That’s how Elías met LibreOffice Base .

Elías needed more than tables. He needed advanced forms .

"The cashier closed out ten tables in four minutes. The stock boy printed an order for just the right amount of chiles. And the new waiter found a customer's favorite table by searching 'ventana' in the client form." She smiled. "The only disaster is that we have nothing to complain about anymore."

One month later, Doña Chelo walked into the back office. "Elías, the lunch rush was a disaster."

The hardest challenge was the weekly inventory. Dozens of products, partial units, and the old method involved a clipboard and a lot of swearing.

His breaking point came during the "Great Empanada Shortage of October." A supplier had been paid twice, a new cashier couldn't find the "elderly discount" button, and the kitchen ran out of dough because the inventory sheet was three days old. His boss, Doña Chelo, handed him a stained notebook. "Fix it, Elías. But we have no budget. Use the free one."

He set up the tables: PRODUCTOS , CLIENTES , PROVEEDORES , VENTAS . The raw data was solid, like a clean kitchen counter. But the problem was never the data—it was the people . The waiters were too busy, the manager was impatient, and the new stock boy was terrified of databases.