A Lifetime in the Kitchen

For Steve, running a restaurant isn’t just a job — it’s in his blood. He grew up working in his parents’ Japanese restaurant, cooking and washing dishes as young as age nine. That foundation shaped his work ethic and love for the kitchen, eventually leading him to launch his own food truck, and later, a full-fledged restaurant: Chanko, located in Tampa, Florida.
‍

A Staff Shortage He Couldn’t Fix from the Kitchen

Chanko grew quickly, with Steve managing a large kitchen team of 12 cooks. But the front of house — where three staff members handled all the ordering — became the restaurant’s pressure point. When a FOH employee called out sick or didn’t show, it wasn’t easy to adapt.

‍

"Flash Order kiosks are reliable. We used to have one employee go down and we were in crisis to find someone to take orders. Now we never have that issue."

‍

Even though Steve could step in for kitchen roles, covering the front wasn’t sustainable. His wife often had to come in and help — sacrificing her own time and plans to keep things running.

‍

‍

Technology That Changed Everything

When Steve brought in Flash Order kiosks, the shift was immediate. The front-of-house workload was offloaded to the kiosks, and reliability skyrocketed.

‍

"Kiosks save me $100,000 per year.”

‍

With no more scrambling to cover shifts and more consistency in order-taking, Steve finally had room to breathe — and so did his wife.

‍

"Flash Order has made it so my wife can retire.”

‍

‍

More Freedom, More Focus

Today, Steve gets to do what he loves most: focus on the kitchen and his team. With the kiosk system handling the customer interface, the restaurant runs smoother, more efficiently, and more profitably.

‍

Flash Order didn’t just save labor — it gave Steve and his wife their time back.

‍