When Chef Jakob Lutes opened Port City Royal, he wanted a place where creativity came first.
More than a restaurant, it became a workshop for exploring global flavours through a distinctly local lens. Eleven years later, that same spirit of innovation now extends beyond the kitchen and into the technology that powers daily operations.
“When we opened,” Jakob says, “the kitchen was my playground. I wanted to experiment, to mix cultures, to create something grounded but alive.” That vision never changed. The tech, though? It has aged. The old POS system, once solid, had turned into a slow-moving bottleneck.
Jakob isn’t a systems guy. He’s a chef. “I wanted something that worked as fast as we cook,” he says.
The Challenge
For years, Port City Royal relied on an older on-premise version of Maitre’D POS. It had served them well but was no longer supported.
That changed when Virtuo, the cloud-based evolution of Maitre’D, came into the picture. Jakob saw an opportunity to modernize without sacrificing the reliability and familiar workflow his team was used to. “I liked the idea that if there was an issue, there would be someone to reach out to,” he explains. “Not just to fix my issue, but to improve the product for everyone.”
The Solution
In February, during one of the slower periods of the year, Port City Royal began its migration to Virtuo’s cloud-based POS. The implementation team worked closely with Jakob to tailor the setup to his restaurant’s needs.
“There’s always a learning curve,” he admits. “But the transition was as smooth as you could get. Support was great. There was always someone to call.”
Once the system was live, the impact on daily operations was swift.
Immediate Benefits
Since adopting Virtuo, Port City Royal has streamlined its operations and gained new flexibility across the board.
For Jakob personally, the ability to manage operations remotely has been transformative.
“Now I can check my sales and do my paperwork from home. I don’t have to go to the POS anymore. That’s a big time-saver.”
Meanwhile, staff have embraced the new system after an initial learning curve, appreciating how intuitive Virtuo is once in use. With the upcoming integration of PayFacto terminals, Jakob expects even greater time savings and smoother transactions.
Together, these improvements have transformed how Port City Royal operates day to day. The results speak for themselves:
- Remote management: Jakob can now review sales, reports, and paperwork from home or anywhere, saving hours each week.
- Increased reliability: No more POS crashes or downtime, thanks to Virtuo’s secure cloud infrastructure.
- Staff adoption: After initial training, servers adapted quickly and now find the POS easy to use.
- Reduced support load: Early issues were resolved swiftly, and support requests have dropped since full deployment.
- High satisfaction: Jakob rates Virtuo 8 to 9 out of 10, citing flexibility, reliability and responsive support.
The Next Milestone: Full Payment Integration
Now that Jakob has opted for PayFacto payment terminals, he will be able to benefit from full integration between Virtuo and payments.
“That’s where the real savings are,” Jakob notes. “Right now, the POS and terminals don’t talk. Once they do, we’ll gain serious efficiency.”
Jakob is also looking forward to upcoming Virtuo updates, including digital gift certificate tracking, an interactive floor plan and other tools designed to simplify daily management.
About Virtuo
Virtuo is the next generation of Maitre’D POS, a cloud-based solution designed by PayFacto for restaurant operators who want modern flexibility with proven reliability. Following its pilot rollout, Virtuo POS will soon be widely available to restaurant operators throughout Canada.
Jakob calls Virtuo the natural next step for modern hospitality. “It’s exactly where POS technology should be,” he says. “Smart, flexible, reliable. It’s changed how we work for the better. I’d tell any restaurant owner: go for it!”
