It's pretty common these days for restaurants to be understaffed, and Sarah Jessica Parker was willing to pitch in and help a particularly beleaguered place in Dublin during her recent family visit to the city.

Parker and her family, including her husband Matthew Broderick, were dining in Dublin's Soup 2 ramen restaurant, a popular spot that was jammed when the famous Americans came calling.

Restaurant owner Conor Hughes told Hello! magazine that she couldn’t have been more understanding.

"Sarah was one of the nicest customers I've had in a while," Hughes said. "She noticed we were super busy, asked if I was short-staffed, and jokingly offered to help in the kitchen, as I was cooking and running food! She seemed to know a lot about our business, and clearly had done her due diligence."

Parker is one of the most famous actresses out there, so naturally, some of the other restaurant guests noticed. The family took the attention in their stride, Hughes said.

"Both Sarah and Matthew were happy to converse with anyone and everyone,” he added, with one customer buying Parker a cocktail.

What did the family eat? "Cauli wings and salmon sashimi to share. I sent an extra plate of sashimi as they seemed to love the first one this gesture was met with amazed delight. They really appreciated it. Especially the kids,” Hughes revealed.

Of course, Parker and her crew are no strangers to Ireland. Her hubby Matthew Broderick inherited the Co Donegal home his parents purchased when he was a child, and now the family frequents the area of Killybegs and Kilcar.

A few years back, Broderick told the Irish Voice, sister publication to IrishCentral, about his Irish homestead: “You know the landscape, the hiking but it's also the people there that I grew up knowing. Real farmers who worked the hay in the summer and milked cows. I really, really got to know my neighbors and that just doesn't happen in the same way here in the US. We just really felt welcomed there [in Donegal]. It's another culture, a wonderful place.”

*This column first appeared in the August 24 edition of the weekly Irish Voice newspaper, sister publication to IrishCentral.