On a sun-kissed street atop San Giorgio is a white building with red terra cotta roofing. It is characteristic of most estates in northern Italy, but actually houses a well-established outfit trumpeted as being the best spot to eat near Lombardy’s Monza Park, the largest walled green space in Europe: Hostaria del Parco.
The idea is to refresh the foot-weary customer, arriving after a full day strolling through miles of parkland — and in this regard, for over thirteen years Hostaria del Parco has witnessed remarkable success.
A delicious range of finger food sets the tone for a restaurant that values fine hospitality and exceptional customer service. Everything is great. A bar-snack setup allows customers to order fruit-flavoured cocktails with various small plate dishes: sun-dried tomatoes and cream cheese atop slices of wholegrain bread, for example, or plates of pancetta with smatterings of olives and cheese.
There’s more positive stuff that attracts Hostaria del Parco’s many visitors. A striking interior best described as warm and oaky welcomes the weary, while a garden of hanging baskets and floral hedges provides ideal outdoor seating.
Hostaria del Parco’s guests find it a fun place to relax and recuperate. At weekends, restaurant staff witness a spike in guest numbers, typically getting close to max capacity. We spoke to them about how Carbonara App has helped them manage this high demand.
Pen-and-Paper was Insufficient
Hostaria del Parco is owned by Kristo who told us about the restaurant’s experience with a manual reservation system, one involving a guest ledger and a pen to handwrite key details including name, telephone number, and customer accessibility.
“It was very confusing,” Kristo summed up the experience. “It was very difficult to have clear and precise information.”
On average Kristo’s team would seat around a hundred customers for lunch on both Saturday and Sunday. With a steady stream of guests arriving after journeys around the local area, Kristo’s team found that using a pen-and-paper arrangement was insufficient when it came to keeping ahead of most matters.
“It was not the same person [the same staff member] who transcribed the [customer] reservations,” Kristo explained to us. “There was forgotten data [for instance, including] number of people, telephone number, child seating, [and] wheelchair accessibility.”
Kristo’s words tapped into a well-known problem that restaurant owners in Italy and beyond regularly confront with pen-and-paper systems. Since it’s a physical guestbook only one person can work on it at one time, creating new problems for staff. For instance, Kristo explained: “[We had] problems with long-distance bookings. There isn’t good visibility for confirmations and birthdays. You have to browse the whole agenda.”
Seeking New Options
These fault lines had led Kristo and the team searching for a better option. They decided to go with a digital system and trialled several of them, even though some charged money for their service.
“[We] found other systems in the beginning, [but] many were not intuitive,” Kristo said. The restaurant sampled some free trails big names usually provide, but found in the end that they were unsatisfied.
Carbonara App’s team had contacted Hostaria del Parco to find out if they could help. Though initially reluctant to employ another digital system, the team began to use Carbonara App in daily business. Over time, Kristo’s team found what they wanted in Carbonara App and steadily began to trust it — especially seeing as it was cost free.
Organising Online Bookings
Adjusted to what Hostaria del Parco wanted, the restaurant employed Carbonara App’s free online bookings feature to compare their pen-and-paper system. They felt the benefits instantly. Kristo soon told us that the restaurant has saved a heap of time. In comparison, taking customers’ bookings then transcribing them was much slower.
The point of online bookings is also to make things easier for customers. Kristo had posted the bookings link to their website, a swift process that any restaurant can complete in minutes, and found that guests responded positively to the changes.
The Customer Reaction
Carbonara App has a reminder feature that delivers messages to customers, reassuring them that their booking is secure. “Receiving a text message,” Kristo mentioned, “for them after booking, they [feel] calm. The SMS reminder earlier is also very useful.”
“Yes,” Kristo smiled, “[customers] are very happy”.
Ensuring no guest is left behind, SMS reminders help to prevent restaurant no-shows from occurring. They help guarantee high rates of guest satisfaction. Restaurants can now wave goodbye to the chance of empty tables. Find out more.
Hostaria del Parco Recommends Carbonara App
So would Kristo recommend Carbonara App to other restaurants?
“Absolutely yes,” Kristo responded. “It has revolutionised the way [we] work.” They soon listed the benefits — including improved guest organisation, better customer feedback, especially because they no longer have to book by calling on the phone, plus they lose fewer reservations.
In addition, for Kristo who is not always at the restaurant in person, Carbonara App has boosted oversight over daily operations. They can now view reservations and guest details wherever they are. Thanks Kristo!
If you would like to comment on this story or anything else on Carbonara App, talk to us to find out more about how restaurant technology can help boost guest numbers, cut down on physical queues, and improve the overall guest experience.
Hungry for more? Read about how Poormanger are enjoying free restaurant technology in our piece titled, “Top Spot in Turin Greets Guests With Carbonara App”. A handpicked selection of stories from across the world — from the most westerly point in Africa to the sunny south coast of France — are also available on this website.
