For an exquisite taste of the East, head straight to 346 Smithdown Road in the heart of Liverpool, where a family-owned restaurant opens its arms to all crowds.
Maggie Fu is a perfect place for families to catch up or for those who just want to eat delicious pan-Asian dishes, from mouth-watering ramen bowls to spine-tingling curries. Incidentally, this neatly located eatery is a real crowd pleaser and attracts guests in great numbers — before 2020, for instance, they were seating 700 covers per week.
We spoke to Lauren, Maggie Fu’s restaurant manager, about their experiences with Carbonara App, noting the positive impacts it has had on their trade.
Figure 1. Maggie Fu at Smithdown Road area of Liverpool via Maggie Fu’s website
Managing a Crowded Queue with Pen & Paper
Before using Carbonara App, Lauren told us her staff worked with a pen-and-paper waitlist. Suffice to say it was a hassle: staff would take down names, then guests would wait outside in line. With people constantly waiting around the restaurant to be seated, the restaurant floor suffered from overcrowding.
Finding customers was a further problem. Just two guests signing up with the same name was enough to turn workflow on its head: “workflow” quickly became all work and no flow.
Digital Waitlist Features that fit the Need
“We needed a system,” Lauren continued, answering why they picked Carbonara App. “This app had all the features we were looking for.”
The fact that everyone could stay connected and work on their phone was a game-changer for Maggie Fu’s team. Now there was no need to check the line at the door or get updates from front-of-house staff. Simply checking their phone, everyone stayed up-to-date on guest inflow. In fact, using the app had an unexpected benefit: it reduced Maggie Fu’s total work by 10 percent, boosting the restaurant’s overall efficiency.
Figure 2. Maggie Fu restaurant improving their customer experience via Confidentials
Virtual Queue — Waiting is No Burden
Among Maggie Fu’s favourite features include Carbona App’s SMS notifications, involving built-in text messages. These provide easy communication between guests and the restaurant. The fact that guests in the queue can text the staff while they wait to ask about their table shows great organization, builds trust, and ultimately, gives customers confidence that they will soon be seated.
What’s more, customers at Maggie Fu were pleased to stay in contact with staff about their tables while having a drink at the bar next door. All in all, giving guests more freedom makes the wait less of a burden.
A Helpful Tool during the Pandemic
Without a doubt, 2020 was a harsh year for the restaurant industry. In England, COVID regulations made it mandatory for restaurants to collect customer information to prevent any further spread of the virus.
Yet with Carbonara App, Lauren found a simple solution to handle customer details. She said that the app’s Customer Tracking feature made it easier for Maggie Fu to keep compliant with government-mandated measures. Restaurants can now confidentially track customer information in the app’s system, making restaurant survival easy in 2021.
Lauren couldn’t recommend Carbonara App enough and closed our conversation with a top commendation: “9/10. Highly Effective. Works perfectly in any busy restaurant.”
Contact us today and find out why we’re the first-ever free app that “works perfectly” in walk-in restaurants like Maggie Fu.
