The Silo aims to please as it opens for 2026 season

Customer service paramount for iconic Lewiston eatery & ice cream caboose

By Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

Despite celebrating more than a quarter-century in business – a rare 2020s feat – a signature sandwich seen on national television (“The Haystack”), myriad “Best of” food/tourism lists and boatloads of positive social media feedback, The Silo Restaurant isn’t settling for status quo.

As the Village of Lewiston waterfront eatery and ice cream caboose officially opens for the season on May 1, “We always feel the pressure to be better than the year before,” General Manager Lexi Alfiere-David said. “Over winter, our job is to listen to complaints or identify anything that we could have done better, and that's why, every season, we come back stronger.

“This season, we're really lucky because we only have a handful of new people, so we are starting with essentially almost a fully trained staff.”

The Silo team identified areas to improve as its seeks to grow customer satisfaction.

Faster service

“One of the complaints that we listened to – which we really didn't get a whole lot of, but we know that when you're eating at a restaurant, you don't want a long wait time. So, we have a brand-new self-ordering kiosk, which will take some pressure off of our register staff, and also help people not have to wait in the line,” Alfiere-David said. “It's super-user-friendly. You just tap to touch. You touch to start. You put in your phone number, and then when your order is ready, the kitchen sends a text to the phone automatically.

“You don't need a pager. You can wait wherever you want. You can go in the grass, on the swing. It kind of alleviates the congestion in the line. It takes some pressure off our register staff, and it helps people get in and out.

“And there's pictures on the screen so, if there's a communication barrier, that's easier.”

Alfiere-David said preseason testing went well.

“We're really excited to roll that out,” she said.

Better team member training

“We now do ‘Haystack University,’ which kind of just keeps things consistent, so I know everyone is trained the exact way, instead of just throwing them in on their first shift,” Alfiere-David said. “We take a couple hours before we open, and we go over everything they need to know.

“And this year, they had to take an exam on their phone, and they had to get a passing grade; and any questions that they got incorrect, they had to go back and retake.”

Accessible price points

“We also took a look at the pricing, and we made sure this season there is a price point that makes it accessible for everyone,” Alfiere-David said. “If they want to come in for a $5 hot dog or a $4.99 fry, they can; or they can go all in with the footlong ‘Haystack.’

“I know when we open these doors for the season, it's like the whole village exhales, and everyone's excited – and so are we, and we want to make sure that a lot of people can eat here.

“One thing we have that has been so popular are the kids meals. For $11.99, they can get a kid's ‘Haystack’ or an entree of their choice. There's a kid's burger – whatever they want. Then they get a free side; most people pick french fries or onion rings. Then they get a free refillable drink; and then they get a free ice cream.

“It's really a low entry point to get an entire meal, a drink and a free ice cream. So, they have the whole experience. You can come here with a family of four and not break the bank. That's something that we really focused on the last couple of seasons, is how can we dial in on what we're doing to reflect that for the customers.

“Between the trained staff and looking at our menu items, and looking at how we do things, I really think we dialed it in, because we are getting great reviews and we really don't get many complaints.”

Silo rewards

Alfiere-David said The Silo’s rewards program is a “huge” plus for patrons.

“People get a birthday reward. They get a signing-up reward. They get loyalty points every time they visit,” she said. “That makes it easier for locals that do come more often to eat here more often” with credits that can be applied to further lower the bill.

Fun novelty offerings

“Something we did at the end of last season was the ‘Monster Stack,’ which was 24 inches of a ‘Haystack’ … it was really popular,” Alfiere-David said. Fans can expect to see the mega steak, cheese and crispy potato straw sandwich later in the summer.

“Right now, we have a Dubai chocolate sundae, which we put on the special board yesterday, and we have sold so many in like 12 hours. That's really popular.

“We are going to do the back-to-school ‘Sand Dock Sundae’ again, which is like a mini of the (mega) ‘Sand Dock Sundae,’ because that was super popular, but that will be like towards the middle or end of the season again.

“And we have a rotating specials menu that we let our kitchen staff come up, which they like because they get to have a creative take.”

Alfiere-David said customers enjoy that spontaneity, too, because “it's stuff that's kind of out of the box.”

Considering the customers, the menu, a waterfront view, and The Silo’s place in Lewiston, Alfiere-David said, “Running this place is iconic, so I take it very seriously, and so does the staff.”

She added, “The food quality, we really dialed in, and it took a couple years to really make sure that we love it. But it really is great.”

The Silo is located at 115 N. Water St., Lewiston. Tentative opening hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, “while school's in session; hopefully, 10 p.m. on days there's not school the next day,” Alfiere-David said.

 For more information, call 716-754-9680 or check out https://www.lewistonsilo.com. Visit on social media: Facebook // X/Twitter // Instagram.