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Pittsburgh Business Times Names NoWait Company "Coolest Place To Work"

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- One of Pittsburgh's coolest working environments, says the Pittsburgh Business Times, is a new start-up company in Oakland called NoWait that created an app to get you seated quickly at crowded restaurants that won't take reservations.

"You use our app to find the next available seating time at restaurants around you, and put your name into that list before you ever have to arrive," said Robb Myer, a co-founder of NoWait.

Behind the app are dozens of software specialists, sales, and marketing people who seem to be happy where they work.

Money editor Jon Delano asked a number of employers, "Do you like working at NoWait?"

"No," said Bethann Witmer, adding quickly. "I love it. I love it. It's like the greatest place ever."

"We have free snacks. We have beer in the vending machine. A wine cooler. It's a pretty laid back environment," added Abby Estock.

Beer? Wine? That's here, along with a ping pong table, an arcade machine, a chess board, and lots of toys for the middle of the day.

So what makes NoWait a really cool working environment?

Well, it's more than just having a ping pong table in the middle of the workspace.

It's also a concept -- that you can have fun and do great work at the same time.

Co-founder Luke Panza says it boils down to providing employees all the "things that make working during the day fun, take breaks, have a good time, and build a team that likes to succeed together."

Employees can pretty much set their own flexible work schedules -- and vacations?

Delano: "How many vacation days do your employees get?"

Panza: "Really as many as you want because we have unlimited vacation, Jon."

Panza says if you work hard for NoWait, you deserve days off -- and it's on the honor system.

"That was a problem where I last worked," noted Harry Karatassos. "They limited vacation in these ways, and it's good to have the flexibility to go on vacation when you need to."

It all adds up to better employees, says the only guy in a coat and tie.

"This is way more than a job to me," said Mitch Young. "This is my family. This is my calling."

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