How Silvio's never misses an order with the Flipdish AI phone agent Silvio's

About Silvio's

Silvio's is a family business in the truest sense. Founded by an Italian family who immigrated to Ireland, it has been trading for over 40 years and is now run by the third generation, people who grew up working in the shops. Today there are three locations, in Templeogue, on the seafront in Bray and in Clondalkin.

It started as a traditional fish and chip shop, and that heritage is still at the core of the menu. Over the years the family expanded the offering to include pizza, made with homemade dough and Irish products, along with desserts. The result is a takeaway that blends Italian roots with Irish chipper tradition, and a name that generations of local customers have grown up with.

The challenge

Like every hospitality business, Silvio's has been navigating real cost pressures in recent years, from rising overheads to oil prices, with a reduction in the hospitality VAT rate a welcome bit of relief. In that environment, every inefficiency counts.

The biggest one was the phone. Calls surged in tight windows right before the lunch and dinner rushes, exactly when the kitchen was busiest. Lines got jammed, calls went unanswered, and customers who could not get through often simply gave up rather than leave a message or try again later. Every missed call was a missed order.

"Before the AI Phone Agent, calls would come in all at once before lunch or dinner and some customers would simply give up if we could not answer quickly."
Jessica Borza, Silvio's Food Company

It also had a staffing cost. During busy seasons, Silvio's had to bring in a dedicated staff member whose entire job was answering the phone and taking orders. The rest of the time, team members were pulled away from food prep and service to run to the phone. And before Flipdish, the whole operation ran on pen and paper, right down to manually counting orders at the end of every night.

The solution

The centrepiece of Silvio's setup is the Flipdish AI phone agent. It answers every call instantly, so there are no wait times and no missed orders, even when several customers ring at once during peak periods. Orders flow straight through to the system rather than being scribbled down by hand. Tellingly, some customers could not even tell they were speaking to an AI, and those who prefer a human can still be transferred to a staff member.

The rollout was a genuine collaboration. A few early order-accuracy issues, where the AI misread certain menu items, were audited and fixed quickly with the Flipdish team, and customers have steadily adapted to the new way of ordering.

Around the AI phone agent, Silvio's runs the wider Flipdish platform. Online ordering and the POS handle inbound orders across all three sites, replacing the old pen-and-paper process with real visibility and control. A loyalty scheme rewards regulars with a free order periodically, which has gone down well. And unlike third-party marketplaces such as Just Eat or Uber Eats, where the customer data stays with the platform, Flipdish keeps that relationship and that data with Silvio's. The family looked at other providers before choosing Flipdish and stayed for the overall offering, the flexibility, and support that is responsive around the clock.

The results

The impact has been felt across the business. With the phones handled automatically, staff no longer drop what they are doing to answer calls or key in orders by hand, freeing them to focus on preparing food and looking after customers. The dedicated seasonal phone hire is no longer needed, which makes the AI agent genuinely cost-effective. Faster service and freed-up kitchen staff have contributed to higher revenue.

"Now those calls are answered straight away, orders can be taken without staff running to the phone, and our team can stay focused on preparing food and serving customers. It has helped us handle busy periods more efficiently and capture orders we might otherwise have missed."
Jessica Borza, Silvio's Food Company

For a business watching every cost, that combination of spending less while handling more orders is the whole point. Importantly, the team sees the technology as freeing people up for meaningful work rather than replacing them, and after an initial adjustment, staff have responded positively.

The road ahead

Silvio's is not done. The family is keen to keep going, with interest in more personalised customer features, richer loyalty and rewards, and deeper feedback and analytics. As long as new technology continues to minimise cost and time, Silvio's is open to adopting more of it, carrying a 40-year family tradition into its next generation with the tools to match.

Ready to grow your restaurant? Get in touch with Flipdish.