We were lucky to catch up with Bill Shoe recently and have shared our conversation below.

Bill, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Taking care of customers isn’t just good business – it is often one of the main reasons folks went into business in the first place. So, we’d love to get a conversation going around how to best help clients feel appreciated – maybe you can share something you’ve done or seen someone do that’s been really effective at helping a customer feel valued?

I chose this question because I whole heartedly believe that the only reason our establishment survived the pandemic was because we went out of our way to show our appreciation to the community at large who helped sustain us during the carry out only nightmare that resulted from the Covid-19 shutdowns. Cars lined up down the street from our restaurant to pick up their orders and we knew that we had to pay it forward. So we endeavored to send thousands of meals to our local hospitals and first responders. We called the operation “Frontline Feasts” and every day for weeks we would prepare and deliver hundreds of meals at a time and deliver them to local hospitals, clinics, fire departments, and police stations. It was our community that made sure that we weren’t going anywhere so it only felt appropriate to pay it forward. To this day, first time customers will tell us about how they had their first taste of our food working in the hospital and receiving one of our donated meals and every time they do we tell them that that was only made possible because of the dedication of our local community.

Bill, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a lifelong restaurant industry veteran. I started waiting tables in the corporate world at Ruby Tuesdays and quickly found that that style of restaurant was not for me. In my early twenties I found myself working in a fine dining Italian restaurant and loved it. I worked my way from server to head waiter and eventually to Dining Room Manager. It was at that point that the owners I worked for decided to send me to learn real fine dining at their exclusive five star restaurant in Annapolis, MD. I learned the craft from classically trained maître d’s that had honed their skills in Europe and on board luxury cruise ships. It was then that I not only learned how to sell and serve delicious food but also how to prepare and actually cook it. After almost a decade working for the same family a change in ownership resulted in my departure. I went on to work for my best friend and mentor who had started their own restaurant. After two years they decided to make me a partner and now our restaurant Primo Pasta Kitchen not only turns 10 years old in February of 2023 but we were voted the reader’s choice best Italian Restaurant in Baltimore. We have also recently acquired a restaurant/nightclub called Twain’s Tavern and working to turn that into entertainment epicenter of Anne Arundel County.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

In the midst of the pandemic when everyone was stuck at home our Social Media manager (who also frequented our restaurant and usually had me wait on her and her family) suggested that we go live on Facebook and tell people the specials the same way we would if we were waiting on them in person and trying to make their mouths water with our weekly offerings. Knowing that we needed to adapt to the carry out only business I gave it a shot and it caught on quick. Our little restaurant had hundreds of people tuning in to our Weekend Updates for the first few weeks and then it turned into thousands of views over the next several months. It no longer attracts the thousands of views that it did during the Covid-19 lockdowns but it is still a fixture every Thursday on our Facebook page.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Our immediate ability to pivot from full service to carry out as a result of the Covid pandemic is legitimately the only reason we are still in business. I remember hearing about Chicago shutting down there restaurants a few days before it happened here in Maryland. I called an industry friend of mine who worked out there and was like “what are you going to do?” She responded casually that she could use a break and then asked me “What are you going to do?” Shiiit, reality hit me square in the nose as an owner. I called my business partner after I got off the phone with her and we knew we had to plan quickly. We met at the restaurant later that night and decided we would stay open even if it was carry out only until we couldn’t afford to pay our employees anymore. The hammer dropped the next day we had to close for dine in service. We asked the staff how they felt about it and they all wanted to work. Nobody wanted to stay home! So we followed all the protocols. Then we turned our dining room into a dry storage facility for To-Go containers, disposable utensils, and lots of sanitizer/disinfectant. We turned our parking lot into a 5 lane drive thru. And our staff volunteered to pivot from life-long bartenders and servers to expos and carry-out food runners. The orders poured in over the phone, the cars lined up down the street, and the customers tipped our staff like they were eating inside. We didn’t hesitate to pivot immediately and it’s the only reason we are still open.

Contact Info:

• Website: PrimoPastaKitchen.com
• Instagram: @PrimoBill @TwainsTavern @PrimoPasadena
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/15209169/