When Tamar Mizrahi started building Goddess and the Baker, she was not trying to follow the traditional restaurant playbook.
She was trying to build something that fit the way people actually wanted to eat.
Instead of formal dining rooms and long table service, Mizrahi envisioned a café-style concept centered around strong coffee, fresh food, and a casual guest experience. Breakfast, sandwiches, salads, and baked goods would anchor the menu. The environment would be fast-moving but still welcoming.
“I didn’t want servers constantly interrupting the meal,” Mizrahi said. “I wanted it to feel more casual.”
That philosophy helped shape what the brand would become.
Today, Goddess and the Baker operates seven locations across the Chicago area, with another opening soon just outside the city. What began as a simple café concept has grown into a recognizable local brand known for its bright dining rooms, creative menu items, and steady foot traffic.
But the growth did not happen overnight.
Like many restaurant operators, Mizrahi’s path into the business was shaped by experience, trial, and a lot of learning along the way. Before launching Goddess and the Baker, she had already spent years working in restaurants. Those early experiences taught her just how demanding the industry can be.
“There are a lot of mistakes early on,” she said. “You just have to pivot and keep moving.”
That ability to pivot has been critical as the company expanded. Moving from one location to several brings a different set of challenges than opening the first restaurant. Staffing, training, and operational consistency become more complex with each new location.
“You’re not really a small company anymore,” Mizrahi said. “But you’re not big enough yet to have all the infrastructure you want either.”
For operators in that middle stage of growth, building the right systems becomes just as important as the food on the menu.
Building the Systems Behind the Brand
As Goddess and the Baker expanded, Mizrahi focused heavily on creating operational systems that could support multiple locations.
Technology became a central part of that foundation.
Her team relies heavily on the tools provided by Toast to run daily operations. Ordering, reporting, integrations, and menu management all flow through the platform across locations.
But while the point-of-sale system powers the front end of the business, the infrastructure behind it is what keeps everything running smoothly.
Printers, network connections, routers, and hardware installations may not be visible to guests, but they are essential to keeping service moving. When those systems fail, operations slow down quickly.
That is where F3 became a key partner for Mizrahi’s team.
The relationship began several years ago during an early system installation. Over time, F3 became the group’s go-to resource for technology infrastructure across locations.
Today, they support the network setups, printer routing, hardware installs, and troubleshooting that keep the restaurants operating day to day.
For Mizrahi, the biggest benefit is familiarity.
“They know our business,” she said. “They know our network setup and how our printers are routed.”
That understanding makes a difference when something breaks or needs to be adjusted.
Instead of navigating a long support process, the team can reach someone who already understands the restaurant’s system. Often, the solution comes quickly.
Sometimes the difference is as simple as someone answering the phone.
For a multi-location operator managing hundreds of emails, employees, and guests every day, that responsiveness matters.
Focus on the Guest
Even as the brand grows, Mizrahi’s priorities remain simple.
Great food. A welcoming environment. And systems that allow the team to focus on guests instead of operational friction.
Running restaurants while raising a family and managing a growing company means the work rarely stops. Emails, staffing questions, and operational decisions can appear at any time of day.
“You’re always working,” Mizrahi said. “It’s hard to completely separate.”
Still, the mission behind Goddess and the Baker remains clear.
Build restaurants people enjoy visiting. Create an environment where the team can operate smoothly. And surround the business with partners who help support that growth.
In a business where small problems can quickly become big ones, having the right systems and the right partners behind the scenes can make all the difference.
National Restaurant Show 2026
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