You’ve shared an evening with them, laughed over a drink with them and have seen them pretty regularly. The Greater Fayetteville Business Journal

reached out to some of the area’s staple restaurants to get to know more about the people who serve our communities.
These staff members range from new to experienced and have their own share of stories from their time in the industry. Coming from all walks of life and backgrounds, they are ready to serve you. Meet some of our area’s Wonderful Waitstaff:

NAME: Francesca “Fran” Forbes
LOCATION: Antonella's Italian Ristorante
TIME IN FOOD SERVICE: 22 Years
POSITION: Sole Bartender
MOST UNIQUE REQUEST FROM A GUEST: A plastic wrapped, microwave steak.

Francesca has been behind the counter at Antonella's Italian Ristorante in Downtown Fayetteville for three years. Since joining, she can be found stirring, mixing and shaking as the primary bartender for the restaurant. After years of working as a server for other restaurants, Fran would later meet and follow Antonella after working with her at another restaurant she previously owned.

“When I found out about this restaurant, I jumped right in because I've always liked to work for Antonella and some of the best money I've ever made, it’s always been with her,” shared Fran.

She shared that her favorite part of her job is connecting with and getting to know her customers.
“I think that's one of the best things about the industry. You get regulars and they become your family and you have something to talk about, all the time, no matter what,” shared Fran.

Owner and Head Chef Antonella Scibilia also shared that she is thankful to have Francesca as an employee and a face of her business.

“Probably one of the most important things when it comes to the restaurant business is the front house. When you walk into Antonella’s the first thing you see is the bar. And of course, Francesca is our head bartender, we don’t have another bartender she works five days a week. So she is pretty much one of the first faces people see and it’s really important to have somebody with her personality at the front,” said Scibilia.

NAME: Rudolph “Rudy” Newland
LOCATION: Highland Country Club
TIME IN FOOD SERVICE: 60+ years
POSITION: Bartender/Server
MOST UNIQUE REQUEST FROM A GUEST: Declined to comment but if you want it, he can get it.

Rudy has been the heart of Highland Country Club for 15 years. His resume includes 28 years of serving on Carnival Cruise Lines and after living in Florida and continuing to serve at StoneBridge Golf and Country Club for 19 years, he relocated to Fayetteville. Rudy shared that he was driving by the Highland Country Club and decided to apply on a whim.
“Before I leave the parking lot, they called me back. They were ready to hire me right then,” shared Rudy. “I meet a lot of very important people here, mostly lawyers, judges. That’s my favorite part, I get to know people so when I get a speeding ticket I know who to go to,” Rudy shared with a laugh. “You have to be a people person, you have to smile a lot. It is rough, but you’ve got to be a people person to come into this.”
Highland Country Club General Manager Cami Blackwelder shared what an impact Rudy has at the Club.

“One thing about Rudy... I’ve never seen him have a bad day. Most people have a bad day or every once in a while, not him. That smile, that infectious laugh is always constant. And the great thing about him too is, it doesn't matter who you are,” shared Blackwelder. “He is the same to everybody and treats everyone the same. He anticipates their needs and they love him. It kind of gets a little difficult because everyone wants to sit in Rudy’s section, but he is Highland Country Club, honestly.”

NAME: Jessica “Jess” Minnick
LOCATION: Circa 1800
TIME IN FOOD SERVICE: 14+ years
POSITION: Bartender/Server
MOST UNIQUE REQUEST FROM A GUEST: An adult patron once asked her to cut their steak into tiny piec- es while at the table with dinner guests.

Jess has been a regular face in Circa 1800 since January of 2019 after she moved to Fayetteville and joined the team. Since then she shared that she has enjoyed her time there even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We closed for about four months during COVID and Brandy took such great care of us during that time,” recalled Jess. Despite enjoying her job and meeting patrons, Jess shared she doesn't consider herself a people person.
“It is a part of the job that I do like, meeting new people and hearing about their life experiences. That’s definitely it. Not every day in this job is great, it’s definitely challenging physically and mentally, and not everybody is very nice to waitstaff. But that is why that is probably the best part of it, is because you can have like four or five negative tables in a row that are just unkind or don't appreciate what you're offering them. Then you get one table and they just want to talk to you and they want to share something about themselves with you. And that just makes it a little bit more worthwhile...” shared Jess.

Owner and Host of Circa 1800 Brandy Puczylowski highlighted how Jess is the glue that holds everyone together.

“She takes care of everything without being asked, she’s on top of it. If she’s not here, it’s completely different because we’re all a little lost. We’re all not sure how we should correct the problem in the computer or where the straws are, she’s just the mom of Circa,” shared Puczylowski. “She's depend-
able, she's trustworthy, she has great customer service skills, great management skills. She’s just literally the perfectly well rounded employee.”

LOCATION: The Luigi's Italian Chophouse and Bar Team

NAME: Micah Krouse
TIME IN FOOD SERVICE: 14+ years
POSITION: Server
MOST UNIQUE REQUEST FROM A GUEST: If you want it, he’ll get it.

Micah has been a part of the Luigi’s waitstaff since 2016. After having to wait his turn due to the low turnover rate, he has continued to provide excellent service to customers, getting to know the community and looks forward to seeing his regulars and new faces every week. 

“It’s the creation of memories. People come here for anniversaries, birthdays... these are memories that people are going to have with them their whole life. They may not remember who served them, or who did what, but they’re going to remember how they felt when they came here and that's what’s important to us,” shared Micah.

NAME: Savannah Denning
TIME IN FOOD SERVICE: 2 years
POSITION: Server
MOST UNIQUE REQUEST FROM A GUEST: Once had a table order dinner in reverse: Desserts, then entrees and then appetizers.

Savannah has been a part of the Luigi’s team for a little over a year. After having her first experience at the restaurant as a guest for her 18th birthday, Savannah shared that she immediately applied. She said her favorite thing is sharing guest’s celebrations and festivities.

“I love talking. I’m a big talker, so anytime I can be a part of something, I love that. It’s like a second kind of family, for the night at least. I have some Yelp reviews where I took selfies with the family. I had a graduation and it was a big celebration and the whole morning, I took selfies with the family, took pictures of the family and just like a nice celebration eating cake, we all just enjoyed ourselves. I love that kind of connection,” Savannah shared.

NAME: Jennifer Cannon
TIME IN FOOD SERVICE: 25 years
POSITION: Full Service Bartender
MOST UNIQUE REQUEST FROM A GUEST: Scotch and milk.

Jennifer is a fixture among the Luigi’s Staff, having served at the restaurant for 17 years and counting. Jennifer was already familiar with the owners of Luigi’s when she came on board from another restaurant and already knew a lot of the regular customers and staff members. She said her favorite thing about her job is seeing her coworkers and regular customers during her shifts.
“We have a lot of people that we look forward to seeing a couple times a week. Some of them a couple times a month. Everything as far as the

actual shift itself, seeing the customers and the service and everything I really enjoy,” shared Jennifer. “I kind  of consider them part of, I call it the
extended Luigi’s family, because we all feel like family here since we're family owned and a lot of us have been here a really long time.”

NAME: Corey Wheeler
TIME IN FOOD SERVICE: 17+ years
POSITION: Bartender/Server
MOST UNIQUE REQUEST FROM A GUEST: Had a celebrity ask for an item not on the menu that they were able to make for them.

Corey has been in the restaurant service industry since he was 16 years old. One of the newest staff members, he joined the Luigi’s team about

a year and a half ago. Now you can find him behind the bar and on the floor of Luigi’s looking to provide great service and even greater conversation.

“I just love talking to people, I’m not one to keep quiet. You can ask anybody here. I’m constantly talking to somebody about something whether it’s important or not important. I think that one of my favorite parts is just meeting new people, talking to new people, learning new things, learning locations around Fayetteville,” said Corey. “There’s an ice cream shop down the road that I had no idea about until a guest told me about it. It’s like little things like that that aren’t really a huge deal, but to me they’re a big deal.”

NAME: Wendell Small
TIME IN FOOD SERVICE: 41 years
POSITION: Server
MOST UNIQUE REQUEST FROM A GUEST: To take a photo with family members while he was serving them at an event.

Wendell has been a server with Luigi’s since 2012. As an artist, he said he is glad to have a job that not only works with his schedule but allows
him to disconnect at the end of the day when he chooses to focus on his creative works.
“By nature, I’m very introverted, but I’m also an artist. So I kind of look at when I wait tables as kind of like performance because you kind of have to put on this persona. And I take great pride in being a server and I always want to make sure that all the guests that I’m waiting on are feeling completely at ease,” shared Wendell. “A couple of my regulars will actually text me. I have one, she’s an elderly lady that comes in every Sunday, and she always calls me first thing Sunday morning, just to make sure that I have a table for her and of course I do.”
Luigi’s Partner Nate Ernst shared that the staff featured were a few out of the 30 staff members that could have also been included as “Wonderful Waitstaff.”

“We’re just very fortunate to have a lot of really good people that work here at Luigi’s. And they’re what makes the whole thing go,” said Ernst. “We picked a handful of servers and bartenders that perform the job technically correctly. When we look at waitstaff, as you have the service technical side and then you have the hospitality side, these people have mastered both. So they're gonna give you the technical service and they're gonna make you feel good while they do it.”