Costa Alexandrou grew up in the restaurant business. His father started Nick's Place in Whitman, Massachusetts, 40 years ago - and raised three sons to run it alongside him. Today, Costa oversees 11 locations across Massachusetts and New Hampshire, with plans to open more.
But for decades, one thing never changed: the phones were a nightmare.
Anyone who's worked in a busy restaurant knows the feeling: phones ringing off the hook during a Friday night rush, customers lined up at the counter, tickets flying in from online orders and delivery drivers, and someone in the back yelling that you're about to run out of salad.
At Nick's Place, they had a name for it.
"We used to call it organized chaos. Nick's Place chaos."
Costa remembers what it was like growing up in the original location - three brothers answering phones on landlines during the dinner rush, punching in numbers, shouting over the noise. It worked, but it came at a cost.
"We used to dread answering the phones on a busy Friday night. Those old phones that would ring, ring, ring, ring. Press the numbers in - 'Hello, Nick's, pick up or delivery?' - and we'd be having to take the order, noise in the background, a lot of stuff going on."
As Nick's Place expanded to 11 locations, the phone problem scaled with it. Every location needed someone to answer calls. Every busy shift meant pulling a team member off the floor. And after COVID, finding and keeping staff to fill that role became even harder.
"It's been hard to find people to come in and to keep long-term. You have to have somebody on your staff, train that person - never mind you got 100 things going on in the store."
Costa paints the picture vividly: roast beef going on the slicer, pizzas coming out of the oven, tickets stacking up on the screen, delivery drivers coming in and out, DoorDash pickups lining up - and on top of it all, the phone ringing.
The stress wasn't just operational. It was personal. When Costa is 45 minutes away from one of his locations, he can't hop in to cover the phones. He needed every call answered without being there.
Costa first turned on Loman at his New Market, New Hampshire location about a year and a half ago. He still remembers the moment it clicked.
"I'll never forget - the first order that it brought in was a chicken marsala dinner. And it was like the heavens had opened up. All these years of aggravation and all these years of stress and anxiety - not that we don't have that in the restaurant industry, that comes hand in hand, that knocks on your door every day. But with Loman, we've eliminated that extra stress and anxiety during the most stressful times of the day."
With Loman handling inbound phone orders, Costa and his staff could finally focus on what they do best: making great food and taking care of the customers standing right in front of them.
"I can go in the back if I have to. I don't have to worry about answering a pickup order. I go on the grill, I go help relieve the guy on the pizza station and cut the pizzas on the pizza bench. I can do that now because Loman AI is answering the phones. I can literally be in more places than I could ever be before in my restaurant."
The impact on daily operations was immediate. Before Loman, figuring out evening staffing was a constant source of tension - who's covering the phones tonight? That question doesn't come up anymore.
"We have our morning crew and our afternoon crew, and we don't even ask anymore who's coming in at night for the night shift, because we're not worried - because Loman AI answers the phones. And that was a big stress of our day."
Costa doesn't mince words about the financial impact. He estimates Loman prevents at least $100 a day in lost revenue from missed calls - or roughly $1,000 a week per location. At 11 locations with plans for more, those numbers add up fast.
But for Costa, the real value goes beyond the dollars.
"You could sit all day and do numbers in the restaurant business. But I think you mostly have to focus on number one, the quality of food, and the customer service. And Loman AI has helped us not lose calls, not ever say no to a customer. And I think that alone is priceless."
Loman hasn't just changed how Nick's Place operates - it's changed how Costa thinks about growth. When asked about future expansion plans, his answer is direct: "10 more with Loman."
"Loman's that extra hand nowadays. You're able to focus on the kitchen - the orders coming in, the online ordering - and now we eliminated the phones."
And there's a human side to the story too. The constant friction of a ringing phone during peak service didn't just stress operations - it strained relationships between the people working the line together.
"This phone system, we couldn't even figure out originally when we first opened how to even put it on hold. So they were listening to us all yell at each other. But that's what we do - we get it done. But Loman definitely mended relationships too."
Today, Costa considers Loman a full member of the Nick's Place team - not a piece of technology, but the reliable teammate who shows up every shift, handles every call, and never needs a day off.
"I think Loman has become part of that core team. The whole Nick's Place team really appreciates what Loman does for them. And I think that alone is priceless."
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