Restaurant Case Study: Our Spotlight on The Blind Squirrel

Located on an enormous lot, the Blind Squirrel in Louisville, Kentucky offers over 15,000 square feet of entertainment. The venue promises music, grub, and sports and challenges staff to navigate an outdoor sports area, a patio, and a large indoor seating area. 

In our restaurant case study, we look at what led the Blind Squirrel to see the value our ConnectSmart® Host (Formerly DineTime) app. Taking on a space that big is no small task. Including the outdoor space, the Blind Squirrel features a 400 seat maximum capacity. The colder months reduce that number, restricting seating to the indoors. The flexibility to manage such a variety is one of the reasons that drew general manager Rob Young to ConnectSmart® Host. “When the weather gets warm,” says Young. “That’s what puts us to the test. Our seating capacity and traffic nearly double, and we’re just doing a whole lot more.” When the Blind Squirrel opened in 2017, they started off using the Yelp NoWait app. While NoWait afforded them more opportunities than pen and paper would allow, it lacked the customizable features that ultimately led Young to switch from NoWait to ConnectSmart® Host. What Young wanted was a front-of-house system that was not only customizable, but that had a low bar of access for training purposes. As Young faces the annual challenge of seasonal staffing, ConnectSmart® Host gave him the peace of mind to know that his staff could rise to whatever occasion. After searching, he discovered that the ConnectSmart® Host allowed the team to see not only what tables are open, but where each customer is in their journey. In addition to the ability to remain dynamic in their shifting restaurant landscape, ConnectSmart® Host works to integrate with their internal systems. For Young, that means that it provides a stable platform for their WiFi without risk of going down. It provides him guest paging options through SMS text and a robust set of data points to allow operators like Young to identify snags in their service time.

Read our restaurant case study on how ConnectSmart® Host has helped revolutionize the staff and customer experience at The Blind Squirrel.

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About the Author

Syd is a content marketing specialist, which are fancy words for writing pretty to tell a good story. He likes writing things about food, drinks, and music. He’s a musician himself, a father of two, and loves his wife a whole lot.