PilloSitio

Pablo Lorenzo wanted to fix one problem in hospitality. Every bar, restaurant, pub, club or café pays for one app for bookings, another for the menu, another for payments and another for delivery. And the staff jump from one to the next.

His idea: one provider for everything, for an affordable fee.

We suggested starting with an MVP. Something small, to test the waters. He said no.

He wanted it all. A brand from scratch. Two apps, one for guests and one for the venue. On iOS, Android, web, macOS and Windows.

For guests: scan the table's QR code, browse the menu, order and pay from your phone. In a group, you all add to the same basket and everyone pays their share. Push tables together and the app follows. And table ordering only works inside the venue, because there's always some joker who'd order a round from home.

They can book the usual way or on the spot: say what they're after and grab a free table for a few minutes' time. And if it's full, onto the waiting list. Can't be bothered to go out? Order delivery or takeaway from the same app, with no Glovo, and no Glovo fees, in between.

And for the venue: a table map that shows at a glance which tables are free, taken or booked, bar and kitchen order screens, invoices, end-of-day reports for the accountant, delivery and takeaway, discounts and its own listing. Payments go straight to each venue. And everything is configurable: the app adapts to the way you work, not the other way round.

We thought he'd lost his mind. Almost three years later, we'll admit he was right: it makes complete sense.

It's been in the stores for two months and six bars and restaurants already use it. The first was Break in Talavera, where we ran the pilot.

And we're still with him: we maintain the apps and keep shipping new versions. It's a startup, and it hasn't stopped growing.