Who's Behind the Counter: Michael Saintsing at Courtney's Bagel Café and Deli

assistant manager Michael Saintsing sat down with Patch to talk about why he enjoys coming into work every day, the key to running an efficient bagel shop and more.

Patch: What do you like about Courtney’s compared to other places you’ve worked?

Saintsing: The management, the ownership, everybody takes care of you. It’s a great place to work—best place I’ve ever worked. They always look out for you, it’s convenient and it’s a small place so it’s like a little family.

What do you enjoy about working in the Owings Mills community?

The people that come here are really cool. We have a lot of regulars that come in here, so I know all of them and what they’re getting and they’re all very nice.

What makes Courtney’s, in your opinion, better than your average bagel place?

I’d have start off with our bagels first. But, the service here is great. We get to know our customers, we know what they like and make sure they’re happy. The food is great. We’ve got real deli meat here, we make our own bagels—boil them and all that stuff. We do good here.

What’s your favorite thing to eat off the menu?

Turkey cheddar melt. It’s just good. I love the turkey here. I also would say the tuna melt. The tuna’s awesome here and that’s one of our most popular things.

With all the stuff going on across the street and Stevenson University getting bigger, do you think it’s injected some energy and some youth in here?

Definitely. Especially now that they’ve got their football stadium up over there, Saturday mornings have been busier than ever.

Do you prefer to work when it’s busy?

Oh yeah. I work every day we’re open here so I prefer to work when it’s busy here because the day goes faster.

Describe the atmosphere in here when it gets busy. I’m sure it’s frantic, but is it controlled at the same time?

Everything is under control. It gets a little chaotic in here sometimes, but all the customers are happy. That’s our main thing—keep the customers happy.

What’s the key to keeping a hungry customer happy when it’s busy?

Get them their drinks as soon as you take their order and the food comes out quick. Even if we’re busy, the food comes out pretty [darn] quick.

How have you improved as a worker since you started here?

Speed. Definitely speed. One thing about this business is you have to be quick.