Sometimes the best business ideas are right under your nose. That was the case for Bryce Smetana, the owner of Rally House Sports Bar in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.
Before becoming a restaurateur, Bryce worked for a company that leased pool tables, dartboards, and jukeboxes to bars and restaurants. One of his accounts was located near a vacant building he thought would make a great restaurant.
“I’d just drive by this big, beautiful building every day, and I couldn’t believe nobody was making it work. Curiosity got the best of me, so I called the owner of the building,” Bryce says. And thus, Rally House Sports Bar was born.
Bryce has since taken this empty space and transformed it into a busy sports bar and restaurant he describes as “a few video games short of being a Dave and Buster’s.”
While the Rally House Sports Bar menu offers everything you’d expect – wings, burgers, pizzas, and more – its family-friendly atmosphere makes this venue anything but typical.
“We’ve got music and games going all the time. And we get quite a few youth sports teams in here. There’s always something going on in the area, whether it’s a wrestling tournament or hockey or baseball, volleyball, or basketball. There’s always kids in here playing pool and arcade games. It’s a fun atmosphere,” Bryce says.
While a jovial vibe, arcade games, classic menu, and positive Rally House Sports Bar reviews proved Bryce’s concept a success, he also knew that he’d need the right technology in place to make his business more efficient and profitable.
Challenge: Succeeding as a First Time Restaurateur
With so many restaurants shutting down before their first birthdays, making it to this critical anniversary can be a telltale sign of future longevity. For Rally House Sports Bar, reaching this milestone was additionally challenging because Bryce had never owned a restaurant before and he was managing – and renovating – it all on his own.
“You might as well be a one person operation if you can. I did all the remodel work myself, but I’ve had a lot on my plate, trying to hire people. I try to train everybody because I’ve got my own way; I want my servers to do things properly,” he says.
While Bryce’s entrepreneurial spirit and can-do attitude could take Rally House far, he knew the right technology would set the business up for a foundation of long-term financial viability. He needed a restaurant POS system that would be intuitive to learn, would help him get up and running quickly, and had a visual interface to make operations fast and easy.
“I’m very much a picture kind of person. So I like to see the picture view of things when I’m scrolling through the iPad,” he says.
Fortunately, Bryce was able to find exactly what he was looking for with TouchBistro.
Solution: TouchBistro POS for Fast, Accurate Ordering
After extensive online research comparing the best POS systems for restaurants, Bryce chose TouchBistro to meet Rally House Sports Bar’s needs.
From day one, Bryce notes thatTouchBistro’s support team was tremendously helpful in setting up the POS and with troubleshooting any issues.
“It’s challenging to walk people through things on the phone, without being there to see what they’re missing. Every TouchBistro technician I’ve talked to has been able to walk us through stuff without actually having to be there, which has been a pretty smooth process. Everybody’s been super helpful and somebody’s always available to help, which is nice,” Bryce says.
After sailing through the setup process, Bryce and his staff found that training on the new system was fast and easy thanks to TouchBistro’s intuitive iPad-based setup.
“I have a pretty young staff, so they’re all really comfortable with iPads,” Bryce says.
Not only is TouchBistro POS easy for Rally House Sports Bar’s staff to use, but it also helps them be more efficient in their roles. For example, rather than handwriting orders, walking them to the kitchen, and forgetting to ask what kind of cheese customers want on their burgers or what dressing they want on their salads, the mobile POS reminds them to ask these critical questions and sends orders to the kitchen automatically.
“TouchBistro POS’ forced modifiers take all that guesswork out of ordering, which I really like. We don’t have to worry about things not being asked. It also cuts down on the wait times, because if I have to run all the way back to the kitchen to tell them, ‘by the way, I forgot to get a ranch dressing,’” Bryce says.
By sending the right orders to the kitchen instantly with TouchBistro POS, Rally House Sports Bar can get food to customers faster, which helps increase table turnover. And the faster a table turns, the greater the opportunity to serve more guests.
Money-Saving Food Distribution with Performance Foodservice
While TouchBistro has helped Rally House Sports Bar make more money, the restaurant’s partnership with food distributor Performance Foodservice (PFS) has helped it save money – a winning combo for financial longevity.
Bryce says that because PFS offers smaller order minimums than its competitors, he can order only what he needs at the moment, which results in less food waste and more money saved. To reach other vendors’ order minimums, he would have to order supplies he doesn’t need. With PFS, that’s not the case.
As Bryce explains, “Other vendors want us to order 25 cases minimum and Performance Foodservice only wants 15, so that makes it easier to place a smaller order. I’m not having to over-order just to get stuff delivered. If I had a slower week, I shouldn’t have to over-order just because I need to get other stuff in. That makes a huge difference. Of course, you don’t want all that food waste that you have to deal with and all that money you’re just throwing out,” he says.
Fast Payouts with TouchBistro Payments
Another system that has made it easier for Bryce to manage his restaurant’s money has been TouchBistro Payments. This payment processing solution integrates directly with TouchBistro POS to save Bryce time from manually entering payment amounts, or risk making costly double-entry errors. Plus, TouchBistro Payments lets Rally House Sports Bar’s customers pay however they’d like, whether or not the restaurant’s wifi is working. Best of all, the system is easy for Bryce to use and payouts are fast.
“TouchBistro Payments has worked the way that I’d hoped it would. I haven’t had any issues with payments going through and my payments are always in my bank a day or two later,” he says.
Looking Ahead: Rally House Sports Bar Celebrates Its First Year
With money in the bank and lots of customers in the door, Rally House Sports Bar is getting ready to pass the all-important first year milestone.
Rally House is approaching its first year in business, which is an impressive feat, when many restaurants struggle to reach this milestone. What’s even more impressive is that according to Rally House Sports Bar reviews, the restaurant has maintained an impressive 4.4-star rating on Google.
So what’s in store for year two and beyond for the business? Bryce says he’s planning a customer appreciation celebration and will be revamping the Rally House Sports Bar menu with some exciting new additions. Later down the line, expansion could be in the works.
“It’d be really nice if we had room for a couple of volleyball courts or some pickleball courts or a bigger patio for beanbags,” Bryce says.
Until that happens, TouchBistro POS and TouchBistro Payments will be supporting Rally House Sports Bar all along the way.
Katherine is the Content Marketing Manager at TouchBistro, where she writes about trending topics in food and restaurants. The opposite of a picky eater, she’ll try (almost) anything at least once. Whether it’s chowing down on camel burgers in Morocco or snacking on octopus dumplings in Japan, she’s always up for new food experiences.
The right POS should help you increase sales
The right POS should help you increase sales.
