“Gaby” Santamaria, Hugo's
It's not very often that you walk into a new restaurant (one that we have not been into before), meet your server for the first time, and before the evening is over you leave believing that you have just made a new friend for life. Well, that's what it was like for us when we visited Hugo's in Houston recently and had the pleasure of having "Gaby" Santamaria as our server and to make our "Outstanding Server" list.
Gaby is originally from Mexico but has been living in the United States for the past 20 years or so. She attended Tulane University in New Orleans where she studied English and eventually made her way to Houston where she has been working very proudly at Hugo's for the past 13 plus years.
Gaby not only made our evening "fun" but she also did a superb job of educating us on the regional Mexican cuisine that we were about to experience. And educate us she did! "You need to try the grasshoppers" as an appetizer. So we did. And when she found out that we were big fans of mole, she brought out several different types of that specialty Mexican sauce for us to delight our pallets with. Gaby knew her menu and she knew it well. Through a series of subtle questions and reading our responsive body language, she was able to guide us through the menu and to pick out those unique items that were just right for us. The end result was a fabulous meal.
And how many servers introduce you to their family and their manager? Not many, I'm sure. Well, she did exactly that! And it was very obvious to us that she was extremely proud to do so.
The next time you are in Houston you need to visit Hugo's and you absolutely NEED to ask for Gaby to be your server. Doing so will definitely raise your dining experience and to appreciate the value of an "Outstanding Server."
