As founder Marc Summers climbed the hospitality ladder—working at groundbreaking restaurants like The Palomar and Berber & Q—he observed a recurring theme in customer feedback: vegetable-centric dishes consistently stole the show. This insight inspired Marc to create Bubala, and from day one, he leveraged Lightspeed to support his vision from day one.

Bubala began as a pop-up, aiming to shift the focus from the growing trend of processed meat alternatives to the natural, simple, and beautiful flavours of vegetables. Diners responded enthusiastically to the food, and as Bubala's success grew, Marc recognised that opening a bricks-and-mortar location was the natural next step.

In 2019, Bubala opened its first restaurant next to the iconic Spitalfields Market, enabling Marc to deliver exceptional food and outstanding service—key elements that define Bubala today.

Marc’s journey with Lightspeed began while he was in his previous role as a general manager, where he discovered its power to support seamless kitchen operations and enhance customer experiences. So, when it came time to pursue his own culinary visions, sticking with a trusted ePOS was the obvious choice.

Raj Markandoo, Operations Manager for Bubala, explained that the team were “inspired to implement Lightspeed as their ePOS system from the very beginning, because the user-interface is easy and accessible, and it’s not complicated to build new items, pull reports, or train employees.”

“There are other ePOS providers out there which can be quite clunky or haven't been updated in a while. And in a market that’s always so competitive in terms of technology, Lightspeed is able to stay ahead-and that’s really important for us,” Raj added.

Bubala is more than just a restaurant serving remarkable dishes; they believe that the perfect blend of quality food, outstanding service, and a welcoming ambience is key to keeping customers coming back.

Raj emphasised that Bubala’s core principles focus on putting people first-which goes for both guests and employees-for a smooth and satisfying service. Achieving this harmony requires seamless collaboration between their front-of-house and back-office teams, working together like a well-oiled machine.

Raj explained how Lightspeed supports this ease of service, “my favourite feature is the user-friendliness of it. You can change or create new items on a mobile phone if you’re busy and on-the-go. There’s no waiting or pushing through updates on external systems, you can do everything from your restaurant.”

“It’s so easy to change and alter menu options, which is so important in such a fast-paced environment,” Raj continued.

With the incremental upgrade of Lightspeed Restaurant, the latest version provided Bubala with more tools and features to streamline their service and better tailor to individual customer needs, with support readily available.

“The upgrade meant we were offered a new system, and the support we had from Lightspeed has been super helpful. They were able to troubleshoot any queries or questions and offered solutions that we could implement and adapt into the business, making the switch absolutely effortless” added Raj.

When asked to sum up his current experience with Lightspeed, Raj highlighted its convenience, describing it as "completely easy to use."

At the end of 2023, Bubala made the decision to switch to Lightspeed Payments, “in order to prevent any kind of discrepancies in terms of void payments as well as payments not going through due to human error,” Raj explained.

Raj highlighted how the switch directly helped Bubala’s revenue, “previously we would be losing revenue from human error or payments not going through. There might be once or twice a week where a payment would be missed which was about £200 to £300 every time.”

“But with Lightspeed’s integrated payment system a table won't close unless the payment comes through, bringing a lot more security to our revenue,” Raj said.

By integrating their payment system with their ePOS, Bubala has not only achieved greater financial security but also streamlined their service. “Lightspeed Payments has sped up our service. Now, a waiter doesn’t need to go over to the iPad and close off the table. They can take payment and go straight to serving the next guest, saving the business time and money,” Raj said.

Raj went on to explain that “with integrated payments there’s no pulling reports, reconciling card machines against sales, or entering a cash-up sheet at the end of each night. It’s super easy and fast having integrated payments. The whole process is optimised in the best way possible.”