Vietologie began with a simple belief: food is at its best when it is prepared with genuine care and tâm - the heart and intention behind what we do. For this small family of food enthusiasts, sharing Vietnamese flavors is not only a source of joy and pride, but also a way to bring people together around thoughtfully prepared food.

Rooted in a love for Vietnamese cuisine and Helsinki’s calm, welcoming energy, Vietologie has stayed true to the values that have guided the business from the very beginning: quality ingredients, carefully crafted recipes, and warm hospitality. From preparing fresh herbs and perfecting broths to creating seasonal specials, every detail is approached with the same purpose - to make guests feel at home, well cared for, and, of course, well-fed.

Read on to discover the story behind Vietologie - the people, passion, and journey that have shaped the business, brought its love of Vietnamese cuisine to life in Helsinki, and led the team to choose Loyverse POS as part of their restaurant operations.

Can you briefly share the background of your business?

We opened the restaurant in December 2025. We are located in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. We decided to open a restaurant primarily because of my mother’s passion for cooking. She loves to cook, and I opened this restaurant together with my mother and my girlfriend.

My mom is the culinary inspiration behind the restaurant. All the recipes we serve are hers. Our purpose was to create a place where we could introduce more authentic and traditional Vietnamese dishes. We also wanted to create a place where Vietnamese people living here could enjoy food that reminds them of home.

Our restaurant is named Vietologie. The name is a combination of the words “Viet” and “ology,” referring to the study and pursuit of knowledge. The idea is to represent our focus on exploring the knowledge behind food and food culture and what they can bring to people.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced during the first months of your entrepreneurial journey?

One of the first challenges we faced was an unstable internet connection, and this was also an area where Loyverse helped us. Nowadays, almost everything runs through the internet, including our payment terminal and other equipment. Luckily, most of our machines have SIM cards as a backup, but when our Wi-Fi went down, it was still quite bothersome.

Fortunately, after configuring Loyverse and our router, everything was able to work seamlessly. I think having unreliable internet was one of the biggest challenges we faced, especially because the problem continued for about a month.

Were you using another POS system in your restaurant before implementing Loyverse POS?

No. This is my mom’s second restaurant. She previously opened one with my sister, and we used a very old POS system there. It could barely be called a POS system - it was more like a cash register.

How did you first come across Loyverse, and what made you decide to implement it in your restaurant?

I study business analytics and data science, so I had several things I wanted from a POS system.

First, I wanted something affordable. When I found out that Loyverse offers a free version that you can use to get started and try the system, I found that very appealing. Then I started thinking that if I wanted to use it while complying with Finnish legislation, I would need a subscription. Even so, it was still very affordable.

Loyverse also gave me a way to collect data, use a modern POS system, and have a Kitchen Display System (KDS). Having a KDS has been very beneficial because, in our previous restaurant, we had to keep running between the front and the back to deliver orders. With Loyverse, orders go straight onto the screen in the kitchen.

We also appreciate the offline mode. Even though internet issues are relatively rare in Finland, it gives us peace of mind knowing that Loyverse will continue working if we experience connectivity problems.

Which Loyverse features do you appreciate most and rely on in your daily operations?

Apart from the features I’ve already mentioned, the interface is very intuitive. When we train new employees, some of them have already seen Loyverse in other restaurants here, so they can learn to use it right away.

Another feature we really appreciate is the variants functionality. I like that you can create different variants and edits and get really creative with them. Our kitchen team speaks a different language from many of our customers, so we use the variants system to create alternative names for our dishes. This means the kitchen doesn’t have to see the long names that customers see.

Our menu is also highly customizable by nature, so the modifiers and variants have helped us build a system that works well for our operations.

Are you using Employee Management to give employees their own profiles in the system?

Yes. We use the Employee Management subscription to create separate employee profiles and restrict their access rights.

Do you use the Unlimited Sales History add-on to view sales reports and export data when needed?

Yes. Data is very important to me. Also, to comply with Finnish legislation, we have to retain five years of data, so Unlimited Sales History was a necessary add-on for us.

Have the reports helped you make more informed business decisions?

Yes, most definitely. Unfortunately, I’ve been away and haven’t had a lot of time to do the analytics myself because I’ve been tied up with other things. However, we do use the Dashboard app and regularly look at our sales data.

This helps us understand when we are busiest, when we are less busy, and which days tend to have the biggest rushes. We also use the reports to see which variants are the most popular and which ones are less popular.

Is there any feature you would like to see added or improved in Loyverse POS?

We would like to have alias item names. In other words, we would like to be able to set one name for an item that appears in the KDS and a different name that appears on the customer display (CDS).

For example, we could have a short name in the POS so that the cashier can easily read and select it, while the CDS could display the full name of the dish. Some of our dish names are very long, so putting the full name in the POS would make the text too small, while the kitchen staff also needs a translated version of the dish name.

Another feature I would like to see, especially because I’m interested in doing more analytics, is the ability to export KDS data about dish preparation times. This would allow us to see how long it takes to prepare different orders and specific items.

Finally, I would like to see more support for local payment terminals. 

What is your advice to young, aspiring restaurant owners?

First of all, make sure it is something you genuinely enjoy. If you don’t like restaurant work but think it will be profitable, I still wouldn’t recommend doing it because the work is grueling.

Before deciding to open a restaurant, make sure you really enjoy the work. For us, my mom is always very happy when she hears customers say, “Oh, this is great food.” When a Vietnamese expat tells her that the food tastes like home, it makes her incredibly happy. She finds genuine joy in the work she does.

So, if you’re going to pursue this path, make sure it brings you joy.

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