Co-Owner of Lazy Mike’s and Clare & Don’s Beach Shack Community-Minded

When you chat with local restaurateur David Tax, co-owner – with his sister Rebecca Tax – of Lazy Mike’s Deli and Clare & Don’s Beach Shack in Falls Church, the first thing you notice is he loves to serve and please members of the community of all ages, demographics, and politics.

Inside Lazy Mike’s Deli – perhaps Falls Church’s most authentic and distinctive local diner and homemade ice cream shop at 7049 Leesburg Pike, and a favorite of kids after sporting events or Sunday church – David Tax was hamming it up for several youngsters excited to be ordering scoops of ice cream on a sweltering, sunny, summer morning, as I was contemplating my ideal diner breakfast order, two eggs over-easy with wheat toast, sausage, and “please keep the coffee coming.” 

I asked one of the young waitresses passing by if the greeter having fun with the kids at the entrance was “Mike, of Mike’s Deli?” She said he was not. He was David Tax, co-owner and son of the “Mike” the deli was named after by David and Rebecca. And, with a laugh, she added that the fellow working the front counter is named “Mike,” however, and likes to wear a ball cap that says something like, “I’m Mike, but not that Mike.” 

After my hearty breakfast, I met David Tax and asked if I could interview him, since I’ve always admired how unabashedly unique Lazy Mike’s has always been – I’ve followed and supported the shop’s various iterations over twenty years from Clarendon, to the City of Falls Church and now to its current spot across from Birch and Broad.

I told Tax I was curious about his “business philosophy,” overall approach, and how the business was fairing in these turbulent times.

We arranged to meet on a following day at another of David and Rebecca’s prized Falls Church venues, Clare & Don’s Beach Shack at 130 N. Washington St. – the best place to dine in The Little City if you’re looking for entertainment, excellent seafood, drinks, and that funky, beachside vibe. 

Of course, the place was hopping when I arrived at 5:00 p.m., even before the dinner rush. Inside, multiple community/business meetings were being held. And outside on the festive beach-themed patio, a live three-dude band from Elon College was playing and a convention of bank brokers was having a catered dinner party (many sporting Hawaiian leis and sipping cocktails). 

Serving the Community

I started by asking Tax how business was doing and was struck immediately by his community-mindedness. Instead of talking profit margins, he emphasized public service. 

“It’s pretty good,” he said. “We’ve been open straight through the pandemic. We did a little bit of take-out, we fed a lot of the first responders down there, when this [Clare and Don’s] was closed…. We were feeding those nurses who did Covid testing down at the parking lot at the high school in Arlington, feeding them every day. That was actually my job because I wasn’t in the ‘Lazy Bubble’ [Covid bubble], my sister, Rebecca, was in the 'Lazy Bubble', so they were inside and I’d come pick up the food and that was my job to take it to the nurses and we did a lot of that at Fairfax Hospital and Arlington Hospital as well. And then of course at the testing center.”

Major Challenges

Without receiving PPP loans during the pandemic, Tax said, “I don’t think we would have made it,” at Clare & Don’s, though “Lazy was open the whole time.” 

A further challenge, after two and a-half years of the pandemic, Clare & Don’s has had to face “two and a-half years of construction” as a new Whole Foods grocery store and multi-story apartments are springing up all around and over the “Beach Shack” in the Broad & Washington development. “So, we’re just at the tail end of all of that and can’t wait to get back to our normal-ish, or new-normal life and leave all of that behind us.”

A Spirit of Collaboration with Local Business Owners

Tax emphasized how vital local business collaboration has been to the success of his and Rebecca’s enterprises in Falls Church. Though he’s had some issues with local subcontractors squeezing out his parking spaces and not always being “considerate” to Clare & Don’s’ needs, he very much appreciates the folks at Moriarty – the prime contractor for the West & Broad development – and the representative he just met, “Tina from Buzzuto,” who speaks on behalf of the apartment complexes.

“We want businesses to take a part in our society – our big society, yes, but also our small society as well around here – I think that’s important.” 

“What we really love here is the camaraderie between the businesses, restaurants and non-restaurants alike,” Tax said. “I think we’re all kind of in it together and we really enjoy watching each other succeed and helping each other and doing collaborative things, whether it be a bar crawl or whatever it might be, or just talking about stuff."

"A good story about that is during Covid we were all shut down and we had a meeting here where we were sitting around about a mile apart from each other outside and it was Rebecca and I, and Colum, the owner of the Four P’s, and we had Martin who owns the Liberty and Northside Social here in Falls Church now and Lefty who owns Dogwood and Adam his partner and that whole chain and Jonathan who owns Whitlow’s and we all just kind of sat there and basically commiserated and shot around ideas that were ridiculous and thought about what we were going to do…”

Helping each other file for PPP loans and government assistance, Tax said, kept them all afloat. “There’s no doubt about it. We would have all been gone.” 

The ‘Ice Superhighway’

“We try to be considerate to all our neighbors around here as much as possible,” Tax said. To illustrate how closely local businesses collaborate, Tax, described the “ice superhighway” that runs between the owners of the State Theatre, Thompson’s Italian, the Four Provinces, Harvey’s, Dogwood Tavern, Clare & Don’s and Lazy Mike’s to share ice whenever it’s urgently needed, especially during summer heat waves. “Whoever’s ice machine is down and in need of it, then it goes to them!”

Tax is pleased that leasing agents for the new apartments are including contract clauses that notify renters that Clare & Don’s’ live outdoor patio music on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings are a local favorite and will proceed as usual. “Our customers come for the live music and are concerned about whether the apartments are going to complain,” Tax said. But “entertainment facing” apartments will be forewarned and an “agreement with the owner of the building that we can have live music and a tent” has been signed. 

Business Philosophy

When I asked Tax to describe his and Rebecca’s “business philosophy,” I was again surprised by his response. Instead of spouting esoteric business management nostrums, he boiled everything down to having a basic sense of empathy. 

“I’m curious about your business philosophy because both Lazy Mike’s and here [Clare & Don’s] have a very unique and quirky presence – you’re kind of the opposite of any kind of corporate approach,” I began. “We are definitely the opposite of any kind of corporate approach,” Tax rejoined, laughing.  

While he attributes much of their success to being “lucky,” Tax described what he tells his employees during training. “Just try to think of what we would want if we were a customer of ours,” he guides them. “The first employees we always get are the hosts, they’re like 14, 15 or 16 years old. And basically the first thing we say is, ‘when you’re seating people – obviously we have a rotation – but, I want you to seat them at a table that you would want to sit in, and if they want to change that, you know, that’s great.’” 

Having empathy for customers also influences both restaurants’ portion sizes. “The portion sizes are what I would want if I got a fish-and-chips, or a fish sandwich, or if I get a burger and the same thing at the Deli, where the corn beef hash is the same portion size that we would want. Not many people think our portions are too small.... We do a lot of take-out boxes at the tables for people taking their food home. But, when I go to a restaurant, I want to feel like I’m getting a value for my dollar, and that’s what we’re kind of going for here.”

Embracing The Big Tent

Another major element of Tax’s business philosophy is having a “Big Tent” – and in this case, he’s talking demographics, not outdoor seating – though big tents have also helped customers enjoy outdoor meals at both venues. 

“We want to have our arms open to [everyone] – most people want to make their tent size bigger – so, that’s basically what we’re doing too,” Tax said. “I don’t want to be pigeonholed for my customers. So, here, the big thing we try to accomplish is for everyone to feel comfortable when they get here, and happy. Whatever race they are, whatever sex they are – whatever – we want that to be a main thing for us to. And especially their age. We want kids to be able to feel comfortable, and their parents to be able to feel comfortable.”

“We had a 101 and a-half birthday party here about a month ago and obviously she loved coming here. And we obviously have a lot of one-year-old birthday parties as well.”

“We did have a review of Lazy Mike’s one time and it was pretty funny. The person said, everything was great and the food was delicious, but there were too many kids running around. And my response was, ‘It’s an ice cream store!’ [Laughs]

In fact, one of Tax’s favorite activities is giving kid customers fresh, homemade ice cream while it’s still in the soft stage, prior to being frozen and “hardened.” “What I like to do,” he confessed as he thought about Lazy Mike's, “is give the kids a taste of the ice cream in the in-between stage, when it comes out of the machine and before it goes into the hardening cabinet when it’s like a dairy twirl or a custard. It’s very nice.” 

Working with Young People

Before he graduated from Howard Law School in D.C. and dabbled in the insurance industry, Tax worked his way up from washing dishes at age 14 at the Omaha Steak House in Gainesville, Florida – from which his family hails, and much of the decor at Clare & Don’s is inspired. Eventually, he worked almost every “front of house” job in the restaurant industry. 

Employing young people in his restaurants is therefore a joy for Tax, because of the essential life skills it provides. His restaurants employ “around 100 full-time and part-time” workers. “It’s really fun. My favorite part of working here – and I have a lot of favorite parts of working here! – but my real favorite part is that."

"So, when we get a lot of kids in here and they start working, whether it be here or at Lazy Mike’s, they come in and they’re like, ‘hmmmm?....’ And they’re kids and they don’t have the opportunity to talk to adults" at their level. "But, when they’re here and they’re at the front face [of the restaurant], they’re able to talk to the general public. And the transformation they make from the first day they work – if the process goes how we love it to go – and then [over time] they move from bus, to host, to food runner, to server trainee to serving. And we have four people, with two of them going to William & Mary, and one of them is going to San Diego State and one of them is going to Florida State this coming year. And they all started when they were 15. They were a core group and we watched them go the whole way. And their transformation is insane. They’re all very smart!”

Many of the Tax’s employees are older as well and their longevity on the job speaks volumes about how they’re treated as employees. “Our kitchen’s been here since we opened. Doris, our main saute cook who’s in El Salvador visiting right now, she started when she was 18 and now she’s 37 and she’s a citizen, got two kids and owns two condos.” 

I asked my server at Clare & Don’s, Tracy Smith, how long she’s worked there and how she likes it. “I’ve been working here, it'll be 10 years in September, and it’s amazing working for David and Rebecca, they treat us like family," she said. “They’re very nice. They always take care of us. And if we go to school and if we have children, they work around it for everyone, to make sure we’re comfortable and get the hours we need and they’re just great. [They’re] very empathetic. I’ve worked for other restaurants that are really not like that. They actually truly care.”

Wearing Politics on Their Sleeves

Finally, I asked Tax to talk politics. As those who’ve visited either restaurant are familiar, there’s no shortage of progressive signifiers – stickers, posters, signage, flags, banners, and the like – letting folks know what side of the political aisle the Tax’s are on. 

“You wear the politics on your sleeve in both places, right?,” I prompted. “Do you get push-back?”

“I know that I’m not the most liberal person in the whole world most of my life,” Tax said. “But, I mean, [when] I’m talking about the Trump kind of people, I don’t care that I’m wearing [or showing] the stuff, because I’m proud of what I believe in. I’m proud that I want to make equality a real thing in all different facets of life. And I’m proud that I want people to be able to support themselves and not have to worry about where the next meal’s coming from. And I’m proud of all the political decisions I’ve made, so why wouldn’t I?" 

Protesters at Drag Storytime

Of all the impressive things I heard Tax say, I was most moved by the story he told of handling protesters at one of Clare & Don’s’ recent Drag Story Time’s. 

“I do suffer some consequences,” for the politics, Tax admitted. “We do have a drag story hour and we get some protesters across the street who stand there screaming… We do it once a month,” as well as Drag Bingo. “The whole thing is really good. The parents are bringing their kids to Story Time and Evita, our drag queen, looks exactly like Mrs. Doubtfire. I mean, she’s not scantily clad or anything – on that particular occasion – so they’re walking their kids from the parking lot to here getting yelled at by their people, I mean it’s the most ludicrous –” 

“Is it safe?,” I interject. “There’s also the Rainbow Coalition who come out protect the kids and parents with umbrellas, so the kids don’t have to look at the people screaming at them and that kind of stuff, so that’s pretty good."

"You know, I don’t mind the interactions. I’m not scared of the interactions. I walked right across the street when they were kind of huddling when they were done, and they weren’t screaming any more. They were just patting themselves on the back or whatever. I walked over there, and I wasn’t dressed in my Clare and Don’s [attire], so they didn’t know me from Adam, and I was like, “You know” – And they looked at me like maybe I was a joiner, because I’m old, and White, and bald and people can think that about what I am, but, I said, 'You had a choice when you woke up this morning. You could do something positive or you could do something hateful. And look what you chose. Something hateful. Pathetic.' And I walked away. [laughs]

When I asked Tax if there were any last thing he’d “like to say to the people of Falls Church,” he said:

“Come to the Beach Shack! And, check out our new patio and our new live music schedule, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And, at Lazy Mike’s, we’ve got homemade ice cream. I think a lot of people don’t realize we do ice cream cakes. It’s a big one for over there because we make delicious ice cream cakes that are personalized. My sister writes on them and you get to pick your flavor and pick your cake. We have people who’ve gotten the same ice cream cake that kids had and then their mothers bring them to the kids in college. And, of course, the ice cream sandwiches are really new and one of our main things. The Hilton just picked us up, so the Hilton Garden Inn is serving our ice cream to their guests which is really cool. We love our partnership with the Hilton over there. They’re really nice and that’s a great franchise…"

By Christopher Jones