Whenever I find out that someone has been to San Luis Obispo, I’ll ask him or her, “Have you been to Louisa’s Place?” To which most people answer that they have, or they know about it. Those who have been there will often start talking about how much they love the restaurant. Just the other day a person told me, “I had the best omelet I’ve ever had in my life there.”
If you go to Louisa’s Place, be prepared to wait for a table because everyone who lives in San Luis Obispo knows that Louisa’s is the best place in town for breakfast and lunch. And don’t expect any fancy atmosphere, just good, really good food. That’s been the staple since the restaurant opened in 1972.
I love to tell people have who been to Louisa’s Place that Louise is my mother-in-law. I tell people about how hard Louise and her family worked to make the restaurant special. How she would get to the kitchen way before the sun was up to bake things fresh. How she survived the onslaught of high-end eateries all around her (most of which are gone now).
I also love to tell people that although good food was important to Louise, people were more important. Many of the items on the Louisa’s Place menu were named after her grandchildren, which they would, and still do, proudly tell you about. Many of her employees would not have been the first pick by other employers (especially one dishwasher in the early ‘80s), but she loved, respected, and believed in them in a way that they could feel, and as a result so did the customers.
Louise sold the restaurant many years ago, and it’s continued to be a popular spot. Good food is still served, and there’s a friendly atmosphere. The current owners are doing a great job, but they would be the first to tell you that the key to their success is doing what Louise did.
There are so many life lessons and applications that could be had from the Louisa’s Place story, but the one that stands out the most to me is the importance of understanding what makes something great, and continuing to do it. Albeit, little changes and enhancements may be useful, the essence of what is done cannot change.
This is the kind of thing that Paul is talking about in Romans. Paul wants his readers to know that the key to their spiritually success is understanding what makes their faith even possible.
“…and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree.” (Rom. 11:17)
We have been grafted into Israel’s tree and are now recipients of the blessings promised to them. Paul wants us to never forget the grace shown to us by God, and how nothing we’ve done could have accomplished this. It was God’s sovereign choice to include us.
The next time you’re in San Luis Obispo, you must visit Louisa’s Place! Have an Italiano omelet, some home fries, and a hot cup of coffee. Tell whoever’s working there that you know Louise (or at least her son-in-law). Savor the moment. You’re being included in something amazing that started way before you got there.
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