Independent restaurants are no longer just competing with the pizza shop down the street.
They’re competing with national brands that have seamless online ordering, polished mobile apps, and digital experiences customers have come to expect. For many operators, the challenge isn’t making better food. It’s delivering the same convenience without sacrificing hospitality.
For Jeff Kopple, co-owner of Sicilian Pizza and Pasta in downtown Louisville, technology has become one of the biggest reasons his independent restaurant continues to thrive after more than 15 years in business.
From Paper Tickets to Digital Ordering
When Kopple and his brother opened Sicilian Pizza and Pasta in 2009, taking orders meant answering the phone, writing tickets by hand, and hoping nothing got lost before it reached the kitchen.
Looking back, he says investing in a modern point-of-sale system sooner would have changed everything.
“We were using an old school cash register,” Kopple said. “Taking orders over the phone, writing them on paper and tickets, and passing them to the back. Tickets getting lost, anything you could think of going wrong.”
As online ordering became more important, the technology still created headaches. Setting up menus with hundreds of pizza modifiers took weeks, and the platform they relied on frequently crashed.
That changed after switching to ChowNow.
Kopple says the onboarding process took less than a week, and customers immediately noticed the difference.
“They have come in with their pickup orders and said, ‘Oh my gosh, it is night and day difference to what it used to be.'”
Creating Direct Relationships
Like many independent operators, Kopple resisted third-party delivery apps because of the fees.
Eventually, he realized customers expected to find restaurants wherever they preferred to order.
“You have to be on all the platforms,” he said.
Instead of viewing third-party ordering as the finish line, he uses it as an introduction.
Every pickup order includes a ChowNow card encouraging guests to order directly next time, where prices are lower and the restaurant keeps more of the sale.
For Kopple, the goal isn’t choosing between marketplaces and direct ordering. It’s using both to build lasting customer relationships while improving profitability.
Partnerships That Support Hospitality
Technology isn’t the only partnership Kopple credits for helping his business grow.
After briefly leaving Pepsi for another beverage supplier, he says the difference became obvious.
Whether it was solving delivery issues, providing promotional support, supplying pizza delivery bags, or simply being available when problems arose, Pepsi became the kind of operational partner every restaurant hopes to find.
“They have been awesome,” Kopple said. “Any time there’s an issue, you can reach out to your rep. You’re getting awesome customer service that is second to none.”
He’s now looking to expand that partnership even further by taking advantage of Pepsi’s Digital Labs resources alongside ChowNow as his catering business continues to grow.
Hospitality Still Comes First
Despite all the technology, Kopple believes the reason Sicilian Pizza and Pasta has survived while so many neighboring restaurants have disappeared has very little to do with software.
Some employees have been with the restaurant since opening day in 2009. Regular customers stop in not only for pizza, but for conversations about basketball, investing, family, and life.
“It’s not just coming in and making the pizza and getting them out the door,” Kopple said. “There’s a lot of people that come in, and we’ll have conversations.”
Technology makes ordering easier. Vendor partnerships make operations stronger.
But for Kopple, those tools only matter because they create more opportunities to do what independent restaurants have always done best: build relationships that keep customers coming back.
