5 ways to deliver a great Cinco de Mayo Experience
Cinco de Mayo is coming up soon! If you have a Mexican restaurant or serve Mexican dishes, get ready to offer a great experience. Follow these tips for the ultimate Cinco de Mayo celebration!
Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) is approaching. Whether you have a Mexican food restaurant or have Mexican-inspired dishes on your menu, it is time to prepare your restaurant to deliver a gastronomic experience that celebrates and unites people during this holiday.
Today, we bring you fundamental tips for delivering an outstanding gastronomic experience!
What is Cinco de Mayo?
Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican celebration with a fascinating history that commemorates a historical event: the Mexican army's victory over the French army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. It’s important not to confuse this with Mexico's independence.
This Mexican historical milestone has become a much more popular holiday in the United States, celebrating Mexico's gastronomic heritage and rich cultural background. That's right: it's not just about eating tacos and drinking margaritas.
On the contrary, this date has become a way of sharing, learning, and celebrating. That's why we praise this opportunity for your restaurant or dark kitchen to engage more people in a culturally conscious, friendly, and delicious festivity.
How to deliver an extraordinary experience?
Delivery operations keep growing and becoming a more relevant and strategic sales channel, and we want you to deliver a first-class experience. To help you with that, here are five tips to help you provide a memorable Cinco de Mayo for your hungry customers while keeping things simple, relevant, and successful.
1. Respect first and foremost (Avoid stereotypes)
We have mentioned this before, and we would like to emphasize it again: Cinco de Mayo is not just about tacos and margaritas. It is important to understand the event's origin, how it has evolved over time and to respect its true meaning. As a restaurant or dark kitchen, it is crucial to avoid stereotypes and celebrate the occasion in a respectful manner by showcasing the diversity of Mexican cuisine. Mexican cuisine has a lot to offer beyond sombreros and tequila shots, and showcasing this diversity can help differentiate your menu and attract customers in a better way.
2. It’s all about sharing
Mexican culture is adept at sharing and making everyone feel welcome. That means many, many, many people sharing at the same table. With this in mind, your restaurant can prepare combos for several people that allow that collective feeling to be maintained and enjoyed along with your food. Combos? Yes, please. Dishes to share? Absolutely. Think about what dishes on your menu can satisfy that need. If you don't have them, this is an opportunity to explore alternatives and study your customers' responses to sharing options. Every new endeavor is an opportunity to learn and improve: you can make Cinco de Mayo a laboratory for your restaurant while delivering the top-notch food your customers deserve!
3. Prepare your menu… and your team
Operating a seasonal or special menu can be a challenging task. There are many aspects involved that need to be aligned correctly to ensure customer satisfaction. If you have decided to offer specific dishes or promotions for Cinco de Mayo, it's essential to make sure everything is in order, including stock, communication, and operation. It is vital to ensure that your team is aware of the offerings and knows how to act accordingly. This is a crucial but often overlooked factor when restaurants participate in events like this. This advice is significant for this holiday, as well as any other events. It can be discouraging for customers when they order something that has been advertised, but the staff is not aware of it. If you have ever experienced this as a customer, then you know how it feels. Therefore, internal communication is just as important as external communication. It will help you deliver on your promise of excellent service.
4. Join the celebration
Once you've defined what and how you will celebrate Cinco de Mayo, your restaurant's menu is ready, and your team knows what to do: it's time to share it with the world. If you've decided to join the celebration, let everyone, especially your customers, know about it.
Here are some tips for doing it:
Prepare social media content that communicates what's unique about this date, but try to go beyond that by making it distinctive and interactive using social media assets.
It is common for delivery Apps to have themed sections. What if you join in? Consider this option if you want more customers to know about your special menu for this day.
On the other hand, if you also have your own online ordering system, you can create your online menu’s special options or suggestions section.
What if you have a promotional code? Share it with your customers through your communication channels: social networks, flyers, or email. Informing your customers about your gastronomic offer a few days in advance will make them aware of it and better consider you.
If you decide to have a Holiday combo or an option that you consider perfect for sharing, give it the attention it deserves! Put it front and center of your communication.
5. Experience beyond the food
A playlistFood is an experience on its own, right? It's the main attraction of your restaurant or dark kitchen, and it’s why your customers love and return to your restaurant. But what if your experience expands and goes beyond that? The details make all the difference. Joining the Cinco de Mayo celebration through commemorative or interactive packaging can be that added value that your customers will love. A playlist, a link, or a QR code that redirects to a particular section of your website or your social networks or even to a blog that talks more about the holiday can be alternatives to deliver a memorable augmented experience.
At the end of the day, your customers will continue to appreciate your dedication to being involved in relevant moments because, once again, your service and recipes are top-notch.
While we know there are many other ways for your restaurant to capitalize on festivities like this, we hope these tips will help you continue to build a quality and trusting relationship with your customers while strengthening your business' home delivery channel.
