Restaurant Owners Uncorked - By Schedulefly

Wil sits down in-person with Tim McLaughlin, technologist-turned-operator who founded GoTab after opening two Caboose breweries and confronting real service-model pain (giant spaces, staffing constraints). Years before COVID, Tim taped QRs to tables and proved guests will change behavior to avoid pain (lines), which pushed GoTab to build not just ordering but a deep KDS and, later, a POS when closed ecosystems (e.g., API roadblocks) blocked integrations. Today GoTab focuses on operations over payments, hybrid service (QR + handheld + kiosk), open integrations, and white-glove 24/7 support, while running lean and profitable (not “growth at any cost”). With Opsie for inventory/costing, expansion in higher-labor markets like Australia, and an operator-first pricing philosophy (inspired by Costco’s cap idea), Tim argues tech should feel invisible, amplify hospitality, and never replace it.10 Takeaways Pain drives adoption: guests embraced QR ordering in 2018 at Caboose Commons to skip long lines—two years before