For over 15 years, Miss Lily’s has been a cornerstone of New York City’s East Village. The beloved Jamaican restaurant, led by Culinary Director Brittany “Stikxz” Williams, boasts bold flavors, cultural authenticity, and deep community roots. “Miss Lily’s is not just a restaurant but an experience of the vibrance of Jamaican and Caribbean culture,” said Kaysilyn Lawson, director of Miss Lily’s. “We’re dare I say it ‘loud’ and expressive.”
The moment a customer steps through the door, they’re greeted with a bold array of colors, vintage-style booths, and a state-of-the-art music system playing everything from afrobeats to dancehall. The menu is an extension of its boldness, paying homage to time-honored techniques such as toasting spices like pimento and curry and layering the nuanced heat of scotch bonnet peppers.
The balance of creativity, authenticity, and quality is critical to helping Miss Lily’s thrive in New York City’s bustling restaurant industry. To protect that balance as the business grows, Square restaurant tools provide the operational structure that allows the team to focus on maintaining its status as a cultural and culinary destination.
The challenge: Growing a restaurant without losing consistency
Like many chefs, Chef Stikxz is a creative at heart. Early on, her focus was entirely on perfecting recipes and crafting memorable dining experiences. “We just want to create. That’s what we’re here for. But when you want to grow something and you want it to have longevity, you need to put the [standard operating procedures] in place. That’s the only way it’s gonna work,” said Williams.
Blending structure with passion comes with its own set of challenges: maintaining consistency across every shift, every dish, and every guest interaction. Miss Lily’s needed flawless execution even when Chef Stikxz was not physically present.
“If I’m not in the restaurant, I want whatever recipes are there to be able to be done without me without any issues,” said Williams. “When you have those things set in place, it just streamlines everything…it’s that continuity and the consistency that restaurants need to thrive.”
Without seamless execution and standardized systems, consistency is difficult to maintain, and in an increasingly competitive landscape, even minor shifts in the wrong direction can result in significant costs.
The solution: Using a restaurant POS that provides data and operational clarity
Miss Lily’s switched to Square in 2025 because it needed a solution that was more than a point of sale. Lawson cited the product mix as being especially crucial to operations.
We wanted a POS that was a solution for operational reporting needs, the ease of use for our staff, and also being user-friendly for our guests. Square delivers on all of those fronts. Features like item counts really help us to put the numbers in perspective and utilize the data to be more efficient operationally.”
Kaysilyn Lawson → Director, Miss Lily’s
Chef Stikxz echoed this sentiment by emphasizing how much easier it is to understand the business through Square tools. She described the tools as “user-friendly” with a “seamless” interface that helps her get to the information she needs more quickly, so she can spend more time crafting timeless dishes.
“If I want to see how many guests came in— that’s one tab. If I want to see who ordered what or how many of a certain dish was ordered for the day, I get to see that as well. It just keeps things in perspective for how to run the restaurant,” said Williams.
According to Chef Stikxz, a clearer perspective helped lay the foundation for growth. “Once you implement a standard, then you can grow the business, branch out, and delegate.” Implementing standards and leveraging efficient tools helped shift Miss Lily’s from being entirely chef-dependent to being backed by systems that could protect quality, power growth, and inspire innovation.
Impact: Using insights to drive menu innovation
With monthly sales insights from Square, Chef Stikxz can confidently identify what customers enjoy. She recalled a time where she tried a variety of specials, but they weren’t bringing in the amount of orders she expected. So, she looked at the data to see what diners enjoyed and she realized oxtail was wildly popular. She introduced an oxtail spring roll that’s now regularly selling out.
“We understood people loved oxtail. Okay, great. Now, what are we going to do with that?” Chef Stikxz explained. “That’s when you bring in the technology. You have to understand the scope and the specs of everything that’s happening in the restaurant and Square provides that.”
With instant access to daily, weekly, and monthly performance summaries, the team can make countless informed and timely decisions from anywhere without dramatically interrupting the flow of the business. “It makes my life so much easier,” Chef Stikxz said.
Other aspects are easier for the business, too, like the approach to scaling the beloved institution. Expanding Miss Lily’s beyond the East Village is something the team has been considering, and with the right tools, the team doesn’t feel as daunted by the idea. Lawson noted that “Partnering with Square as our POS provider helps us to be able to potentially grow into multiple units without concern.”
With powerful tools to support decision-making, high-quality one-of-a-kind dishes, and growing demand, Miss Lily’s is set to take over the neighborhood.
