The loyal cusTomer

When Jim Deer walks in the door of Highlands Café, the staff begins guessing what he’s planning to order.

“The cook sees me in the back of the line, and I’ll mouth which choice I’m going to want, so he goes ahead and gets it started,” Deer says.

That’s the perk of being a regular, and Deer and his wife, Rachael, are definitely that, at least half of the time.

About six months of the year, the Deers reside in Crested Butte, Colo. Deer is an avid road and mountain biker, and “the summertime exertion on my bike in Dallas is not a particularly good idea,” he says.

The months they do spend at home in Merriman Park, the Deers dine at Highlands Café four to five times a week, he says. This practice started about six months after the restaurant opened in 2004.

“We don’t cook much anymore, and I got tired of cleaning up my wife’s messes when she cooks,” Deer jokes. A neighbor told his wife about the place. “I really liked the neighborhood restaurant concept,” he says. “It’s not real trendy, and I see people I know.”

They were pleased with the food — “good, healthy, convenient and quick,” Deer says — and after years of frequenting the place, they like being on a first-name basis with the staff as well as the managing partners, Lake Highlands residents Anita Siegers and Kathy Stewart, who were among the 20 financial backers who opened the restaurant believing our neighborhood needed a casual family dining spot.

“I like to be a loyal customer. It’s sort of a personal philosophy,” Deer says. “I appreciate the fact they took the risk to put a neighborhood restaurant in. I don’t know if Anita or Kathy make any money, but they put a lot of time in.”

Deer also appreciates that the restaurant solicits feedback — and listens.

“I came back from Colorado and the soups tasted funny, and the chef told me, ‘Yeah, they changed the recipes,’ ” Deer says. “I told him I didn’t like them, and it wasn’t long before they changed them.”

Richards, M.D.