When you've got 11 stores across Ireland, you can't be managing things on vibes
Griolladh’s story began in June 2020 with a simple setup in a front garden in Malahide, Ireland. What started as a weekend project between two furloughed friends quickly took off as queues formed, word spread, and their now-famous toasties developed a loyal following. Today, the brand has grown to 11 locations across Ireland and continues to expand. We sat down with Co-founder Jacob Long to talk about building a brand during the pandemic, how authenticity and social media helped fuel Griolladh’s growth, and why having the right operational technology - including Stream - has been key to scaling the business smoothly across multiple locations.
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Griolladh's story is rooted in creativity and hustle - from pop-ups to food truck success. What was the defining moment that made you realize the brand wasn't just a concept - it was going to stick?
JL: We started in June 2020, bang in the middle of the pandemic, operating out of a front garden in Malahide. Myself and my business partner had both been furloughed, so we threw it together half for the craic and half to make a few quid. We genuinely weren't thinking beyond the weekend.
But within two weeks we knew. The queues were there, people were coming back, and word was spreading around the village fast. It wasn't a slow burn, it hit us pretty quickly that this was something real. There's something about a proper toastie, done well, that just resonates with people. Simple as that. Once we saw that reaction, we stopped messing around and started taking it seriously.
Your social content and marketing have a distinct voice and personality. How do you think your online presence reflects your culture, and how does that translate into the in-store guest experience?
JL: Look, the product does a lot of the heavy lifting for us. A toastie done right is genuinely photogenic - the pull, the colour, the steam - it pretty much sells itself once you put a camera near it. We never had to manufacture anything around that.
The voice online is just us — the way we'd actually talk. A bit of humour, keeping it real, not taking ourselves too seriously. And I think that's why it lands — people can tell straight away if something's authentic or not, especially in Ireland.
Influencers played a big part early on too. When the right person comes in, films the pull of a toastie and posts it to their audience — that's when things really take off. We've been lucky that people with serious followings have genuinely loved the product, and that kind of organic advocacy is worth more than any paid campaign. You can't fake that reaction. What you see on their pages is the same thing you get when you walk in the door yourself — same energy, same craic, same food. The team gets that, and it shows.
Pivoting during a pandemic is no small feat - what were your biggest operational lessons learned, and how did technology play a role in making them stick?
JL: Starting during a pandemic meant we had to figure things out fast and with very little margin for error. There was no easing into it — you either got tight on your operations quickly or you didn't survive. The biggest lesson for us was to keep things simple and fix problems the minute they show up. Don't let stuff fester.
Technology became a big part of that early on. When you're growing fast — and we grew fast — you can't be running things off gut feel and spreadsheets. You need systems that give you a clear picture of what's actually happening so you can make proper decisions. Getting the right tech in place early meant that as we scaled, we weren't constantly putting out fires.
Where did Stream fit into your tech stack, and what specific business frustrations did it solve?
Before Stream, we had the kind of operational headaches that just quietly drain you - orders coming in across different channels, end-of-day reconciliation being a nightmare, no real visibility across locations. When you've got 11 stores across Dublin, Kildare, Limerick and Cork, you can't be managing that on vibes.
Stream pulled it all together for us - centralised order management, reporting across sites, team coordination. The biggest thing for us was visibility and trust in the numbers. When you're running a franchise model, every location needs to be performing and you need to be able to see that clearly without chasing people for updates. Stream gave us that confidence.
Looking ahead, what's next for Griolladh - and how does having streamlined operations support that vision?
JL: We've got 11 stores now across Ireland and we're not stopping there. The UK is the next step — we're actively looking at franchising across the water, which is a big and exciting move for us. And longer term? America is the dream. Irish produce is world class and there's something brilliant about the idea of bringing the best of what Ireland has to offer to a market that big. The toastie as an ambassador for Irish food — why not.
But none of that happens without the foundations being right. Scaling a franchise across borders is a different beast entirely, and you need your operations, your systems and your data to be rock solid before you go near it. That's why tools like Stream matter — it's not just about where we are now, it's about being ready for where we're going.
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As restaurant brands grow, the systems behind the scenes become just as important as the food on the menu. www.StreamOrders.com helps multi-unit operators simplify online ordering, delivery integrations, and POS connectivity - bringing everything into one place so teams can run their restaurants with greater clarity and control. The same infrastructure also powers white-label integrations for restaurant technology companies that want reliable connections without having to build and maintain them in-house. If you’re a restaurant brand looking to simplify your ordering ecosystem, or a technology partner seeking dependable integrations, we’d love to connect.
