When all is said and done, is there really any meaningful measure of hospitality other than how well each guest is treated? That’s the question asked of me in an e-mail from Lura Briggs, nutrition services manager for the Jackson County (Mich.) Department on Aging’s Meals on Wheels program. She was responding to my Viewpoint column in the April 1 issue in which I lauded the Ruby Tuesday chain for its effort to improve operations and lamented Wall Street’s impatience about seeing results of that effort.

On a recent Ruby Tuesday visit with family at 6 p.m. on a weekday, Ms. Briggs—who says she has been a loyal customer of the Maryville, Tenn.-based chain—was told by the hostess that there would be a 10-minute wait for a table, even though the restaurant was barely one-quarter full. Two couples who arrived and were told about the wait decided to go elsewhere.

“We left and then changed our minds and went back in and asked for the manager,” Ms. Briggs writes. “We asked why there was a wait when so many tables were open, and her reply was that the kitchen was at its limit with the number of orders that they had. ... We suggested that we could sit and order a drink, but she said no, they had tried it both ways and found that it worked better to have people stand and wait rather than seat them. They made us stand there for 15 minutes before seating us.”

Every business has nightmare days when kitchen staff members call in sick, computers go dark, baggage-handling systems break down, etc. Ms. Briggs may have visited this Ruby Tuesday on one such everything-that-could-go-wrong-did day. But when problems occur, how are they handled? Do customers get an apologetic explanation of the problem and the option to be seated, or are they simply asked to stand and wait?

How might such a situation be handled at any of this year’s Ivy Award winners? People often ask what makes a foodservice operation an Ivy winner, and one answer is that industry peers, who understand true hospitality, recognize honest commitment to ensuring that each guest receives attention and respect.

Alinea in Chicago has a front-of-the-house staff of 25 to tend to the 85 diners served on an average evening. University of Massachusetts Dining Services Director Ken Toong eats in one of the university’s dining halls each day to ensure that standards are maintained. Knowing that many of its visitors come from far away, Hotel Healdsburg calls lodging guests two weeks in advance of their arrival to ask if it can provide a ride from the airport or a dinner reservation.

Menu and ambience of course are important to a dining experience, but what sets Ivy Award winners apart, as the stories that begin on p. 58 in this issue convey, is the depth of their understanding that when guests come to your operation, you let nothing preclude their satisfaction. You just don’t stand for it.