How Nella's Nutri-Bar took ordering into its own hands

Nella's Nutri-Bar is an owner-operated neighborhood spot: smoothies, açaí bowls, salads and wraps, made to order by people who know the regulars by name. The room says it all, with rope swings at the table and a sign on the wall that reads “Welcome to our place.”

Online, that welcome gets harder to keep. The usual answer for a shop like this is a delivery marketplace, and a marketplace takes a commission on every order, puts its own brand in front of the shop's, and keeps the customer's details for itself. For a business that runs on repeat visits, that's the wrong trade.

Nella's now takes online orders on its own branded storefront, built by Cobble. It runs on the Square account the shop already used, so the menu, prices and payments stay where the team already works, and online orders land in Square right next to the walk-ins.

Customers order for pickup or delivery and pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay or a card. Delivery goes out with a local driver who carries the bag, while the order, the receipt and the customer stay with Nella's.

There's no marketplace in the middle. From the first tap to the receipt, the customer sees Nella's name, Nella's menu and Nella's prices.

Since going live in May 2026, Nella's has taken hundreds of online orders on its own terms. Customers pay the shop's real prices, and the 20–30% a marketplace commission would have taken stays with the business.

The regulars keep coming back, and they place 70% of all online orders. About as many customers tip as before, but each tip is nearly three times bigger: about 15% of the order, up from about 5%. Why? Customers love ordering from the shop itself, and it makes them feel more connected to a local business they care about. The average order is up 15%.

Nella's was also the first shop on Cobble, and it shaped what came after. The ordering flow, the Square connection and local delivery were all proven here first, behind a counter with swings.