DINE Best Bartender/Best Server
Winnie’s LeBus / Lucky’s Last Chance By Ainsley Maloney Photography By JPG Photography (jpgphotography.com)
L
et’s say you’re walking down Main Street, and a young woman stops to ask you a question. “Excuse me,” she says. “My husband and I just moved to Manayunk. Where would you recommend we go to eat?” Oh boy. The pressure is on! This place will be the first impression of their brand new neighborhood! Okay. Think. You gotta take food out of the equation. (Food’s too hard. Everywhere’s great.) Instead, you picture the moment the couple walks in. Which place will make them feel the most at home? What servers will give them the warmest welcome? Your answer, then, comes easily. Even if it is a tie. “You can’t go wrong with Winnie’s for brunch and mimosas,” you say. “Then later, hit up Lucky’s for some great burgers and beer.” Done and done. You’ve just created two Main Street regulars. The staffs at Winnie’s LeBus and Lucky’s Last Chance swept the Best Server and Best Bartender categories in this year’s Best of Manayunk competition. Both create a culture of customers and co-workers who feel like family. “We make our customers feel like they’re in our home,” said Winnie Clowry, owner of Winnie’s LeBus. “We have one tagline that says, ‘When a new customer walks in the door, you have one opportunity to turn them into a regular.’ And that’s how we work. That’s what we do. We really care.” Marketing is minimal at both establishments, and that’s because word of mouth keeps their places packed day in and day out. Regulars come 38
in not only for the food, but for “their” server. Take Lisa Miller, voted Best Server, who’s been with Winnie’s LeBus for 15 years. “If she goes on vacation, people ask, ‘Where’s Lisa?’ She’s awesome,” Winnie said. Lisa feels like she was meant for this job. “I’m a natural server–both at home and at work. I like taking care of people,” she said. Lisa has been working the brunch shift every Monday through Friday to be home by 3:30 p.m. in time for her 15-year-old son, Oliver, to get home from school. “Being a working mom, this has been great,” she said. “I have a lot of regulars, and I remember when people like special things. I go out of my way to make sure everything comes out just how every customer likes it.” Behind the bar is Winnie’s kid sis, Tara Murphy, who won Honorable Mention for Best Bartender. A teacher at Archbishop Wood High School, Tara has worked nearly every Saturday and Sunday Brunch for four years (missing just three shifts ever). “I have so many regulars, and seeing the same people come in, it’s like family,” Tara said. “I have the same great Saturday and Sunday crew that come in to see me. They all try to sit at the same place, in the same seats, week after week. It really has become a family thing here at Winnie’s. You get to know people, the small things going on in their lives, like where they’re going on vacation. It’s just fun. Main Street’s a great place.”
manayunk.com | Spring 2017
LL/Winnies.indd 38
3/6/17 1:48 PM