BackStreet Café celebrates four years at the Hap Arnold Club Published Nov. 3, 2010 By Megan Just 452 AMW Public Affairs MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. -- Beginning with the consolidation of the enlisted and officers clubs in 1996 and continuing today with plans for constructing an Italian-style outdoor eating plaza, the Hap Arnold Club has seen many changes in recent years. While the club has had its ups and downs during these years, recent club additions, such as the BackStreet Café and Ace's Sports Bar, have kept the club moving in a positive direction. "The club has come a long way," said Iris Alexander, 452nd Force Support Squadron Deputy Director. "It came from being an operation that had much room for improvement but, now, with the right people at the right time, it's headed in the right direction." Alexander, who has worked for Air Force Services since 1984, arrived at March in 2002 as the services chief. She said it was a difficult period of time for the club, which was still in a period of adjustment following March's conversion to a Reserve base. Another challenge the club faced during that time was heightened security following 9/11, which made it more difficult for club-goers to gain access to base, she said. Also, the Air Force's deglamorization of alcohol and the subsequent drop in revenue and participation continued to affect the club. While Air Force clubs are not designed to make a large profit, it is important for the revenue of the club to cover operating costs. When there is profit, however, the money goes back into the club for improvements and programs. Alexander said the club was "flat" when she arrived, which meant the club was losing much more money than it was taking in. At the time, the infrequently used lunchroom was still open, as was the tiny BackStreet Pizzeria, with its menu of fried foods, cramped eating area, slow service and long lines. "I did a review of the situation and made some recommendations as far as menu, customer service, cleanliness," Alexander said. Turning it around In 2005, Alexander worked with the 452nd Contracting Office and the 452nd Civil Engineers to transform BackStreet Pizzeria into the BackStreet Café by tearing down the wall between the pizzeria and the dining room, revamping the menu and transforming the dining room into an eating area for the café. The new café opened in October 2006. "It was bright and it was cheery whereas before, it was dark and small," Alexander said about the new BackStreet Café. "We took the curtains off the wall to open it up and bring the light in. It was a new place for customers to go, plus it was pleasing to the eye. People enjoy it." Alexander's goals were simple for the food at the new BackStreet Cafe. "Number one, it should taste good. Number two, it should look good, and number three, it should have a decent price on it," she said. After the BackStreet Café installed wireless Internet access, Alexander said Team March members began lingering at the café with their morning coffee and laptops. In place now for four years, the BackStreet Café continues to enjoy a reputation for high quality service. "They are a lot more customer-friendly now," said Elaine Plein, 452nd Air Mobility Wing protocol officer. "They even let you call your order in and they tell you when it's going to be ready. You can come pick it up without standing in line." Plein, who has worked at March since 1994, says she buys lunch from the club every Tuesday. "I go there a lot more now than I did before the renovations," she said. "It's a lot cleaner and it's more inviting to stay there and eat instead of taking food to go." Plein said many of the distinguished visitors she works with have given compliments about the club. "They have been pleased with the service and the quality of the food at special events," she said. "A lot of them who stay overnight at the March Inn like to walk over to the club and have breakfast in the morning." BackStreet Café Manager Gabriel Aleman said he keeps the café's menu offerings fresh by changing the menu quarterly. He and his BackStreet Café staff are particularly proud of their quick service time. He says they can produce a hamburger basket in two minutes. "Customer service is very important to us," said Aleman. "People are very happy with us. They like the food, the presentation and the quality. Ace's Sports Bar A more recent change for the Hap Arnold Club was the transformation of the former quiet bar into Ace's Sports Bar. "Ace's was a quiet bar, but it was more of a cave," joked Alexander. "People only went in there if they wanted to be discreet." Alexander appointed Cary Kerr, Sustainment and Community Flight Chief, to head the $80,000 renovation. "Mr. Kerr is just an amazing visionary," Alexander said. "He just ran with it." Work began in the summer of 2009 and by September, the new bar was hosting an NFL kickoff event. Kerr still has some final touches to complete, but in the meantime, Ace's--with its six, 42-inch high definition TVs, new pool tables, dart boards, shuffleboard and special bar menu--is open Thursday and Friday evenings, Sunday and Monday evenings for football, and on unit training assembly Saturdays. Ace's is also available for squadron meetings and gatherings. Henry Fry, Hap Arnold Club Manager, said Ace's Sports Bar averages 15-30 people on Sundays and Mondays and 40-60 people in the evenings during unit training assembly weekends. "They like the televisions and the food," Frye said. "I haven't had a bad comment yet on the food. People seem to be enjoying Ace's. It gives them something to do besides staying in their rooms or going straight to Sally's." Before the new sports bar opened, the 452nd Force Support Squadron encouraged the involvement of Team March members by holding a naming contest for the bar. The name "Ace's" was Air Force Audit Agency employee Wendy Sanyk's idea. She won a private party at the bar. Customer-focused Like the naming of Ace's, Hap Arnold staff members seek the customer participation and feedback with other aspects of the club. They make customer suggestion forms available in two locations at the club, manage an online suggestion form on their website (www.452fss.com ) and make it a priority to respond quickly to phone calls, e-mails and written correspondence. "Our customers are the most important people," Frye said. "We're in the customer service business so we're here to try to provide a service that you would want and we want to exceed your expectations of those services." One customer suggestion that the club recently implemented was the addition of a salad bar at the BackStreet Café. While the salad bar was popular at first, the demand for it has declined and, instead, Frye will soon offer a variety of fresh salads that will be prepackaged for convenience. In addition to the quarterly menu changes at the BackStreet Café, Frye oversees semiannual changes to the catering menu and Ace's menu. "We don't want people getting stuck in a rut," Frye said. When Frye makes changes to the troop feeding menu during the unit training assembly weekends, he likes to involve the reservists by offering samples of the proposed selections. "We just ask for honest feedback so we can make adjustments before we put an item on the menu," Frye said. "If they don't like it, we won't put it on the menu." During the week, the club will occasionally offer buffets and other special meals. Frye said the most popular buffet continues to be the monthly Soul Food Buffet, with an average attendance of 150-200 people. "We serve barbeque ribs, baked chicken, fried chicken, fried catfish, hot links, pig's feet, collard greens, candied yams, hush puppies, okra, cornbread, peach cobbler and salad," Frye said. Frye and Alexander agree one of the most under used benefits of the club is the Hap Arnold Conference Center. In 2006, Alexander converted the club from a "Category C" to a "Category B." "In addition to it being used to make money, we can use the conference side of the club for appropriated fund, official functions on the base," Alexander said. "It's more like a community center atmosphere." In recent years, the club has hosted a variety of events including quinceneras, weddings, balls and graduation parties. "We can put on a glamorous, showy function: anything you want, from low end to the high end. I don't think people know what we have the potential to do," Alexander said. The "Category B" change also enabled the club to use a special morale and welfare fund to offer partial financial support for reservists who hold events such as retirements, changes of command and recognition programs at the club. Frye said an audiovisual upgrade has already been purchased for the conference center and he hopes plans for interior renovations will be approved as well. "We're steadily improving and moving forward," Frye said. Frye also talks of a major club renovation that will include building an Italian-style outdoor eating area behind the club. "We want to totally re-do the alleyway to make it more of a place to come to relax and spend time after work," Frye said. "We want to make the environment more friendly. We'd put out some comfortable chairs and cover a lot of the area to give you shade from the sun." While renovations are still in the proposal phase, the plans are indicative of the Hap Arnold's Club's dedication to bringing the club up to 21st century standards for restaurants and community activities.