CX as a Mindset, Not a Platform: Turning Guest Feedback into Brand Loyalty with Evan Pardue

Is customer experience a platform, or a mindset?

In this episode of the Franchise Whispering Podcast, host Bob McKay sits down with Evan Pardue, newly named Senior Director of Marketing and Brand for Condado Tacos, to unpack how a fast-growing taco brand turned guest feedback into its biggest competitive edge. After doubling in size to 53 locations across 10 states, Condado discovered just how fragmented its customer experience had become, and set out to fix it, values first.

Evan shares how his team wrote a "CX Bible" with their operators before ever starting an RFP, interviewed a dozen operators and frontline teammates to define what great service actually looks like and launched their feedback platform in just 90 days. He explains why the real revelations only show up once the data does (their single most-missed item turned out to be a humble bag of chips), why feedback should be read through a lens of optimism and why customer experience should be owned by operators, never pigeonholed as a marketing function.

From level-setting expectations across dine-in, pickup and delivery, to using catering as a guest-acquisition channel, to why CSAT is the brand's North Star metric, this conversation is a masterclass in listening to guests and aligning marketing with operations around them.

Key Takeaways in This Episode:

• CX Is a Mindset, Not Just a Platform: Why the prep work, defining your values and how you'll respond to guests, matters far more than the RFP that follows.
• Feedback Is Love: How reading every piece of guest feedback with optimism, rather than defensiveness, turns complaints into loyalty (and why a missing bag of chips is a bigger deal than it sounds).
• Level-Set Every Channel: Why dine-in, pickup and delivery scores are never apples to apples, and how setting realistic per-channel goals keeps you from misreading your own data.
• Operations Create the Brand, Marketing Tells the Story: How Condado's four-wall experience earns the loyalty that marketing then amplifies, and why it always starts in the restaurant.
• Don't Pigeonhole CX: The biggest mistake brands make launching a feedback program is leaving the operators who'll actually use it out of the room.

"They are the ones who create the brand, and we are the ones who tell the story of it. If they nail that experience, we get the loyalty guest. Everything else follows."

Whether you're running a single location or leading a multi-state brand, this episode is packed with actionable wisdom on how to put people first, build a hospitality system you can repeat and deliver an experience guests come back for again and again.

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Franchise Whispering Podcast brought to you by Franchise Marketing News. So excited to have uh restaurant royalty here with us today. Avan Pardeaux, who has just been named uh Senior Director of Marketing and Brand for Cardado Tacos. And I must be honest, Avan, I've I think I've seen you five, six times already this year, and most of it's been on stage. You've been front and center at a lot of the conferences this year. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Thank you, and thank you for having me. Yeah, it's uh it's always a pleasure to be able to uh hang out with other restaurant marketers, and and you know, it's just it's such a privilege to be able to speak about what we're doing here at Condado and and you know, and what we've learned, what's working, what's not working, and share that with the industry. You know, we uh, you know, we may be competitors in the industry, but at the end of the day, we're all serving guests, and we all I think what's great about restaurants, we all want each other to succeed. So, you know, there's always a great sense of camaraderie in the restaurant industry.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

No, it's such a fun group, very innovative, open-minded, creative thinkers. Now, before we kind of jump into you know what we planned on, I'd tell me about the the new role as uh senior director of marketing and brand for Vrindana Tacos. Uh that's uh a nice promotion you just received.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Yeah, thank you. And I'm I'm really excited and you know, really honored to um you know been selected to lead our marketing department and and you know lead marketing for the next chapter of our brand. It's it's a really exciting opportunity. And you know, I'm just grateful for for our leadership and and and so grateful for our former C CMO, Sarah Kier, who is you know a huge mentor to me and really has you know set our brand up for success. And I I I you know couldn't be more grateful to her and and to to the team that I I get the privilege to lead now.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

No, that's so exciting, and uh you know you've uh you've been right there, and it's nice to have mentors like that that can really uh can catapult you to this to this level that you're that you're at. So you know, what as as I've seen you on stage, you know, like I said several times, you know, a lot of the theme has been, you know, customer experience. How are you living up to that? It's so important. You know, kind of take us off to your mindset, your consideration, you know, where are you at with customer experience? What's coming next? Let's go.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

Yeah. It's a great, it's it's so fundamental to what we do. And so, you know, at Condado, we um, you know, we are a taco joint unlike any other. We have 53 locations across 10 states. Um, but we doubled in size. Um, you know, it's a typical story we see in the restaurant industry. We doubled in size really, really fast. And it exposed a lot of growing pains that we uh we weren't really prepared to to know because you don't know what you don't know. And and so what we we discovered is just how fragmented customer experience was, you know, and it wasn't just CX as a platform, it's actually CX as a mindset. And so we went through a brand refresh process that we, when we came out of it, we we have such a sense of who we are, an identity as a brand that's compiled the things that were already there. And so naturally the next step was how can we get closer to our guests? We know who we are. Let's figure out how we can listen to them more clearly. And so we had several different platforms. Uh, you know, GMs were answering guests via email, we were answering guests via social, uh, you know, we were sending ad hoc surveys, but there wasn't a really concise, clear, hey, platform, but I think more importantly, vision and point of view for customer experience. And ultimately, it really came out of that brand process of a brand refresh process. We have a set of core values. What is the customer experience that we want to ladder up to those values? And I think that's been such an incredible kind of 18-month process of going through creating and working with our operators to define what our values are for customer experience, all the way through an RFP to launching CX to now using it weekly and having our operators really own it. So, you know, from a 10,000-foot view, it is it is how can you use the values and core identity that you have as a brand and align that with CX across every touch point and across a platform that you're going to use to accept that feedback.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

And uh, you know, when you're you're taking on that scope of things, how how important is the RFP process as you go through that?

SPEAKER_01 4:31

I you know, it is it is essential, but I think there's another step that is more important than an RFP, which is having your brands, you know, we we have our CX Bible that we wrote together with our operators. So months before we even began uh starting the RFP, we sat down and I interviewed, I think, 12 of our operators. I interviewed frontline teammates, and I wanted to hear from them how to how do they interact with our guests? What are they doing that again makes Condado so unique in the customer experience? What are their pain points for our operators that they need to address? Because they want to hear from our guests too, and they want it to be a seamless experience. And so before you even begin the RFP, I think it's important that as a brand you establish your values and the process for how you're going to respond to guests, how you're going to speak with them, and how it aligns with the experience that they had in the restaurant. So that when we then began our RFP process, it was really clear what we were actually looking for. And it made a lot of our uh specifications more easier to translate to platforms. Say, hey, this is exactly what we're looking for because this is what our operators told us they want to use. And so that made the RFP process actually a lot easier to get through because we knew what we were looking for, as opposed to starting with, oh, I know I need a survey platform, oh, I know I need this. We actually knew how we wanted to operate this. We had all of our response library built out so that when we when we we ended up selecting Momos and we could train their AI immediately because we had every response written for every scenario that we encounter in the restaurant. We had done that work beforehand. So I think, you know, prep work, we always say prep work is key. You know, I'm an Eagle Scout, so be prepared. It's very important. So to to for me, it was how can we be so prepared that by the time we have this platform, we could launch it in 90 days, which is what we did.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

That's a very, very high velocity. Was there like an aha moment in that process where you're like, oh my gosh, we are on the right track with this. We are, we're we're checking all the boxes off.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

You know, one of the aha moments, there's two I have that are really special. So we we launched very quickly, and our training department rock stars to be able to get this launched because it's, you know, when you roll out a CX platform and every operator has to be involved, this is going to become a part of their daily checklist. We had to make sure that everything, our our, you know, everything, our our I's were dotted, our T's were crossed. And so what happened is we had our big rollout call, and then every day the following week we had office hours. And the big aha moment happened when we were in office hours, and it's kind of that, you know, if you're you're in the in the biz, you know, operators will be kind of silent, and then one person raises their hand and they're like, hey, how do I answer this? And then another person's like, hey, how do I answer this? And it was this aha moment of, hey, we actually should write a few more responses that we hadn't thought about because they have these scenarios that I can't even think of. Let's add this to our brand brand library. And so what was great is, and I think this is such a lesson, is give your operators or your franchisees that opportunity to have that dialogue as you're building the platform so that by the time you're really using it, everyone is on the same page and everybody's able to use it. And then I think when we were in the platform, a big revelation happened. And, you know, I talk about it's kind of the skeletons in the closet will be there when you onboard a CX platform. You will find them. And so as a brand, you have to kind of say, we're gonna lock arms as an executive team. We're going to accept this feedback because feedback is love, and we know we're going to find some problems. And of course, the biggest problem was we were missing chips severely. It is our number one missed item. And again, order accuracy, we all face it in the biz, but chips were our number one missing item. And I wasn't expecting that to be as severe as it was, but it was a great moment, I think, in a rallying cry of it's in the data, it's not emotional, we're missing a ton of chips on our orders. Let's get training involved, let's get ops involved, let's get, let's talk to our ex, you know, our team who does Expo. Let's make sure what we can do so that we're not missing chips. Because, you know, as much as everybody loves queso or guac and you can eat it with a spoon, you want to eat it with chips, right? That's why you order it. You order the chips and the queso. So we shouldn't be missing it. And so it was that it was a such an aha moment of, whoa, this is a big problem for our brand. But now we know it. It's not a guessing game and it's not emotional, it's not in review somewhere and you know, social here. It's just very clearly our guests are saying you're missing chips. Let's take those steps to address it.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Yeah, I know. Chips in the beer business, sauce is in the chicken fingers business, yeah. Tart sauce in the fish business, you know, we missed that, and uh, you've got an unhappy customer. And that leads me to my next question with so many different distribution channels, you know, delivery, pickup, in-store, all of that, you know. Tell me about that segmentation, the CX, the customer feedback with all that. It it's become so vast here so quickly post-COVID.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

It it really does. And I think where, again, it goes back to pre-work and setting expectations really clearly, uh, at both at the operator level and at the leadership level. Because at the leadership level, you know, if you see CSAT at in dine in is here, but CSAT in pickup is way lower, what you have to do is level set and say, well, of course that's gonna happen. Because by the time a guest has gone through the dine-in process, our server should have already recovered them, or our manager at a touch point should have taken care of them. So that feedback should naturally be more positive. If you're a delivery guest, right? If you're a delivery guest, that text message is that one place where you get to share what happened in the in in that service. And so it is going to be more negative. And we have to we have to balance that to say how what is our realistic goal for CSAT for pickup? What's a realistic CSAT for delivery? And what's a realistic OSAT, honestly, for dynamic? Because again, it goes back to level setting of each channel is very different. And if you go into it not acknowledging that, it could set you up for a bias on the data. You could actually say, hey, dynam's not looking, not looking poorly. It's pickup and delivery that are the problem. However, if you go in saying we know these are going to be vastly different, we actually need to look under the hood in dynamin to see, hey, someone's giving us a five star, but they're in they have an incident on their ticket. They're saying, hey, the food was great, the service was excellent, but I had to wait a little bit to get a table, or I had to wait a little bit to get the food, right? That, you know, we'll see that and they'll still give us five stars, which is amazing, but it's looking under the hood of each channel's data to see what are the incidents that we can work on as a brand. That is the most helpful thing. And again, it's it's level setting and making sure that you have clear expectations going into this and also clear goals that are aligned to each channel.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

And do you find like there's a, you know, you've heard of the team keyboard warrior and that type of thing? And you you just brought it up like somebody in person in store, you know, is gonna talk as human to human, but you know, you get and you know, you get typing and stuff and you come off a little bit more frank, or you can read it as frankness. How do you kind of digest that differently? Is there is or is there a way?

SPEAKER_01 12:06

Well, I think our operators are fantastic at digesting it because they talk to guests every day. I think sometimes at the leadership level, um, it's a little I can't believe someone wrote that, right? Because we're not interacting with guests all the time. But one thing that we actually do as a leadership team, we get a daily feedback report. And I almost all of the leadership team actually reads all of the feedback that comes through every single day. We're not the ones responding to it, but it's really helpful to read it. And so one thing I always think about is, you know, as a restaurant brand and in our business, we have the opportunity to be the best part of someone's day. And so sometimes when we drop the ball, they might have all they might have been having a sour day. And and that missing chip, that's the thing they were actually looking forward to all day long. And we drop the ball in that moment. And so it's a moment of saying, hey, let's pick that up, let's help that guest, let's let's acknowledge. Let's it's always, you know, thank you for the feedback. Let's acknowledge we really drop the ball in your order. We're really sorry about that. And then let's resolve it. Let's make it right on the next visit. If we can't make it right in the next in the moment, let's make it right in the next visit. And what I've seen, and what's amazing and how we use Momos is guests can text us back and they'll say, I didn't even think you were going to read this. And so I always say when you go through the lens of optimism, that a guest is really, they were so, they cared so much about this experience, positive or negative, that they took the time to write to us. I take it as a piece of optimism rather than they're angry at us. Hey, they're just frustrated, but they cared enough to share it with us. It I think if you approach CX in that mindset, you'll always win because you'll always be thinking that the guest is cares so much about this experience. They let us know what is going on. So we should care enough to respond back with with grace and uh and and resolve that problem.

SPEAKER_00 13:57

No, and I think that I mean, you you kind of took us just through a little bit of a journey there. I think your sincerity of understanding the person, their day, the importance of a chip, and then the feedback that went along with us really goes to your 360 view of, you know, the importance, the consideration, the sincerity, the impact that your your products and services have on people's lives.

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Yes, yes. And it it is, it's we, you know, we sometimes I think food food, we get caught up in product and we forget service is everything. Hospital we're in the hospitality business, and we're really there to have that moment in someone's day and in someone's life. And sometimes they just wanted tacos, they're really hungry, they wanted a great margarita, but sometimes they went through a breakup, right? We actually hear this is a fun anecdote about Condado. We hear all the time that we are a great spot to break up with someone.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

And actually implement the execution of the breakup, of the breakup in our restaurants.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

We've heard that from from guests, and it's because our music is loud, the food is a great is well priced, it's still a dine-in experience, but we can also make service pretty quickly if you we can turn a table if you need us to to quickly get through the service. And so, but it's one of those things where we are part of people's lives, right? Whether that's a breakup or a first date, we have so many guests who say, I I I had a first date at Condado and now I'm getting married. Those are the moments that really matter. And we're so privileged to be a part of that. That really, how can you make sure that the the other part of the experience, right? We have the 180 of the dine-in experience, but then we have the follow-up to that. How can we make sure that that is handled with the same level of care, concern, grace, and and service as the actual experience itself? Again, going back to that 360, it's kind of the 180 of the service in the restaurant, and then it's the other half of after the transaction. Maybe something did happen and they didn't want to share it in person because they didn't want to embarrass the server. This is their opportunity to share that with us, and it's for us to acknowledge and resolve that in the moment.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Love that. And so you you've brought up Momos a couple times. Take us through your your tech stack, your all the other elements that are part of it, the considerations that went into it.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

Yeah, so we use uh Toast and Olo for POS and online ordering. And then in the Martech stack, we used Punch for loyalty, we use Brace for marketing automation, uh, Bicky for CDP, and Momos for CX. So we have a real Rolls-Royce of a tech stack. And you know, when we think about how we, you know, we leverage them to such a such an extent, uh, you know, these are not novelty investments for us. And we're a small brand, but when we think about our tech partners, we want long-term relationships with uh with with platforms that are really not only deliver amazing services, but are constantly innovating and growing with us as a brand. And so that's what is so exciting about our stack is is they have really grown with us as a brand. And they're also thinking about the future of what it means to care for our guests and and how we can connect with them on a deeper level, on a more personalized level, right? Personalization is the buzzword, but I think our stat really does that well.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

And you know, one of the stuff, a couple of the stats out there right now, and and then, you know, because of the bickies of the world and red onions, it's it's that, you know, 80 to you know, let's say 70 to 82 percent of people will go to a restaurant one time and never go back again. I think my opinion on that is that partial function of what is not being data captured in media campaigns, in-store, those whole things. Because it, you know, when done right in a one mile radius, maybe a two-mile radius with the grand opening and the big you should come away with almost 5% of the population's first-party data in that one mile radius, if done right. Do you think, you know, that ability to continue the conversation with the consumer allows for loyalty, more revenue, and you know, tell us your opinion on that.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

I think it's essential, but I think really you have to go into understanding when are we going to, when is that guest going to engage with with our technology. So we know, for example, that for our loyalty guests, uh, we're not the first transaction. Loyalty isn't the first transaction. They need to fall in love with our brand. And the majority of our guests dine in for the first time. So they're not placing that online order. They're not engaging with us from a first from a first experience from a digital perspective. So for us, it's how can we deliver such an incredible experience inside the four walls, you know, with our custom art, with our amazing food, our fun service? How do we get them to fall in love with the brand so that they're so sticky, they are going to download the app or they are going to text in, you know, a survey and eventually join our FMS channels. How can we make sure, again, it goes back to that first experience? It has to be so put together that it's it's undeniable that they're falling in love with you. And that's where I think it's critical that that your service model, your operational model, the the four-wall experience is really tied, it it always goes back to operations and people and marketing, we evangelize what they do. That's what I always say is that you know they are the ones who create the brand and we're the ones who tell the story of it. And so if if they nail it in that experience, we will get that loyalty guest and we will be able to deliver higher LTVs. We'll be able to grow their frequency to retain them once we get them into our funnel. But it's not if if it's everything is transactional, then I think for for our brand, you've really lost the heart of what it was. So it's always starting with that incredible service, that amazing food, that great hangout spot. And from there, we will get their loyalty when that is done right.

SPEAKER_00 20:09

No, I love that. And then, you know, some of the conventions we've we've talked about catering a little bit and and what you've done in the in the catering space. Can you can you can you share a little bit about that? Because I think for your space, your brand, it's it's it's quite a growth area.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

Huge growth area. It's it's one of the largest uh you know, green shoots that we have because catering it is it seems to be immune to a lot of the price value uh tension that we're facing as an industry. Um, especially when, you know, when it's we do a ton of B2B. Um it's not your, you know, it's not your money, it's your it's your company's money. Now you still most, you know, people, office administrators still want to be responsible, but it's not their funds that they're using. And so our B2B catering continues to grow. But fundamentally, I think catering is an incredible new guest acquisition channel. It's what we hear from our catering guests all the time, that they found us through catering, but then they fell in love with Condado afterwards. They were so inspired, but we have incredible packaging, it's really fun, and there's it's it's illustrated, um, all the boxes are. We have great service. Our catering sales leads do an incredible job really delivering that exceptional service so that what happens is they fall in love with our catering product and then they fall in love with our restaurant and they see that actually the catering experience was just as excellent as the four-wall experience. If and then in the four walls, there's even more options. So they're even more excited to try what's what's on the full menu. And so I think catering is an amazing acquisition channel, it's an incredible growth channel, and it's a way to really grow the brand when the catering product, excuse me, and packaging is done correctly. It kind of all goes back to how are you creating a full experience and not just thinking about catering as a product, but as an Extension of the brand and of the restaurant itself.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

It sounds like with the packaging, you have accomplished a big step in that.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

Yeah, we have a huge logo on our box for a reason, which is we we've heard from guests who at offices, they will see another office dining with using catering from Condado, and they'll recognize the box and they'll take a photo of the box, and then they will then go order catering. And so again, packaging is really, really crucial. You know, it needs to be legible, but also needs to be an expression of the brand. And that came out of our brand refresh is it's how do we align our catering branding to our actual brand. And so now they're really cohesive so that when you see a catering box, it looks exactly like Condado and it looks like our takeout packaging. So it's all again, it's one brand universe that we that we are not just not just that we've created it, but they're constantly working inside of and evolving.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

No, that's uh that's awesome. So horn C Ox my trick you would keep if you could only keep one.

SPEAKER_01 23:00

CSA. CSAT. And and here's why. I'll tell you why. Because it's easy, it's it's a fair, it's a really fair metric to hold our operators accountable to. One. And two, it's one that our operators really understand because so many operators come from the review world, right? You're looking for four and five star reviews. It's easy to share that that is analogous to a CSAT score. So I would I would always fight that CSAT is the one that we, it is our North Star as a brand, not OSAT, because you know we're new to we're new to CX. So we want to make sure that we are not tracking towards something that is not completely achievable yet. And that's where four and five star still allows them, there's still room to recover and go from a four to a five. We haven't lost that guest. So let's use CSAT as the North Star. And then in a few years, when we're tracking towards high and higher and higher metrics, that's when OSAT will become our North Star.

SPEAKER_00 23:55

Love that. Super uh super interesting on that. Biggest mistake people make when launching a uh guest feedback program.

SPEAKER_01 24:04

Not including the people who are going to use it. That's I think that's the biggest mistake I hear from other partners is that they did, you know, if if operations own CX, they should be involved in every conversation. If you have a customer care team that is owning CX, they should be involved in every conversation in the RFP. Someone should be at the table. I think that's where as a brand we learn from our mistakes, which is that in in in you know, past worlds, we were doing kind of tech evaluation, we were picking partners, we were making decisions without everybody in the room because it was, oh, that's a marketing thing, oh, that's an ops thing. Well, when it comes to things like CX, CDP, these are actually core brand platforms, right? A CDP is a brand platform. Everyone is looking at that platform to make decisions. CX platform, everyone is looking there. And so when you're making those decisions, I think it's pivotal that you involve everyone at the table, even if they're just there to say thumbs up, thumbs down, right? At least they're there so that we all are locking arms and making a decision together as one team. And ultimately what it does, especially for CX, it's pivotal that that CX is never pigeonholed as a marketing function. Because if it is, that data will always be biased when you're sharing it out. When operators and our operators own our CX platform, we are actually just there to help them translate the data. We're there to make sure that brand responses are in brand voice. We're there to help with you know brand safety issues or guest, you know, get extreme guest recovery. We're there to do that. But ultimately, it's actually an operations tool because it's really there to help them. And so we are there as one team to look at the data together, but it's owned by our operators. And that has been a really important decision that we made as a brand, and it is paying dividends that we did.

SPEAKER_00 25:58

You're so smart, Adam. I think you answered the next question before I asked it, but I don't know what's going on. What would you do this week? Or what did you tell a location this week to get marketing and operations aligned? What's the one thing?

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Be honest with each other. That is really, really pivotal. So we just had our GM conference for the year, and I heard from more GMs before I gave a presentation on marketing. I just asked them, what do you want to hear from me? What would you like to know? And each of them, you know, I talked to probably 10 GMs out of the 52, and they each kind of were saying a similar thing. They just wanted to know what was going on, what was their place in this, and what are we doing to continue to grow our business? And so I just needed to answer that. That's what they wanted to hear from us. And that's where I think, you know, if if you have a we're the support center and you are the operator relationship, you're not going to win as a business. But when you can say, hey, how can I help you succeed if I have information that you don't know about? And then vice versa, is there something going on in your four walls that I'm not aware of that I actually can help support? Right. So for example, our menus were a little too big and we didn't get a lot of that feedback, but eventually it started coming in. Hey, can y'all please make the menu smaller? So we we reduced it by two inches. We were able to do that in the this menu cycle. But it was that that feedback loop, that honest conversation that made those decisions a lot easier to make, that make uh presentation a lot easier to deliver, and then to make it actually resound because it ultimately was a two-way conversation, not a one-way.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

Love that. Well uh well said. And so as we close it out here, what's new for Evan? What's new for the brand? Uh please share.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

Yes, I'm well, we are um, I don't know when this will be posted, but on August 25th, we are launching an uh basically a whole new uh beverage. We're overhauling our entire beverage program. We are upgrading our house margarita with El Tecalenio. We are launching eight or nine new crafted cocktails that are our bartenders are gonna be bartending. My favorite one is the tequila old-fashioned made with uh G4 Repo. It is unbelievable. You could have, I could have that by a pool all day long. It is the most amazing drink I have ever had. Chef Trey did such a great job. And really what we were doing, and we're so excited about this menu, is we are reducing some SKUs to help our help our backup house operators make sure that you know the line is simplified for them. But the other thing we're doing is we're listening to our guests. Our guests want more crafted cocktails. They want a house mark that's really approachable with a great spirit in it. So let's balance what with our product offering, let's simplify the menu a little bit, and let's listen to our guests and our operators to make a menu that's really, really exciting. And we have a phenomenal LTO. It is the barbecue brisket taco and the peach barbecue brisket nachos, which are divine. It's our new barbecue sauce and our new brisket that are just unbelievable. I I'm asking for a bottle from our from our food operations team if they will please let me have a bottle of the barbecue sauce. I'm obsessed with it. And so it's it's a really exciting time at Condado. And we're just, you know, it's it's it's exciting drinks, exciting food, great service, and and it and it couldn't be a better time to, I think, try the brand and experience what it's like to dine in at one of our restaurants.

SPEAKER_00 29:23

When are you coming to Florida?

SPEAKER_01 29:24

One day. That's not my side of the business.

SPEAKER_00 29:37

All their a lot of their information uh when searched. Uh what do you think about that?

SPEAKER_01 29:43

You know, all data is good, you know, as long as you use it the right way. I think that's where, you know, AEO is gonna continue to be a conversation. And I think for us as marketers, it is really just keeping up with the landscape. But more specifically, there's always going to be things that are out of our control, right? You know, when we think about, you know, where where these new sources of information are coming from. So it's it's really what is in our control, whether that is FAQs on our website that can help AEO, it's making sure that uh, you know, we're doing everything on the back end to optimize for these search engines. That's I think the the part where all of these new exciting things are exciting and and and they're fun and innovative. But I always go back to what is in our control as a brand today that we can A, help our guests and grow our business. And so for us, if it's having more feedback, we can do that through through Momos and we can send them on to Yelp and give a great review, right? I always think go back to what is in our control today to grow the business and and to utilize these new these new tools.

SPEAKER_00 30:45

Awesome. Well, Avan, what a blast. What great talking to you. Are you gonna be in Atlanta in a couple of weeks?

SPEAKER_01 30:50

I will not. I am uh I'm done with professional travel for the year. I am now uh focused on personal travel for the year.

SPEAKER_00 30:57

Well you can next year I will yeah. You have definitely earned that. So thank you. Well, take care. Thank you so much for your time, and uh we'll uh we'll see you soon.

SPEAKER_01 31:10

My pleasure. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 31:11

Alrighty.