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4000 diners a week. That’s how many people Jesse Orleans and Chris Theodosi – the owners of smash-hit cafes Happyfield and Happy Shop – reckon they serve on average, between their two Haberfield venues.
That’s a lot of pancakes.
But that success comes at a cost: the more people you have to feed, the more people you need to please. With great hype comes great responsibility. And because both venues have been slammed since the day they’ve opened, Theodosi and Orleans have always had to stay on their game. And keep improving it.
“If you’re lucky enough to have that initial wave of customers when you first open, to keep it going, we’ve tried to be super consistent,” says Theodosi. “Always looking at ways to improve each and every service.”
That’s probably why, five years into Happyfield’s life, it’s never been better – or busier.
“Once a business is more established, they can really just focus on what they do best,” says Orleans. “Tightening up the food, tightening up the service, and paying attention to the smaller details.”
Happiness is the promise to the 4000 people that eat at Happyfield and Happy Shop each week. And every day, Theodosi and Orleans depend on their Square stack to keep the pancake stacks coming. Here are the essentials that keep everyone happy.
A Point of Sale for every point of sale
Quick ordering and fast payments are Happyfield’s most potent form of crowd control. Wherever you look in the café – or whoever you look to – you’ll see someone that can take your order.
Each member of the team has holstered on Square iPads, so they can take payments and orders wherever they’re needed. And there are Square Terminals at the ready for every section.
Up front on the bar there’s a Square Register, where customers can see exactly what they ordered, add a tip if they choose to, and see the precise amount they’re paying.
Every wait station has a Square Stand and a Square Terminal too. “It’s been a bit of a game changer for us,” says Theodosi. “Previously the point of sale would be all clogged up if someone took a payment terminal to pay.”
“Now we can have someone using the point of sale at the register, paying a bill, and someone with a Square Terminal at the table, fixing up a bill at the same time.”
A few doors down over at new venture Happy Shop, there’s two Square Registers – one for each order window.
Special specials
“Prior to using Square, I was the only one who knew how to use our point of sale system,” Theodosi says. Which meant that days off where never really days off. “I had to create every special myself.”
Now all our managers know how to adjust the price of an item, make them in or out of stock, and add descriptions, from the point of sale itself.”
Chris Theodosi → Co-founder, Happyfield
It makes Theodosi and his team’s lives easier – and more efficient.
Now, managers take a photo of that day’s special with their iPad running Square Point of Sale and save it directly to the menu.
“So when a staff member’s taking an order and they’re asked ‘What’s the special today?’ it’s like, ‘Here’s a photo,’” Theodosi says. “You wouldn’t see it in fine dining, but it works for us.”
Easy menu modifications
Happyfield’s goal is to keep everyone happy, which means that menu removals and modifications – tricky as they can be – are part of the promise. Thanks to easy customisation, Square helps them keep to their word.
“There was a removals modifier for each menu item, and then you go no tomato, no cheese,” says Theodosi. “So now every dish we build we have the removals modifier, and integrates with our online ordering as well.”
“It helps the team members, helps the customers and it helps me – it’s about the little details and making sure every box is ticked.”
Connecting front and back of house
From open to close at Happyfield and Happy Shop, the orders keep coming and they don’t stop.
With the wrong systems, it could be a recipe for chaos. But thanks to their Square POS, every order goes through and none get left behind. And courtesy of Square Online and easy integration with third-party deliverers including Uber Eats and Door Dash, online orders are easily assimilated into the workflow too.
“It basically links front of house and back of house, the dockets are very clean and straightforward,” says Orleans. “All the modifiers and stuff are highlighted on the docket, so it’s easy for us to read and everything’s listed correctly in its own line.”
“It just makes everything smoother in terms of service.”
And the POS’ seamless connection with Happyfield’s many, many printers makes sure that everything is sent to where it needs to be.
“The last thing the kitchen wants is to be seeing coffees on their kitchen tickets,” says Theodosi.
Which is why every item is routed, through the POS, to its respective workspace.
“Food goes to food, coffee goes to coffee, cold drinks go to the bar, it’s super simple,” he says.
“One thing that used to happen to me with different point of sale systems is you’d create an item, but not link it to a printer, and then next thing you know they’ve sold three specials and no one’s making them,” says Theodosi. “But with Square, it knows where it needs to go.”
Fast and accurate sales reporting
Every business needs to be across its financials. But that essential data is often obscured by clunky interfaces or hard-to-design dashboards and reports.
Both Happyfield and its new sibling Happy Shop need to know the best and worst performers on the menu and have a clear idea of its bottom line.
“We’ve built our own daily and weekly reports,” Theodosi says. “It’s super helpful getting the category breakdown on a day-to-day and week-by-week basis.
“We see all the sales from each different terminal, all the online sales from our different providers, the tips, the service fees – it’s just everything you need.”
And the Square App guarantees accessibility to that data from anywhere. “I probably use it a hundred times a day,” Theodosi says. “You can take your phone out of your pocket and see everything you’ve sold for the day rather than jumping on your laptop and going into reports.”
Breakdowns by categories and menu items ensure that Theodosi and Orleans get a deeper understanding of the dishes and drinks that make customers happy.
Having so many customers is a problem most hospitality businesses dream of having. But Happyfield and Happy Shop are keeping their fanbase – and growing it – thanks to immaculate food and service, and the systems underpinning it all.
Being Happyfield, we needed a happy point of sale. And Square is the happiest point of sale you can possibly use.”
Chris Theodosi → Co-founder, Happyfield
