The Harri Toast Integration and Waitbusters’ Digital Diner

 Harri Integrates with Toast

Harri, the end-to-end workforce operating system designed for  the restaurant and hotel industry partnered with Toast’s all-in-one restaurant management solution  to provide an integrated solution for multi-unit restaurant groups that combines day-to-day operations management, end-to-end workforce management and CRM tools for enhanced visibility into business insights that drive bottom-line growth.  

The Harri and Toast integration delivers critical data to restaurateurs to drive more informed decisions and increase efficiency by removing the data silos between staff and operational systems. Mutual customers, such as Tacombi and Gregorys Coffee, both multi-unit operators, will be able to:

• Dive deep into employee performance: Utilize key performance metrics to measure employee success and areas for improvement. Build a 360 degree view of employee lifecycle from hire to on-the-job performance.
• Access a real-time dashboard with sales and labor data: Harri’s LiveWire dashboard provides an enterprise view of key sales and labor metrics for real-time monitoring. The dashboard also provides wage analysis, real-time labor cost tracking and time compliance alerts.

“As a restaurant owner for more than 18 years, I’ve long dreamt of the day I could combine two key, best-in-class systems, to manage all core aspects of my business. Our industry has been held back by fragmented systems, bad data and clunky technology for too long. Today, our partnership with the incredible team at Toast heralds a new era of capability that will help our mutual clients navigate the challenging times ahead,” Luke Fryer, founder and CEO of Harri.

Rising minimum wage rates are a huge financial challenge facing the industries served by Harri and Toast. Among 3.5-star restaurants, every $1 increase in the minimum wage increases the restaurant’s chances of closing by 14 percent.

“According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics April 2017 report, two-thirds of workers earning the minimum wage or less in 2016 were employed in service jobs, predominantly in the food industry. By 2018, minimum wage in many states will rise from as low as $7.25 an hour to reach between $11.00 and $15.00 an hour for hospitality workers. These wage increases will positively impact employees, but will also require restaurants to get creative and really focus on efficiency,” said Aman Narang, president and co-founder of Toast. “We look forward to partnering with Harri to enable restaurants to be as streamlined as possible. They are a key member of Toast’s best-in-class partner ecosystem, the Toast API Partner Program, which empowers Toast users to improve overall operations and grow revenue.”

Waitbusters Debuts Digital Diner

Waitbusters Dining launched Digital Diner, which enables total guest management services by a host or hostess, enables customers to get in line or make a reservation remotely, skip the line, view menus and more. 

“We are incredibly excited that our patent-pending software is being used in such a robust environment,” Waitbusters’ CEO Jim Moody said. “We built our innovative Dining technology with the goal of helping diners save time, have a better experience and helping restaurants serve them better. The Busy Bee Cafe’s crowds have demonstrated the scalability of the software, even as it meets all front of house management needs. We’re looking forward to bringing on more high-volume restaurants like The Busy Bee Cafe in the near future.”

Key features of this technology include:

• SMS Marketing enables two-way personalized communication before, during and after the meal.
• The Wait Line Widget eliminates buzzers and pen/paper. Guests get in line remotely and check their wait times from their mobile device. The widget can be embedded on both websites and social media pages.
• Facebook Integration enables embedding the wait line widget and reservation widget directly on a business page.
• Location Updates allow restaurants to view the location of a guest or party in line. This feature can assist in adjusting the guest’s spot in line, moving tables and more.
• Reservations Widget can be embedded directly on a website and Facebook page.
• Skip the Line feature permits guests to jump ahead in a wait line for a fee.
• Analytics shows you how many guests were seated, average wait time in line, no-shows, reservations made and more.
• The Guest Manager not only enables wait line and reservation management, but it also facilitates setting up seating charts and server sections.
• Social Media Sharing gives customers a discount at a restaurant just for sharing each time they get in line or make a reservation.
• VIP Flagging enables restaurants to flag guests automatically based on frequency of visits or other special status criteria.
• No Show Flagging helps restaurants to avoid losing money in labor and overhead, reduce food spoilage and ensure that reserved tables do not remain empty.
• With the 24-7 Dining Concierge, customers will be able to easily peruse menus, get in line, order food, get directions, read and submit reviews, book a table and even get in touch with someone live.
• Auto Server Rotation intelligently suggests where a guest should be seated based on data and pre-determined preferences.

Initial pilot partner The Busy Bee Café in Atlanta, GA. reported over a two-month period more than 8,000 patrons were seated using Digital Diner, via The Busy Bee Café’s website at http://www.thebusybeecafe.com, without a hitch. The patrons got in line and then were able to shop, browse or peruse the neighborhood freely knowing they would get a text message when they were close to being seated.

Besides making the lobby inviting for incoming patrons, this solution also alleviated concerns by Chief Operations Manager Jennifer Smash of potential fire code violations.

“It was amazing how easy it works,” Smash said.  “We are getting a great feedback from our customers. They are able to get in line without waiting in our small location. Our customers have raved about this new system.” 

 Pastry Cup Champ

 Michelin-recognized Chef Carlos Altamirano, owner and operator of Peruvian cuisine throughout the Bay Area, has opened Barranco, his seventh concept in the Altamirano Restaurant Group and third eatery in the East Bay.

The full-service restaurant is located in a renovated, 3,300-square-foot space with a corner patio in the heart of downtown Lafayette. The name Barranco is a homage to a  district of Lima, Peru, known for its scenic beauty, seafood, historic buildings and artistic scene. 

 

“Barranco embodies the elegant bohemian, lively and cheerful spirit of my favorite city in Peru,” said Chef Altamirano. “I could not be more excited to share the incredible cuisine and culture of Barranco with the people of Lafayette. Whether it’s dinner with friends, a laid-back family meal or happy hour, we invite you to come in and discover the beauty and flavor of Barranco.” 

 Inspired by its namesake, Barranco’s menu is seafood-centric while offering family-style tapas and a select number of main dishes. The menu features Chef Altamirano’s hallmark cebiche, grilled anticuchos (meat skewers), chicharrones, bocaditos (small bites) such as Pulpo a la Parilla (twice cooked Spanish octopus) and empanadas, main courses such as Seafood Paella and Langostinos Crocantes (prawns), an assortment of delectable sides and, for dessert, flan, chocolate flourless cake and alfajores,  Latin-American artisanal cookies.

 

Barranco’s beverage program, led by bar manager Arthur Valderrama, features pisco, the traditional spirit of Peru, and fruit-forward cocktails made with produce found throughout South America such as mango, pineapple and passion fruit. In addition to the seasonally rotating cocktail menu, Barranco also offers traditional non-alcoholic Peruvian beverages such as Chicha Morada and Inca Kola, not to mention a  curated selection of California and South American wines and a host of microbrews on tap that were chosen specifically to complement modern Peruvian cuisine. 

Designed by Crome Architecture, and inspired by Chef Altamirano’s vision, the interior of Barranco is distinctly modern, yet warm and inviting with pops of color throughout the restaurant. Featuring a high ceiling, concrete floor and reclaimed wood furniture, the atmosphere is further accentuated by several custom murals by Bay Area artists Letty Samonte and Bridget Moser.

 

ChefUniforms.com launched Chef Coat Customizer. Using the Artifi platform, customers can now coordinate uniforms to the color scheme of their workplace to complete their brand’s image.

“Our Chef Coat Customizer is an industry first and ideal for the unique chefs and restaurants we work with who often want individualized looks and custom-made coats,” says Athena Petrou, Director of Design at ChefUniforms.com. “It was a pleasure to work hand in hand with Artifi to design an exclusive customizer for our website that allows our customers to tailor every aspect of their coat, including fabric and trim colors, logos and text embroidery, with the ability of seeing a mockup of the design before purchasing.”

Yash Shah, CTO of Artifi, added, “Athena and her team at Chef Uniform had a very clear vision for the Chef Coat Customizer. The coat customizer now allows customers to design coats based on their brand guidelines and also bring efficiency to Chef Uniform’s internal process. Artifi is glad to be part of this innovative step by Chef Uniform in the uniform industry.”