By Charlie Pogacar
When Lou Perrotta, owner of Perrotta’s Pizza in Canton, Georgia, made the decision to go cashless in October 2024, he knew it might ruffle a few feathers. What he didn’t expect was just how personal some of the pushback would feel.
“We’ve had customers say it’s un-American,” Perrotta says. “They’ve said it’s illegal—it’s not, by the way, I made sure beforehand. People said we don’t trust our employees, which is definitely not the case… I’ve heard it all at this point.”
Because he takes great pride in being an employer of choice, Perrotta was particularly miffed at the suggestion that he distrusts his team. In fact, for him, the biggest reason to move away from cash was the safety of his team members. Voted the “Best Pizza in Cherokee County [GA]” six years running, Perrotta’s is a high-volume shop with a loyal following. So even if only 15% of its transactions prior to October 2024 were in cash, there was still a lot of it circulating the dining room on a given night.
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“When you’ve got a bunch of cash in a drawer at the end of a Friday night, that’s a risk,” he says. “We’re a busy pizzeria—not a lemonade stand—and there’s a lot of cash moving around. It just didn’t feel smart to keep operating that way.”
The Benefits
Prior to making the change, handling money took time, opened the door to possible theft and introduced the possibility of counterfeit bills. The biggest gain in going cashless, though? “Peace of mind,” Perrotta said. “I don’t have to go to the bank every day. There’s less room for error and a lot less stress.”
The shift simplified operations across the board. Servers no longer need to calculate and distribute change for customers. And for Perrotta and his family—who work side-by-side in the restaurant—the new system has lifted a weight off their shoulders.
“We’re not keeping all our money in the safe,” Perrotta said. “We’re not walking to our cars at night wondering if someone’s watching. That peace of mind? You can’t put a price on it.”
Putting a Plan in Place
Perrotta made efforts to notify customers in advance of going cashless. He posted notices on social media, hung signs throughout the store and, eventually, even made custom T-shirts for his staff with bold letters on the back reading “NO CASH ACCEPTED.”
Still, some never saw the warnings. Others complained online, including one former regular who emailed a long goodbye message—months after the switch, and despite not having visited since.
“To be honest, I think some people just want something to complain about,” Perrotta says. “It’s like a control thing—they don’t like that they don’t have the option.”
Perrotta also noted that his pizzeria doesn’t pass along the credit card processing fees to the customer—prices have remained the same despite going cashless. “A lot of restaurants are putting a convenience fee or a credit card fee on the bill,” Perrotta said. “We don’t believe in that—we eat all of those fees.”
But all in all, Perrotta emphasized that the pushback was a vocal minority. He got other feedback from customers who—once accustomed to paying cash—understood why he was moving in that direction and applauded him for doing so. Of the 15% of customers who formerly paid cash, Perrotta estimated a very small percentage viewed it as a problem at all.
And, despite the occasional negative review or email, Perrotta said revenue hasn’t dipped. “We haven’t seen a drop-off,” Perrotta said. “In fact, we’re still growing, still adding new customers all the time. If we lost a handful, they’ve been replaced at this point.”
Perrotta knows other pizzeria owners are thinking about making the move—and he wants them to know it’s okay to take the leap. In his mind, the country is moving toward a cashless society. While the switch hasn’t been without its headaches, Perrotta is confident he made the right call—and he believes other independent operators could benefit from doing the same.
“If you’re on the fence, don’t fear it,” Perrotta said. “The backlash isn’t as bad as you think. If your product is good, they’ll come back. People might try somewhere else, but they’ll realize quickly that not every pizza is worth giving up their favorite over.”
