Cacciari's: Thirteen years, five restaurants, and the pasta London keeps coming back for
In 2008, Stefano opened a single Italian restaurant in South Kensington. Today, Cacciari's runs five London sites (with a sixth on the way) built on a simple promise: excellent pasta and pizza, proper service, and a fair price. Behind the scenes, that promise is held together by an ePOS system the team has trusted since the beginning. Operations Manager Tiziano Quattrociocchi has been with Cacciari's since 2012 and has watched both the restaurant group and its technology grow up together. Here's their story.
From one dining room to five, one decade at a time
Cacciari's story started small and stayed patient. Founder Stefano Cacciari opened the first restaurant in South Kensington in 2008; a second site followed in 2013, a third in Notting Hill in 2020, and two more in quick succession since. Tiziano joined the business in 2012 and has watched nearly the whole arc unfold from the inside.
“The biggest success was to open five restaurants,” he says. “The first one was opened in 2008, and then we opened the second in 2013,and then the third one in 2020. As you can see, the trouble with having two restaurants was challenging, and we consolidated. Now we're growing fast, so we've had to create a good structure.”
Apple-friendly, staff-friendly, and built to grow with them
When Cacciari's went looking for a new system, ease of use mattered more than anything else. “Stefano remained with Lightspeed because it was Apple-friendly at the time — everything he had was Apple, so it was pretty straightforward,” Tiziano explains.
"[Payments] gets us more tips. The staff is happy because with the function, you get a chance to receive more. We have one site that earns a lot more in tips than before."
Tiziano Quattrociocchi, General ManagerMore tips for the team, fewer headaches at the till
Since rolling out Lightspeed Payments, Cacciari's has noticed a direct, tangible benefit for its front-of-house staff: bigger tips.
“It gets us more tips,” Tiziano says. “The staff is happy because with the function, you get a chance to get more. We have one site that does a lot more in tips than before.” Payments also replaced an older setup that caused friction: on the previous integration, staff could only refund an entire bill rather than a single item, which led to mistaken refunds and confusion on the floor.
Steady through Covid, thanks to a bet made years earlier
Cacciari's toughest test came in 2020. “The worst part was when Covid hit,” Tiziano recalls. “But because we were strong on Deliveroo, we survived.” The business had built a strong delivery presence well before lockdown. Today, Lightspeed’s integration with Deliveroo helps bring delivery orders directly into the ePOS, making it easier to manage them alongside the rest of the restaurant’s operations.
That early bet meant Cacciari's didn't have to let anyone go. “We didn't have to fire anyone,” Tiziano says. “The whole team was put on furlough, and the managers were doing packaging for Deliveroo.” It's a detail he comes back to when asked what he’s proudest of: not just that the business survived, but how it treated its people while doing so.
That same integration keeps paying off day to day. When a delivery connection issue came up recently, it wasn't automation that solved it, it was a person. “The customer service [at Lightspeed] is very good,” Tiziano says. “We solve many problems that way.”
A kitchen that wastes almost nothing
Cacciari's sources meat and fish fresh from the market rather than pre-cut, and builds its menu around using every part of what it buys. Tuna trim that would once have been discarded now becomes a tartare; the same principle applies across the kitchen.
“We try to reduce everything as wastage,” Tiziano explains. “We don't waste much because we tailor the menu to use what we buy. We take the tuna and slice the fillet, and the waste of the tuna becomes the tartare. We do this with salmon too.” Combined with imported Italian staples and careful sourcing, it's a model that keeps margins healthy without cutting corners on quality.
What's next for hospitality, and for Cacciari's
Asked where the industry is heading, Tiziano points to staffing as the defining challenge of the next few years. “The people that are very passionate about hospitality are very low,” he says.
For now, growth continues at Cacciari's own pace. A sixth site is already in the works, and Tiziano hints at ambitions beyond London. “Maybe some more restaurants for sure. Who knows, maybe one day we can also become international.”
Cacciari's uses Lightspeed Restaurant and Lightspeed Payments to run five London sites, with a sixth on the way.
