It has been a while since my last restaurant review, for various reasons I won’t expound upon today. But as I left an appointment today I found myself in a peculiar situation. It was around lunchtime and I thought it was a good opportunity to try a new lunch place – or at least one for which I had yet to write a review. I wanted to sit down for a good meal and write up my thoughts about it. There was just one problem – I really needed to use the restroom.

(If you’re only here for the restaurant reviews, you might want to skip this one.)

As I sat in my car, pondering my next destination and whether or not the restroom would be sufficient – I realized that the quality of food I would eat for lunch was actually less important to me than the cleanliness and accessibility of their restrooms, in that moment.

That was a bizarre realization to me. I love good food. On the go, fast food is typically easier. But if you ask me, I will almost always tell you I prefer one of our local eateries over the nearest McDonalds or Subway. And today I was in no rush. I had plenty of time to sit down, relax, and order a nice meal.

But I needed a restroom first. Poor planning on my part put me in this situation, surely. But it was the only thing on my mind by this point. So I settled on driving to the nearest McDonalds. Not because I really enjoy the food or had a craving for a Big Mac – but simply because I knew the restrooms would be reasonably clean and quickly accessible. I was right.

Now, I understand that some restaurants have limited control over some of the things I’m about to talk about. For instance, the location of a restroom within an old downtown building may be all but set in stone. Moving it to a different spot in the restaurant would be impractical. But I do want to touch on how that affects my (and surely your) experience.

Comfort is the name of the game. By one means or another – hospitality is all about making your guests comfortable. Comfort can be obtained in a variety of ways. Sometimes it’s about the amazing quality of the food. Other times it’s about having that familiar, bland, family recipe that brings back good memories. Cleanliness or good company can bring a measure of comfort. Or maybe we like the music played at a particular establishment. Regardless of the reason – we all enjoy our favorite restaurant because it makes us feel comfortable.

With our wildly different preferences for “comfort” – it’s no wonder restaurant reviews are riddled with polar opposite opinions. However, if a restaurant can tick the right boxes for the majority of people across several categories (cleanliness, atmosphere, quality of ingredients, etc), they will win overall. This also highlights the reason it’s so important to know your target demographic.

Comfort. Restrooms. I don’t know about you – but I much rather use my restroom at home. If I must use one out-and-about, I want it to be a simple task. Dingy bathrooms tucked in the back of a small hallway, a door that has to be forced closed and you hope the lock is functional – that is not what I consider “simple”. Every locally owned restaurant I could think of today either had a restroom like the one described, or I had never used the restroom there. That’s how I ended up at McDonalds, eating a crappy burger. At least it filled me up.

If you read this far – congrats! Thanks for sticking with me through my ramblings and musings about restrooms, of all things. Perhaps restaurants can take note and put a little more effort into the comfort of their bathrooms. If you cater to the lunch crowd – making it an easy “in/out/order food” affair is nice. For dinner establishments – need I say why it’s important? Keep it clean, keep it fresh, keep it easy to find.

What kind of situation have you found yourself in with good or bad restaurant bathrooms? Where’s your favorite on-the-go bathroom in the Prescott area? Leave a comment.