The service line at California Tortilla
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Editor’s Note: California Tortilla is a fast-growing Mexican multi-unit that is expanding with franchises across the eastern United States. Keith Goldman, the company’s CEO, recently spoke with el Restaurante Publisher Ed Avis. This is the second of three articles based on that conversation. Click here to read the first one, which explained the company’s LTO strategy and process.
Avis: What is the ACE model?
Goldman: The ACE model acronym stands for, accuracy, customization and engagement. It emerged during the pandemic, when we took time to evaluate the brand. To me, the death of a brand is complacency. So after researching market trends and personal preferences of the key demographic groups we appeal to, we developed a new version of our brand.
The big component of this was to reverse the service system. The service system we used to have was what we call a “pay-first model,” meaning you walk up to a cashier, you tell her or him what you want, and they punch it in, your line cook gets a ticket, he makes it, and the customer waits a few minutes until someone calls your name and you pick it up.
We switched that to what we call now a “pay-last model,” which is you enter the service system, you get to pick what you want on your menu, you can make a couple adjustments to it, add something and take something away, or you can just create your own. And you also get to see the ingredients while you’re deciding.
As far as the accuracy goes, there’s no guesswork. You're telling us what to do when we’re doing it. So it has to be a hundred percent accurate. Then you pay after your meal is made.
So we kind of overhauled the way you interact with the brand, but the food is pretty much still the same. We’re just delivering it in a way that’s easier for you to customize and engage with what you’re ordering.
When did you begin using the ACE model?
I would say the first prototype was in 2020. It was a pretty dramatic change, so we wanted to get one open and then work with it for a while. There were a couple of years of tinkering with it, modifying it, and making every adjustment we needed to where it was a scalable and ready for expansion. And I think the ones we opened in 2023 had all the adjustments baked in. Which brings us to today we have about 10 of them open. Some of them are new construction and some of them were remodels into the new service.
Did you require your franchisees to do the changeover, or are you letting them do it on their own schedule?
We just said, if you’re going to remodel, this is what you need to do. We do have some experience now -- the ACE restaurants are performing considerably better than the traditional restaurants, in just about every metric, in particular average unit volume. So the stores that are the ACE stores are busier, have higher volumes. So we can say, yes, it is going to cost you some money to invest in this remodel, but we feel you’ll earn it back in higher sales volumes.
And why do you think the sales volumes have gone up with the ACE model?
Well, I think we did a good job pinpointing what our customers want. And I think the change in the service system met the need of some of the younger generations and even the older generations. I am a Baby Boomer and when we opened our restaurants, that was our key demographic and they still come in. As a matter of fact, a lot of them come in with their kids, but then their kids get it right away. They know exactly what to do. And some of the older clientele we have, after they’ve done it once or twice, they get it and they’re happy with it too because they like to customize their orders as well. So I just think the throughput is smoother and faster.
What were some key tweaks that you made as you rolled out the ACE model?
Well, we wanted to understand how the food goes down the line. For example, is it more efficient for one person to take you the customer all the way down the line and then you pop back up to the top? Or is it better to have people passing the food down the line? Let’s say you have the hot person who does the hot stuff and he passes it to the cold stuff and then he passes it to the finisher. If you do it that way, there has to be some communication between the line crew. So it’s all about what was the most efficient way to take people through the process.
And which did you decide works betteer?
I guess the answer is both. When its busy, what works best is the synergy of passing it from one person to the other. But they have to communicate. You have to say, Hey, this is for Mary and it’s a Sunset Bowl. So we had to really work on the communication and the synergy between and the positions. But when it’s slower, it’s easier for one person just to take you all the way down. And then all you have left is a cashier to ring it up.
What else did you change as you developed the system?
We changed our portioning utensils to make it easier. For instance, we increased our protein portion to four ounces of protein. So we decided it would be better to use a two-ounce scoop so we could offer people two choices. If you want chicken and steak, sure, we’ll give you one scoop of chicken, we’ll give you one scoop of steak.
The other thing was the timing. Our menu is pretty broad, and items require different timing. For example, a quesadilla might take three minutes to make. So if you order a quesadilla, what should I do with you? We don’t want the line to stop while you’re waiting for that.
And what was the solution to that?
Well, we write them a ticket to tell them, okay, here’s what you ordered. You can go pay the cashier, help yourself to a drink, and then we will call you when your order’s ready. Or many times the order was ready by the time they got to the register.
Part of the overall solution is we had to teach the line crew communication skills. How do we want you to interact with the customers? What kind of suggestions should you make? What kind of questions should you ask?
And then for the carry out orders, which are greater than they had been in the past, those do have a ticket. And we went to a new system with a sticky printer. So we had to figure out how do we get the food from the printer to the top of the line and down the line? How are we going to package it? Where are we going to put it for customers to pick up and how are we going to make sure we don’t screw that up?
You mentioned that the ACE system requires fewer people. Why is that?
It’s just the throughput is faster. In the past, it could take several minutes at the register to decide what you want and to decide how you want to customize it. And then, as a customer, you have to explain that to the cashier. And the cashier then punches it in and she or he may or may not have put it inaccurately. So there’s a couple minutes there. So we used to have two or three cashiers to handle the business, and now we only need one cashier. And as far as the cooks go, we find we need one less cook because they’re not spending all their time reading tickets. They’re just kind of moving along with the customer.
Interested in franchising with California Tortilla? Click here for more info.
Click here to read the previous article in this series, about California Tortilla’s LTO process.
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