The Verdict Lounge and Restaurant is a Black- and female-owned restaurant and lounge located in New Orleans, offering a unique lounge experience that embraces the culture and rich heritage of the city. The restaurant’s menu highlights the diverse flavors of the South, with a special emphasis on New Orleans-style dishes, like the Shrimp Po Boy and seafood platter. The Verdict Lounge also offers a carefully curated selection of alcoholic beverages.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Melika Honoré, Owner of The Verdict Lounge, to break down her experience appearing on Gordon Ramsay’s hit show Kitchen Nightmares in Season 9, Episode 7, how filming the show changed the trajectory of her business, and how operations have improved since switching to TouchBistro’s point of sale (POS) system.
Key Takeaways
- Prior to Kitchen Nightmares, The Verdict Lounge was facing the challenge of long wait times and operational inefficiencies, like overpoured drinks, which went unnoticed on a daily basis.
- After appearing on the show and switching to TouchBistro’s POS and Kitchen Display Systems, the team was able to operate more efficiently and cut its wait times in half.
- TouchBistro continues to support The Verdict Lounge with real-time visibility into operational metrics, the ability to make decisions remotely, 24/7/365 customer support, and an overall improved experience for guests.
The Challenge
Prior to Kitchen Nightmares and switching POS providers, The Verdict Lounge experienced some operational headaches that caused its staff to be frustrated and its guests to experience long wait times – sometimes up to two hours long. Additionally, Melika and her team lacked the visibility into how the business was operating and where money was being lost. The restaurant’s previous POS provider, Clover, also hindered the venue’s operations with limited technical support.
The Experience Filming Kitchen Nightmares
Help for The Verdict Lounge ended up coming from an unlikely place: Chef Gordon Ramsay’s team at Kitchen Nightmares. The Kitchen Nightmares casting company reached out to Melika’s assistant on Instagram at arguably the perfect time for The Verdict Lounge. Luckily for Melika and her team The Verdict Lounge ended up being one of just five restaurants that were picked from New Orleans out of over 20 interviewed.
During the filming process, the restaurant got a complete remodel, including new furniture, a revamped menu, and even a new POS provider (TouchBistro) to successfully support its post-show operations. The aesthetic and menu changes were a major plus for the business, but it was the switch from Clover to TouchBistro POS that has proven to be an incredibly valuable long-term upgrade.
The Results: A Post-Show Transformation
While the process of filming Kitchen Nightmares was certainly an emotional one, the overall experience was positive for the family-operated restaurant. Melika shares, “It was an amazing experience. It was four long days and filming was very emotional because the one thing that I told my family is that I wanted it to be authentic and for everybody to be themselves.”
And it was that authenticity that resonated deeply with fans of the show. “My mom even had a viral moment with Gordon Ramsay where she cussed him out and the rest was history,” Melika shares. She continues to express how this was a full circle moment for her because when her and her mom used to work at the House of Blues, the employees all dreamed of my mom going head to head with Gordon Ramsay and it actually happened. Though by the end of the episode, it’s clear that there’s mutual love and respect between the two.
As part of the Kitchen Nightmares transformation, upgrading to TouchBistro POS has been a game changer for The Verdict Lounge. The restaurant not only gained visibility into where it had been losing money, but also significantly reduced its wait times for guests.
Intuitive Training
With the implementation of any new technology, there’s always a learning curve, and for The Verdict Lounge team, navigating a new cloud-based POS system was no different. Fortunately, due to TouchBistro’s robust features and user-friendly software, the restaurant POS system training was seamless. Melika framed it as, “Just look at it as an iPad,” emphasizing to her staff how truly easy the system is to learn and use.
Smoother Day-to-Day Operations
Once The Verdict Lounge team learned the ins and outs of the TouchBistro POS and KDS, they quickly realized how it seamlessly supported the restaurant’s front of house and back of house operations, especially in the kitchen. “We didn’t have to run the ticket to the kitchen – it just automatically went to the KDS. Operationally, having TouchBistro has made everything easier,” Melika shares.
Aside from smoother back of house operations, the POS also made running the front of house more efficient as well. “Servers are now able to walk up to tables directly with the iPads, so they can take orders faster and more accurately, which makes service run a thousand percent better. It just makes everything better. I absolutely love it,” Melika emphasizes.
Granular Visibility and Real-Time Decision Making
In addition to the POS system being easy to use and facilitating smoother daily operations for The Verdict Lounge’s staff, Melika also loves the system’s real-time insights and cloud reporting capabilities. As the owner, Melika is responsible for making sure the business is meeting its short-term metrics and long-term goals. With TouchBistro, the ability to monitor the restaurant’s performance remotely while Melika is out of the venue allows her to make informed decisions anytime, from anywhere. This is especially beneficial for her since she travels a lot and isn’t always on-site to check each and every performance metric.
For example, Melika frequently accesses the hourly sales data report to make real-time decisions about staffing and is able to send her staff home early if needed to keep labor costs in check. “The POS lets me go in and see what our labor cost percentage is and how many people we have on the clock, then I can say, ‘oh no, somebody’s got to go home.’ That’s what I love the most,” Melika explains.
Melika also has granular visibility into where the business is losing money, which helps her make cost-saving decisions. She points to the restaurant’s bar inventory as one area where she’s been able to identify major cost savings. “At the end of the night, my staff take inventory according to the bottles and the ounces we have left. If there are any discrepancies between our inventory and our sales, this helps us determine if the bartender for the night was overpouring. We can then use that information to make sure we’re not losing money in the same way the next night.”
TouchBistro’s reporting also helps the team order new stock more efficiently and ensure they aren’t over-ordering food that will go to waste. With TouchBistro, Melika’s team is now able to pull a report and see exactly what they need to order or what they don’t.
A Better Guest Experience
The Verdict Lounge team are not the only ones who have benefited from the Kitchen Nightmares experience and the switch to TouchBistro POS. Guests who have dined at The Verdict Lounge post-show have experienced much shorter wait times, down significantly from the old wait times of up to two hours on busy nights.
The guest experience has always been top of mind for Melika and her team, so having a POS system that can help them continue to elevate The Verdict Lounge’s customer experience is key. Melika explains, “We were having two-hour wait times, so all the little changes cut down 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there. It adds up and really makes a difference for our guests.” She adds, “I sell an experience more than anything, so having a new POS system that speeds up service and reduces wait times has made the overall guest experience amazing.”
Access to 24/7 Customer Support
And helping to facilitate all of these changes behind the scenes has been TouchBistro’s 24/7 technical support – something that was not available with Melika’s previous POS provider, Clover. “TouchBistro always has somebody available 24 hours a day to help you with technical assistance and any unexpected issues that come up. That’s amazing because I never had a 24 hour access to support with my previous POS provider,” Melika shares.
What’s Next for The Verdict Lounge
Since the airing of The Verdict Lounge’s Kitchen Nightmares episode, Melika and her team are busier than ever and the restaurant has quickly become a go-to spot for tourists. On the operational side, Melika is eager to continue diving into the POS and learning more about its back of house features to help control her costs and inventory.
For Melika filming Kitchen Nightmares and switching to TouchBistro has been so transformational, it has even led her to recommend TouchBistro to another local restaurant. As Melika put it, “The POS does everything. I feel like TouchBistro made our restaurant better and made everyone happier.”
Looking for a restaurant technology makeover like The Verdict Lounge? TouchBistro can help!
Megan is the Content Marketing Specialist at TouchBistro, where she uses her passion for food to write about the restaurant industry. She’s a big “foodie” at heart, and you can always find her enjoying a delicious meal at a restaurant with friends and family, or cooking one up at home. She also loves relaxing with a good book and making progress at the gym.
The right POS should help you increase sales
The right POS should help you increase sales.
