How a franchise kept seasonal menus on track after losing their only IT resource
Seamless emergency onboarding with zero disruption to operations
Seasonal LTO menu launched just one week late despite crisis
Franchise owners empowered with 24/7 direct support access
The Challenge: One IT person held the keys to everything — and then was suddenly gone
Famous Toastery is a franchise breakfast, brunch, and lunch concept with 22 locations. With a lean corporate team of just 6 people, Famous Toastery relied on a single IT person to manage everything: Toast POS, Paytronix, 7Shifts, internet, Wi-Fi, email, etc. He kept things close to the chest to stay organized and for a while it worked.
Until one weekend, he was suddenly and unexpectedly gone. At the worst possible time: a new franchise location was days away from migrating to Toast POS, the seasonal LTO menu had already been marketed on social media with photo shoots complete, and there was no one else who knew how to manage the back end. The team was in a state of panic.
As VP of Culture, Kellyann Higgins oversees people development, culinary, and seasonal menu rollouts across all locations so she was tasked with finding a solution.
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A franchise breakfast, brunch, and lunch concept based in North Carolina. With 22 locations (7 corporate, 15 franchise), a lean six-person corporate operations team, and a create-your-own menu model with complex modifiers, Famous Toastery thrives on seasonal LTO menus and franchisee autonomy.
The Solution: Immediate, weekend support from restaurant tech experts
Kellyann had a friend at MOOYAH, a Science On Call client, who was always raving about their service so that Saturday morning, she gave them a call. Within a couple of hours, the SOC team was hard at work.
Even with Famous Toastery's complex create-your-own menu and its many modifiers, SOC built the menu for the restaurant launching Toast that weekend. The restaurant launched on schedule and the seasonal LTO menu launched just one week later at all locations—built entirely by the Science on Call.
Beyond the emergency, SOC has become the ongoing support backbone for Famous Toastery. Franchise owners, managers, and servers can now reach help 24/7 via QR code, text, call, or email—a level of accessibility the previous IT person never offered. Routine requests like price changes no longer funnel through corporate, and issues are only escalated when they truly need leadership attention.
"The fact that someone could just jump in and barely miss a beat is priceless. You can't put a price on it. They are restaurant folks. They understand the industry, they understand your needs and make an impact quickly."
- Kellyann Higgins, VP of Culture, Famous Toastery
"The fact that someone could just jump in and barely miss a beat is priceless. You can't put a price on it. They are restaurant folks. They understand the industry, they understand your needs and make an impact quickly." - Kellyann Higgins, VP of Culture, Famous Toastery
By the Numbers
1 week from emergency to seasonal LTO menu launch
1 week from emergency to seasonal LTO menu launch
Overall reduction in IT support spending of 40%
Empowered teams, calmer operations
With Science On Call, Famous Toastery's franchise owners feel like a priority. Walter, a franchise owner in Mooresville, told Kellyann how excited he was about the direct access: no more waiting for a single IT person to get back to him. Another franchisee who had been hesitant to open a second location specifically due to limited IT support is now moving forward with confidence.
The team also learns as they go. SOC shares screens, sends screenshots with step-by-step instructions, and teaches the team how to handle routine issues themselves, building capability while providing support.
“I feel like a priority. They make you feel like you’re the most important person they’re dealing with right now, and that builds trust.”
Moving Forward…
Famous Toastery is planning a major menu overhaul for the second half of the year, on top of their regular quarterly LTO rotations. With franchise owners who have the autonomy to create their own specials and coastal locations that need region-specific menus, the Science Menu subscription keeps everything moving without bottlenecks.
The previous model (one IT person managing everything) was always a single point of failure. Science On Call replaced that fragility with a team that understands hospitality, responds with urgency, and scales with the brand.