Samina Raza is the owner and operator of Mrs. Robinson’s Restaurant and Café Frieda in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg. Mrs. Robinson’s opened in 2016 and Café Frieda opened in the summer of 2021. Both restaurants are known for their commitment to sourcing high-quality produce and their selection of natural wines.
For Samina, using Formitable as their booking system is a no-brainer. She tells us why.
Ditching the old-school phone book for a digital platform to save time
Our work is to provide amazing hospitality for our guests and to work with excellent produce. We work to build strong relationships with farmers, artisans, and people who do really good work close to home but also across Europe. My journey with booking systems began in an analog way when we first opened Mrs. Robinson’s. I would walk around with a book writing down people’s phone numbers and names, and I only took reservations over the phone. I quickly realized that it wasn’t appropriate for our digital age and that it would save me a lot of time if I could find the right system.”
Collecting guests' data made easy
Before we started using Formitable, the problem I often came across is that booking systems would claim to match guests with their data, but it was very inconsistent. The software wouldn’t pick up on guests that I personally knew had visited the restaurant multiple times. It’s a shame because one of the cornerstones of our community here at Frieda and at Mrs. Robinson’s are our regulars. They really are the people that make what we do worth it, it makes a huge difference to staff. They know our stories, we know their stories. Being able to recognize them, to give them that extra warm hello, and offer them a glass of bubbles when they walk in the door—that is the soul of hospitality. That was such a challenge before and now, it’s a no-brainer. Even if a person uses a different name, a different email, the system will pick it up and that’s super helpful.”
An easy-to-use platform for both the guest and the restaurant
There are several benefits to working with Formitable. Guests can book really easily in a nice-looking way. From the beginning, when they start to book, it’s very simple. On our side, the benefits come from the integration: every element I had in previous booking systems is there but it’s better integrated and easier to use.”
Messaging guests
The feature I like the most is the messaging function which allows me to communicate with the guests. It’s super helpful. It’s very easy to personalize messages and they’re exchanged very quickly.”
Formitable works seamlessly in the background
If you’re using Formitable for the first time, you would think that all booking systems work this way because it’s easy to use but I know it’s different because I’ve worked with other systems in the past that were much more challenging. The main benefit of a good booking system is that you don’t need to think about it. You don’t see it. It’s just there in the background and supports you to do your work in a way that is seamless. In general, I think that people don’t want to leave their current booking system which I understand, but the competition isn’t that good. Formitable is much better than the competition.”
About Café Frieda
| @cafe_frieda | |
| Location | Berlin, Germany |
| Website | www.cafefrieda.de |
