Wiggo’s Steak and Seafood restaurant owners were beyond surprised to take out the Chamber of Commerce 2018 Customer Service Awards on Saturday night.
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Up against the well-known Mahogany Bar and Grill and Mimi Arts and Crafts, Brendan and Donna Wiggins thought they didn’t stand a chance.
The family run restaurant, attached to the Beagle Motor Inn on Fourth Street, was just over three months old.
And while the venue, already famous for its monster-size seafood platter, is booked out most nights, three months is a short period of time to rack up the most votes in the annual customer service awards.
Chef and restaurant owner Mr Wiggins puts the win down to meeting a demand for a different dinning experience in town, as well as the palpable family atmosphere.
“With our seafood platter for instance, you get a hot towel, it is just a little bit extra.
We are not pretending to be a five star restaurant, but we do go above and beyond.
- Brendan Wiggins
“So many tourists come through this town in the dry season, and businesses can get a bit blase, it happens too often in tourist towns. We all need to keep up the outstanding service year round,” he said.
Mr and Mrs Wiggins moved to Katherine three years ago to take on the Beagle Motor Inn. A restaurant was not in the plan, nor was staying for more than one year.
But noticing there was limited variety in the way of eating out, the plan changed.
“We did the same thing on Phillip Island. We were living on a seaside island before we came here where you could not find a seafood restaurant,” Ms Wiggins said.
“Katherine is very similar. We are 300kms from Darwin where you can get quality Australian seafood and no one was doing it.
“We had the experience and we knew we had to give it a go,” she said.
The hard work has paid off.
Working with family has been both challenging and rewarding, Ms Wiggins said.
“You expect more from your family and as much as we bicker, a lot of our comments say we are a great family restaurant. It is paying off.
“It is one of those places where you are not a room number, people feel comfortable.
“The award was great recognition for our work in such a short period of time, but it also puts the [Beagle Motor Inn] in the eyes of the public,” she said.
The Chamber of Commerce presented the winning awards to the businesses, Not-For-Profit organisations and individuals who provided excellent customer service to the community, at Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts & Culture Centre on Saturday night.
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