Vlachos Tavern has run its tables both ways. It is not going back.
“Not going back.”
the owner has run the tavern both ways
Some restaurant decisions are made on spreadsheets.
Others are made on the dining room floor, after running service both ways and seeing which one works better.
At Vlachos Tavern, the owner, Konstantinos, has done exactly that. He has run the tavern with the traditional card machine, and he has run it with FoxPay, where guests pay and split the bill from their own phones.
His conclusion is simple. Going back to the old way would make no sense.
Chasing the card machine around the room.
In a busy tavern, the end of a meal rarely happens one table at a time.
One group asks for the bill. Another is ready to pay. A large table wants to split the total between several people. Meanwhile, the card machine can only be in one place.
So the team chases it. Collecting it from one table, carrying it to the next and waiting while each payment goes through.
None of this is part of the hospitality guests come for. It is simply what the payment process asks of the staff.
Letting guests pay and split from their phones.
With FoxPay, the bill comes to the guest’s phone instead.
Guests scan the QR code at the table, review what they have ordered and pay when they are ready. Groups can split the bill and each person can pay their own share, without passing one terminal around the table.
There is no app to download, and FoxPay works alongside the tavern’s existing POS. The way the team welcomes and serves guests stays the same.
A group bill, simulated
Six guests. One bill.
Same table, two ways to split. Watch who is still waiting.
The terminal goes round the table. Everyone else waits their turn.
Each guest pays their own share from their phone, at the same time.
Still view: with the card machine, 2 of the 6 guests have paid so far. With FoxPay, all 6 have paid.
ResultAt Vlachos Tavern, the verdict: Ran it both ways. Not going back.
In the owner’s words
“I’ll say it simply. I’ve run this tavern both ways. Going back to chasing the card machine around the room makes no sense to me.”
What changed at Vlachos Tavern.
The biggest change was where the staff spend their time.
Instead of chasing the card machine around the room, the team can stay with the tables:
- Guests pay and split the bill from their own phones
- Staff stay in the dining room instead of carrying the terminal between tables
- Groups no longer wait for one card machine to reach them
- The final step of the meal no longer depends on a single device
This story is not about a single number. It is about an owner who has compared both ways of working on his own floor and made his decision from experience.
Tried, tested and not going back.
There is a reason a direct comparison carries weight with other restaurant owners.
It is easy to be sceptical about a new payment process before using it. It is much harder to argue with someone who has run the same tavern both ways and chosen one.
For Vlachos Tavern, the old way simply does not make sense any more.
How would your service feel without the chase?
Every restaurant owner knows how much attention the card machine takes during a busy shift.
At Vlachos Tavern, letting guests pay and split from their phones meant the team could stay with the tables instead.
