How Stefani’s Bottega Italiana Is Elevating Hospitality in Chicago
Stefani Restaurant Group, a cornerstone of Chicago’s hospitality scene since 1980, is renowned for blending authentic Italian cuisine with modern dining trends. In January 2024, they launched their newest concept, Stefani’s Bottega Italiana.
Overview
Stefani Restaurant Group, a cornerstone of Chicago’s hospitality scene since 1980, is renowned for blending authentic Italian cuisine with modern dining trends. In January 2024, they launched their newest concept, Stefani’s Bottega Italiana.
The Bottega represents a significant milestone for the group, offering a permanent home for its beloved pasta-making operation and bringing authentic Italian dishes to the community in a quick-service format. With a 40-seat dining room, a retail area featuring imported Italian goods, and a menu of sandwiches, Roman-style pizza, and handmade pasta, the Bottega is both a culinary destination and a local staple.
Situation
When planning the Bottega’s debut, Stefani Restaurant Group faced the challenge of creating an efficient and flexible operation to support their ambitious concept. The new location not only serves as a dining and retail space but also as a hub for pasta production, catering, and coordinating with other restaurants in their portfolio.
The team needed a technology solution capable of handling diverse sales channels, including dine-in, retail, and a heavy catering program. With high expectations for personalized service, seamless online ordering, and intuitive workflows for staff, the POS system had to support every facet of the operation. They also sought tools to manage different service zones, streamline payments to vendors, and ensure staff could easily adapt to the new system.
Solution
From the moment the doors opened, GoTab was fully integrated into Stefani’s Bottega Italiana, enabling the team to execute their vision with precision and ease. The stationary POS at the counter provides a reliable foundation for dine-in and retail transactions, while handheld POS devices add flexibility, allowing staff to offer personalized service by walking guests through various sections of the restaurant.
The online ordering system, which supports both first-party orders and third-party aggregation, bolstered the catering operation by simplifying order processing for customers and staff alike. Automatic remittances for fundraisers and special events eliminated backend complexities, and GoTab’s backend manager app makes managing service zones intuitive and efficient.
“The backend manager app has been a game-changer for us,” said Luka Ilić, Director, Strategic Operations. “It keeps everything running smoothly, whether we’re coordinating catering orders or managing in-house zones.”
These tools empowered the team to concentrate on what they do best: delivering exceptional Italian cuisine and a welcoming guest experience. GoTab’s technology works seamlessly in the background, streamlining logistics while enhancing front-of-house interactions.
Situated “in the heart of it all, yet tranquil enough to make you feel away from it all too,” The Limelight Hotel Snowmass offers 99 hotel rooms and 11 residences, as well as footsteps-to-gondola access in winter and summer — right in the middle of Snowmass Base Village.
The Situation
Especially over the last few years, the Limelight Hotels IT team had witnessed a significant shift to contactless technology in the hospitality industry. After evaluating friction points in the guest journey, aligning with modern technology platforms in their restaurant was determined to be an effective way to offer elevated contactless dining experiences to their guests while also evolving their technology platforms to continue to support long-term company goals. Limelight Hotel partnered with GoTab to provide an enhanced on-demand dining experience on par with the brand’s reputation for exceptional guest service.
The Solution
Reducing Staff Touch Points Without Sacrificing Guest Experience
Guests are now able to begin a tab from their room or the property’s restaurant by scanning a QR code, texting a link to friends or family members on the ski slope to add in their orders, then meeting up together at the patio or lodge to enjoy their meal and après ski festivities without interruption. By streamlining tasks like inputting orders and processing payments, this eliminates friction for hotel staff and allows them to focus on delivering renowned guest service for a memorable experience. Since partnering with GoTab, Limelight Snowmass has consistently seen higher check averages and sales.
“We found the Point of Sale platforms we were looking at offered the guest and staff limited opportunities to further reduce touch points or improve the traditional restaurant experience. The GoTab platform enabled the guest to take an active role over the flow of their experience while simultaneously reducing touch points and further streamlining restaurant operations.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group
According to the Limelight Hotels team, some of the other platforms that were evaluated were either missing some of the pieces they were looking for, had weak customer support models, or had little willingness to develop integrations to existing hotel platforms already in place. To that end, GoTab integrated with cloud-based platform, Infor. Together, GoTab and Infor are providing dynamic solutions to support central, efficient service across hotel amenities and deliver exceptional guest experiences.
“Previously, guests would call down to the restaurant to begin an order from their room or while they were out enjoying the ski slopes. Using GoTab, guests can now place orders from anywhere on the resort, giving them the on-demand service they want without interrupting their day. GoTab empowers us to give control to the guest, reducing touch points and streamlining overall restaurant operations, making Limelight Hotel the resort of choice for Snowmass.”Nick Giglio, Manager of Hotel IT Operations, The Little Nell Hotel Group
Since introducing GoTab, The Limelight Hotel has seen a consistent level of upsells and items sold per check resulting in additional revenue capture. They have been able to maintain service levels in their restaurants during periods when there was reduced staffing available without significantly diminishing the guest experience.
The Benefits
Eliminate Phone Orders – Take Orders from the Slopes. Guests can start a tab from their room or on the mountain without interrupting the flow of their day.
Future-Proofed Technologies – Delivering elevated contactless ordering via integration with the Infor hotel management platform.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
Eliminating Friction in the Guest Journey – Maintaining service levels during periods of reduced staff without diminishing the guest experience.
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