The Land of Misfits with Don Pirone

In the 20 years that Don Pirone has worked in restaurants, he has learned that the hospitality industry is a numbers game. For all memorable experiences and community ties, if your bar or restaurant isn’t making money, it’s not long for the industry. You can’t pay the bills with good times.

Don, SpotOn Team Lead based in Atlanta, knows this firsthand. At 14, he got his first restaurant job bussing tables to make money. He worked at a pizza restaurant with a beer and wine license that seemed like the pinnacle of luxury at the time. Clearing downed Bud Light bottles and empty glasses of the house red, Don came away with a positive impression of the hospitality industry that he carried with him through college.

Whether bartending, working the front-of-house, or eventually getting into management and becoming Beverage Director, Don sees the hospitality industry clearly but doesn’t lose hope. “I realized the pros and cons of owning and operating a restaurant. The pros list is pretty short,” says Don, “and the cons list is really long.” While there are easier ways to make money, few industries sparked the passion and brought fun like restaurants, so Don stuck around the “land of misfits,” as he calls it. 

“I tell people all the time: you're not going to save your way to profitability. I'm here to make you money, not offer you a cheaper solution. SpotOn is a better solution.”

As Beverage Director, Don became acquainted with the unwieldy world of restaurant costs. He worked for a restaurant group that included both high-end and family restaurants. Don’s challenge was to cater to all tastes—and coach his staff on how to do the same. He motivated his staff to sell items that would make the guests happy and benefit the restaurant’s bottom line. 

For all the time spent grounded in product mix and inventory, missing dishwashers and packed tables would bring Don back into the day-to-day operations orbit. Amid the stress, there was community. Don spent many late nights decompressing with his team at nearby industry bars, forging bonds that he’s kept alive to this day.

It was one of those spots, Burle’s Bar, would eventually become a SpotOn client of Don’s. Through shrewd, albeit beer-complemented, observation, Don saw how a handheld POS system and bar POS system with a customer-facing display for their satellite bar would help them take advantage of guest volume and reap bigger profits. 

Andrew Selvagn, the Beverage Director at Burle’s Bar, is an industry veteran who, like Don, knows the grit required to survive the hospitality industry. Per Selvagn, there’s often a tension between the work that gives you purpose and the work that pays the bills, particularly medical ones. “Between the business we’re doing now and the cost savings on credit card fees, it’s freed up money for us to offer health insurance for our staff,” says Selvagn. 

Selvagn sees a direct line between his staff’s quality of life and the bar’s. “I think it will create a much better long-term team dynamic. I want my staff to treat this as an actual career, and not just an interim job to pay the bills.” 

For Don, Burle’s Bar has been the most meaningful deal during his tenure at SpotOn. When a team member broke his leg, he saw how the Giving Kitchen provided essential financial support. To be a small part of a safeguard against that scenario has warmed the cockles of Don’s restaurant veteran heart. As it turns out, the benefits of working in a restaurant can be long-lasting and tangible. That’s the opposite of shots of Fernet at neighborhood dive bars, but it’s worth something.