Case Studies

At Graze! Shared Kitchen in Toledo, Ohio, owner Rod Brant operates three restaurants under a single roof. This unique concept is growing in popularity as restaurant owners adapt to changing consumer preferences for take-out and delivery due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Under the Graze umbrella are three distinct offerings – Oasis Eats Mediterranean, Mozza Pizza and Wings, and Big Knuckle Burgers. Rod describes the delivery and take-out only model as the “new eat at home or office experience” with faster ordering, better service, and a wider variety of foods to choose from.

Rod got his start in the restaurant business offering marketing consulting services – helping other restaurants improve and grow, but always had the itch to become a restaurant owner of his own. He fulfilled that dream by purchasing Eat at Oasis in early 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Eat at Oasis had two dine-in locations about five miles apart, and Rod made the purchase with plans to change one location into the Graze! Shared Kitchen concept.

Piu Bello is a family-owned business headed by Mehul Patel since 2016. Piu Bello serves their customers in three ways: Lunch and Dinner menu for both Dining Room and Carry-Out service, as well as Pizza Delivery. The concept features classic Italian dishes with modern American delivery fare for wings, mozzarella sticks, and chicken fingers.

When Mr. Patel originally purchased the restaurant, he knew that sales had been declining by 20% year-over-year. Soon after incorporating a HungerRush POS system and all its built-in tools, Mr. Patel was able to find that he was gaining back the 20% loss in sales by more effectively streamlining and monitoring his delivery process.

Mr. Patel assumed control of the business with the existing POS, Clover. He stated that all of his inventory, employee, and customer management needed to be done manually. “Clover might be ok for retail stores; it’s not going to work for my restaurant concept, which requires a lot of customization. Clover also has no way to calculate labor, unless you want to download a 3rd party app (for an extra charge). Many of those apps are also incapable of doing what I truly need.” The difficulty continued to inventory, “There’s no way for me to know when I need to reorder food, how much food I’m using per pizza, and for it to specify the quantity of toppings. The only thing Clover is good for is to take simple orders and charge cards.”

Over time, the manual workload began to overtake him, and that’s when he truly became motivated to find an all-encompassing solution. Through all of his research and due diligence, he found HungerRush. “HungerRush POS is the only system that gives me everything I need; an inventory system that can be customized, and (resources) that can help me build my menu quickly,” also, “coming through and install(ing) everything.”

After his onsite installation and training for his new HungerRush POS system, HungerRush (online ordering platform), and eye deliver (Real-time driver statistics for GPS tracking), Mr. Patel was able to identify that his delivery process was the best area to start improving.

With HungerRush he was able to limit the number of orders a driver could take based on the distance he needed to drive to complete the delivery. Now Piu Bello was able to establish the operation standard that would limit the number of pizza orders to be delivered by any one driver. Mr. Patel was also able to reconcile all of the manual inventory, employee, and customer management that had been plaguing him.

As a result, he found that he was gaining back the 20% loss in sales by more effectively streamlining and monitoring his delivery process, and the time savings from having more automated and integrated labor, customer, and inventory allow Mr. Patel to focus on his real priority – providing excellent service and food to Piu Bello’s guests. Mr. Patel conducted his own independent survey after implementing HungerRush and these changes. The results showed increased customer perception and satisfaction ratings of his business.

Today, the Piu Bello restaurant is operating more effectively, and Mr. Patel states that within his next month of operation, he will not only have corrected his monthly net loss but turned the delivery operation into a profit center. Mr. Patel is now a huge fan of the HungerRush system, and he ended by saying: “If HungerRush can do pizza, they can do anything in the restaurant industry!”

Crush Taco is a fast casual concept based on contemporary cuisine.  Signature items include cornflake crusted shrimp, buffalo chicken and fish tacos.  Calling it a modern taco shop, owner Mo Assi describes his tacos as Texas-style with Latin influence – combining big flavors with shredded cheese, refried beans and fresh vegetables.   

Mo had an idea of what he wanted in a POS system based on ones he used in other restaurants. The POS system had to be easy for the staff to learn and use and he didn’t want anything to slow down Crush Taco’s ordering process or impact the customer experience.   

A reporting fanatic, Mo demanded a system that could provide detailed analysis of the sales, labor and product mix his restaurant was producing.  He also wanted a system that could embrace changing customer trends such as the movement of online ordering and third-party delivery services.  Crush Taco selected the HungerRush restaurant management system after receiving a demo and performing independent research. 

Now, Mo gets the detailed reports he need to keep tabs on the growing business and for strategic planning.  To keep up with a growing industry trend, Crush Taco has also expanded into online ordering and third-party delivery services.  With help from HungerRush, the restaurant built an online ordering platform as part of Crush’s website along with a custom-branded app for iOS and Android mobile devices.  

Four years after opening their doors, Crush Taco is flying high and Mo credits HungerRush as technology that has steered Crush Taco’s success.  The POS system has given Mo the visibility he requires to make good business decisions and has proven to be an adaptable platform that can scale and grow as Crush Taco builds its customer base. 

Hometown Pizza and Grill implemented the HungerRush POS system with integrated online ordering to acquire new sales. The system’s built-in reporting module provides improved reporting and staff accountability.