Servers and bartenders at Tres Agaves Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Lounge in San Francisco tend to speak with authority when describing a tequila or dish that reflects the comfort-food cuisine of Jalisco, Mexico. The staff of this two-year-old restaurant gained their knowledge not just through visits from vendors or preshift meetings. Almost all staff members have been to Mexico’s state of Jalisco, where the majority of tequila is produced from the agave plant. Some staffers have been more than once. Managers take four to eight employees, both front- and back-of-the-house workers, on trips throughout the year. Up to 26 employees visited the country last year on five different trips. February begins a new round of visits to distilleries, restaurants and markets in the region.
The travels have helped Tres Agaves to retain employees and effectively trained them to educate customers, said managing partner Eric Rubin, who claims that Tres Agaves sells more pure blue-agave tequila—some kinds have grain-alcohol extenders—than any restaurant in the country.
Even if the restaurant is selling a lot of tequila, including $76 pitchers of margaritas made from superpremium brands, how can you afford to make so many trips to Jalisco each year?
Our tequila suppliers pay for a lot of it. We pick up the airfare, but once we’re in Mexico, they take care of a lot of the meals and travel expenses in Mexico.
How do you pick employees to go?
It’s both an incentive and a reward. Managers make the selection, and it’s not based on seniority or your position. They factor in a lot of things including the intangibles—an interest in tequila, a willingness to go the extra mile.
How have these trips benefited the restaurant?
We have a high retention ratio, which is a huge plus for us. Also, you can’t duplicate this kind of education [through videos or training handbooks]. Employees come back with a personal connection to tequila.
It lends us an arm of credibility with our customers. When a cocktail waitress can talk about some of the places she’s visited, it blows people away.