were just thinking about what to do.”

He handed each of us a menu (good move) and then said, “What could I tell you to convince you to eat here?”

Thinking about the “warm” part, I asked, “Do you have tables available inside?”

“Yes, we do,” he replied, continuing, “and we have a strong wine list, locally sourced food, fresh fish, excellent service, our servers won’t intrude, we’re friendly, we’re really good.”

And then he just stopped and looked at us.

That was good: Make your move and stop talking. That was good. But…

“What could I TELL you to CONVINCE you to eat here?”

Sigh…. We’d had a long day. I didn’t want to be CONVINCED. I wanted to be invited, enrolled, or engaged!!! How about something like, “What do you fancy for dinner tonight?”, listen to OUR answer, and then share.

In the end, it didn’t matter. “Warm” overcame our urge to keep looking and we followed him into the restaurant for dinner.

Nick Miller trains bankers to attract and expand relationships with businesses. More profitable relationships, faster. He is President of Clarity Advantage based in Concord, MA. Additional articles on Clarity’s web site.