Leslie Basalla-McCafferty is a small business owner, musician, and co-author of "Cleveland Beer: History and Revival in the Rust Belt." When not conducting guided tours of Cleveland's craft breweries, she enjoys urban exploration with her husband and two dogs, and digging into and sharing the area's hidden treasures.
A kitchen window, lined with handwritten paper order tickets, might be one of the first images that comes to mind when one is asked to visualize a restaurant, but—like virtually every other industry—the food service business is going increasingly paperless. Slim and agile touchscreen tablets have replaced clunky countertop computers as the point-of-service (POS) system of choice, and many are relying on technology for other aspects of service, from reservation management to food delivery.
Nowhere in Cleveland may this embrace of technology be more evident than Saucy Brew Works. The Ohio City brewery and pizzeria recently was one of three national "Toasty Award" winners named by Toast, the mobile, cloud-based POS system it uses to manage its day-to-day operations. Saucy Brew Works took home top honors in the "Masters of Technology" category.