How Boardwalk Pizza Captured $70,000+ in Orders and Freed 195 Hours of Staff Time with Certus AI

"The most important thing is just keeping me off the phone so I don't have to run to it every time it rings. On very slow days, I'm there by myself — answering the phone and trying to make a pizza at the same time." 

Virgil Avanzado · Owner, Boardwalk Pizza

Before Certus AI 

Boardwalk Pizza has been open for 12 years — built from scratch by Virgil Avanzado, who at one point was making the dough, managing the staff, and running to the phone all at once. The restaurant runs three lines and up to five cashiers on a busy Friday or Saturday night. And still, calls slipped through. 

On a slow day, one or two calls went unanswered. On a good Friday? Virgil estimated ten to fifteen lost calls — each one a missed order at a $40 average. That's $20,000 a year walking out the door. And that's before accounting for what wasn't being upsold. 

The staff taking those calls were mostly 16 and 17-year-olds — good kids, but not trained salespeople. They weren't suggesting appetisers or desserts. On nights when the kitchen was slammed, even Virgil found himself rushing customers off the phone just to get back to making pizzas.

"I feel like I'm rushing the customers — 'Let's get this order going' — so I can get back there and make a pizza or handle an issue. It's just a lot of things going on." 

Virgil Avanzado · Owner, Boardwalk Pizza

Hiring specifically for phones didn't make sense economically. Training young staff to handle every scenario — half-and-half pizza customisations, rotating specials, coupon queries — wasn't realistic at that volume. The phone was a problem with no clean solution. 

With Certus AI 

Now Certus AI handles the phones. Every call gets answered — half-and-half pizzas, coupons, specials, dietary questions, the lot. Orders land directly in the POS. Staff aren't pulled from the floor. And Virgil isn't sprinting between the oven and the phone line. 

Across 5,000+ calls handled, Certus has taken 1,500+ orders and captured over $70,000 in revenue — consistently, professionally, without a bad day or a distracted teenager on the line. 

"If AI can help me answer the phone, that'll be a big relief — that's for sure." 

The staff's reaction? They were excited about it. Young employees who'd rather not be on the phone could now focus on the customers in front of them — taking care of the dining room, pushing out orders, keeping the energy right. Virgil redeployed one front-of-house position rather than eliminating it. 

195+ hours of staff time saved. Over a thousand new customers through the door. And a 12-year-old pizza restaurant that finally has its phones under control. 

You're probably losing $500–$1,000 a day to missed phone calls. Most restaurant owners are.

Certus AI answers every call, takes every order, and sounds so real your customers won't know the difference. It never calls in sick. It never has a bad day. It works during your busiest rush and at 2am when someone wants to know if you're open tomorrow. 

No contracts. No setup fees. Running in your restaurant within 48 hours.

• 100% Call Capture — Every call answered, no exceptions
• 24/7 Availability — Takes orders even when you're closed
• Instant Order Taking — No hold times, no mistakes
• POS Integration — Orders sync automatically