LUCAS Restaurants is a leader in the Australian hospitality industry, renowned for its iconic venues like Chin Chin, Kisumé, Baby Pizza, Yakimono and most recently Maison Bâtard. With a reputation for delivering exceptional dining experiences and quality at scale, LUCAS Restaurants operates these venues across Melbourne, Sydney & Canberra, each with its own unique character and menu, but all adhering to the group’s high standards.

For multi-unit restaurant groups, managing multiple locations while maintaining consistency, compliance, and operational excellence is a universal challenge. LUCAS Restaurants turned to Operandio to overcome these challenges, leveraging the platform to streamline operations, simplify food safety compliance, and gain real-time insights into their business.

The Challenge

As a multi-location restaurant group, LUCAS Restaurants approached Operandio with a clear set of requirements.

Ensuring food safety compliance across all venues was a top priority. They needed to digitize their food safety compliance records across all locations, where it was previously done on paper. LUCAS Restaurants required robust reporting tools that provided head office with easy-to-digest operational snapshots critical for decision-making. They sought an efficient food labeling system to minimize manual errors and improve kitchen efficiency, as well as automated temperature monitoring sensors to eliminate the time-consuming process of manual checks across their fridges and cold storage. Accountability across locations was another key need, requiring centralized management tools and configurable checklists to maintain consistency.

Additionally, LUCAS Restaurants needed the ability to customize the Operandio platform for each of their sub-brands. With iconic venues like Grill Americano and Hawker Hall each operating with their own identity, maintaining brand-specific workflows and reporting featuring their venues’ individual brands was vital to their operational success.

Above all, LUCAS Restaurants needed a sleek, user-friendly interface that their teams could adopt quickly and seamlessly. They were looking for a solution that struck the perfect balance between powerful functionality and simplicity, enabling their head office to oversee operations effectively without unnecessary complexity.

The Solution

Operandio partnered closely with LUCAS Restaurants to deliver a tailored solution that addressed their unique operational challenges.

Centralized, real-time task management provided digital checklists and task tracking, ensuring consistent operations group-wide. Customized food safety compliance tools ensured audit readiness and adherence to regulations, while a clean and intuitive reporting dashboard gave the LUCAS Restaurants head office a global snapshot of operations, enabling fast and informed decision-making.

Automated food labeling streamlined workflows, saving significant time in food prep and improving accuracy, while automated temperature monitoring, powered by Operandio’s sensors, delivered real-time monitoring and alerts for cold storage, eliminating inefficiencies and ensuring full compliance.

How Operandio helped LUCAS Restaurants to adopt a unified system for multi-unit management

• Streamlined reporting for multi-unit management: LUCAS Restaurants needed quick, actionable insights into their operations. Operandio delivered a robust reporting system that allowed head office to monitor performance at all locations without being overwhelmed by data.
• Faster, error-free food labeling: The food label printing system automated a previously manual process, ensuring compliance, improving efficiency, and saving valuable time in the kitchen.
• Enhanced food safety compliance: Customizable workflows ensured LUCAS Restaurants met stringent food safety regulations effortlessly, giving the leadership team peace of mind.
• Consistency across locations: Digital task management and real-time tracking ensured every team at every venue followed standardized procedures, maintaining the group’s reputation for excellence.
• Brand-specific customization: The white-label functionality allowed each LUCAS Restaurants sub-brand to operate under its unique identity within the platform, ensuring a seamless fit for Yakimono, Society, Tombo Den, and other venues.

Future Outlook

As LUCAS Restaurants grows and innovates, Operandio will remain a cornerstone of their operations, enabling them to maintain their high standards and adapt to new challenges. Whether managing one location or one hundred, Operandio provides the tools to ensure operational excellence at every level.

Collaborating with a highly esteemed group like LUCAS Restaurants allowed Operandio to push platform boundaries. The partnership not only helped meet LUCAS Restaurants’ specific needs but also elevated the features and functionality available to all Operandio clients.

Conclusion

For LUCAS Restaurants, operational excellence is non-negotiable. Operandio provides the tools they need to simplify food safety compliance, streamline reporting, and optimize operations across multiple locations. By combining a sleek interface with powerful functionality, Operandio ensures LUCAS Restaurants delivers exceptional dining experiences every single day.