The shop that remembers your name can still forget to earn your next visit.

Recognition is pleasant and it is not the same as service. A place can greet you warmly, know your order, and still be slow, expensive or careless about the thing you came in for, and the warmth makes that awkward to notice. Loyalty gets bought with familiarity while the substance quietly slips. Being known should be an addition to good work rather than a substitute for it.

Ask honestly whether the places you keep returning to are still good or only comfortable. Friendliness is worth paying something for and not everything. If you run a place yourself, remember that remembering names is the beginning of the job.