How bartaco unlocked 42% higher spend per guest with sunday Ordering

bartaco isn’t your average restaurant chain. Inspired by the beach cultures of Brazil, Uruguay, and Southern California, the 31-location brand has built a cult following around upscale street food, specialty cocktails, and a guest experience that feels more like a coastal getaway than a trip to a neighborhood restaurant.

But with that experience comes a challenge familiar to every high-volume restaurant group: how do you preserve the vibe while keeping operations tight and revenue growing? bartaco found its answer with sunday Ordering, a seamless digital experience that combines ordering and payment throughout the guest journey.

Six months of data across every bartaco venue tells the story.

Here’s how it happened.

Most restaurants treat payment as the final step of the guest journey. With sunday Ordering, bartaco turned the entire experience into a seamless digital flow.

Guests scan a QR code to order at their own pace, add items in rounds, and pay when they’re ready. There’s no need to flag down a server, wait for a card machine, or interrupt the experience. For bartaco, whose signature small-plates format naturally encourages guests to order in rounds, this was a natural fit.

The payoff was significant: guests using sunday Ordering spent 42.09% more than those paying through non-sunday channels. Across 31 locations and six months of transactions, that represents a meaningful shift in the amount of revenue generated per guest and per table.

The logic is intuitive. When ordering is frictionless, guests can add to their meal more easily. When payment is seamless, they can stay focused on the experience instead of waiting for the check. sunday Ordering removes the traditional end-of-meal friction and gives guests more control over the entire dining experience.

bartaco’s data also compared sunday Ordering with a standard digital ordering experience, and the results were equally striking.

Why the difference? sunday Ordering is designed to move with the guest throughout the meal, making it easier to add items, order another round, and continue engaging with the menu. By bringing ordering and payment together in one digital experience, sunday helps create a smoother path from the first taco to the final bill.

For a brand operating at bartaco’s scale, a 27% increase in guest spend is more than an incremental gain. It compounds across thousands of covers, every week, at every venue.

Revenue is one side of the story. Reputation is the other.

That number captures an important moment in the guest journey: when a guest has finished their meal and their enthusiasm is at its peak. sunday makes it easy for guests to share their experience before they even leave the table.

For bartaco, a brand where atmosphere and experience are central to the product, Google reviews are more than a vanity metric. They help drive new guest acquisition, encourage return visits, and turn satisfied diners into advocates. With 80% of its 5-star reviews flowing through sunday, the platform has become one of bartaco’s most powerful reputation engines.

And unlike paid advertising, reviews compound over time. Each one can improve bartaco’s visibility in local search, build social proof for first-time visitors, and reinforce the brand’s promise of an unforgettable experience.

• +42.09% guest spend with sunday Ordering compared with non-sunday payments
• +27% guest spend compared with a standard digital ordering experience
• 80% of 5-star Google reviews received through sunday
• Consistent results across all venues, validated over six months