When Michael Leake first started catering, he had no real system in place. Today, after being with CaterZen for 15 years, his business thrives with better client retention, improved efficiency, and unmatched organization. His journey from restaurant owner to a full-time off-premise caterer and catering hall manager showcases howCaterZen's catering software revolutionized his operations.
Taco Lulú, a vibrant Mexican eatery in downtown Chicago, was already serving up fresh, bold flavors to its customers. But when it came to catering, owner Michael Stadnicki saw an untapped opportunity—one that CaterZen's catering software helped him seize in a big way.
Lunch Wired, a successful catering company based in Colorado, had been growing rapidly but struggled with outdated and fragmented systems. Tobi Drori, the CFO, shared her journey to finding a comprehensive catering software solution in CaterZen and how it transformed their operations.
Before implementing CaterZen, Big Dan’s BBQ relied on a patchwork of tools like Google Calendar, Square, and emails to manage their catering operations. This fragmented system led to frequent mistakes, frustrated customers, and inefficiencies that held back their growth.
CaterZen helped them change the game. By switching to a centralized, all-in-one catering software solution, Big Dan’s BBQ streamlined operations, drastically reduced errors, and saved time for both their team and customers.
Before adopting CaterZen, Pasta Pantry’s catering management system was as old-school as it gets: a giant wall calendar. Each day of the year was filled in manually, with additional pages added as orders piled up. While this approach worked in the early days, it quickly became cumbersome as the business grew. Keeping track of past orders or coordinating future ones often required digging through pages and guessing at the details.
Red Hot & Blue, a beloved barbecue chain, had been managing their catering operations with outdated software that required manual order entry and lacked the convenience of online ordering. As demand for their catering services grew, General Manager Rachid Elkhasouani found that the manual processes were slowing down their ability to keep up with customer expectations. To meet the needs of their growing customer base and improve efficiency, Rachid knew it was time for a catering software upgrade. That’s when Red Hot & Blue turned to CaterZen.
Delta Blues BBQ, known for its signature smoked meats, started as a catering company before expanding into a full-fledged restaurant. As the business flourished, owner Travis Penn faced increasing challenges managing both sides of the operation with a combination of pen and paper and Google Calendar. This manual process, while simple in the beginning, quickly became a bottleneck as the company’s catering operations grew.
Salt + Smoke, a multi-location BBQ restaurant in St. Louis, MO, was on a mission to overhaul their old-school catering operations. They needed a modern solution to replace their pen-and-paper methods, and that’s where CaterZen stepped in, bringing transformative tools and streamlined efficiency to their catering game.
Before discovering CaterZen's catering software, Slap’s BBQ was managing their catering operations with a haphazard system. Francine McCulloch, the Director of Catering Sales, recalls, “We had a different, not professional company like CaterZen that was helping us book. It was inefficient and didn’t offer near the benefits that CaterZen did, so we feel like we got much more efficient and accurate in our catering after we switched to CaterZen.”
Navigating the complexities of the catering business requires innovative solutions that streamline operations and enhance service delivery. For K Catering, the transition to CaterZen marked a pivotal moment in transforming its operational capabilities. Learn about how Kay Kim, the diligent owner of K Catering, utilized CaterZen's catering software to revolutionize her business processes.
