About Señor G’s Fresh & Healthy Mexican Food
For over three decades, Señor G’s Fresh & Healthy Mexican Food has served Los Angeles, California with fresh, homemade Mexican food. The family-run restaurant started with a small menu of 20 items, but now offers over 100 items like juices, agua frescas, breakfast, and other Mexican dishes. The menu even includes vegan and vegetarian options for their customers.
Originally opened in 1980, Ben Arreola Sr. bought the restaurant seven years later, modifying the restaurant’s recipes and adding new menu items. Now, Señor G’s is helmed by his son Ben Arreola Jr., who grew up in the restaurant and is now continuing the tradition of providing quality food to fit his customers’ needs.
Expanding the DoorDash partnership
Señor G’s has used DoorDash since 2017 and enjoyed the growth that comes with partnering with a third-party delivery service. “The benefit of the DoorDash partnership is the audience that DoorDash has,” Ben said. “It’s the largest third-party delivery service.”
Before Los Angeles’s stay-at-home orders in early 2020, the business was evenly split between dine-in and takeout customers. However, Ben knew he had to pivot, as Señor G’s only seats 24 and was in a location that made finding parking difficult. He was looking for a way to grow his online presence, increase takeout orders, and decrease the number of face-to-face interactions.
“I’m more interested in doing online [sales] and more deliveries than face-to-face transactions,” Ben said. “With online ordering, the average ticket size is higher and it’s less time — instead of having an employee right there spending five minutes on a $100 order, you could receive an online order in a minute.”
Ben wanted to capture a bigger online market and added Online Ordering, a commission-free online ordering platform that uses DoorDash’s software to power online ordering on merchants’ websites. There are no monthly software fees for Online Ordering; instead, restaurants pay payment processing fees per order.
For Ben, using Online Ordering was another way to leverage DoorDash’s tools and reach.
Since Señor G’s was already a DoorDash partner, adding Online Ordering to their website and training staff was easy. “We had everything already set up, such as training employees, taking and bagging orders, and communicating with drivers and customers,” Ben said.
During the pandemic, 70% of my business was through the DoorDash app.
Positioning Online Ordering for growth
Señor G’s started seeing the impact of Online Ordering almost immediately. The clean, user-friendly interface and access to a professional photo shoot were big driving factors in adding Online Ordering. “I have my menu with pictures and it has increased my sales like crazy,” Ben said. Implementing Online Ordering also reaped other benefits. Two of Señor G’s major sources of traffic are Yelp and Google, and adding the Online Ordering link to their Yelp and Google listings has been tremendously successful.
Online Ordering's commission-free ordering system was also a big draw for Ben. “A lot of my customers order from Online Ordering, whether they use the links I have on Yelp, Google, or my website,” Ben said. “I get a lot of hits like that and it really does help with the commission rates.” He also enjoys how his Online Ordering menu easily integrates with his DoorDash menu — all updates and pricing changes only need to be added once.
Sometimes online ordering is [more] successful in increasing the ticket size with modifiers than employees. I’d rather have an employee make sure an order is correct than try to get the order over the phone or window.
Ben also runs DoorDash promotions on Online Ordering, attracting new customers and helping him compete with other restaurants in the area. “It really does help because you can easily lose an online consumer in seconds. All they have to do is tap their finger and there goes your competitor taking business away from you for $5,” Ben said. “If you order and know you’re going to get something for $5 or $8 less, you’re already starting to place an order for that business.”
One Online Ordering promotion seems to work particularly well. “I’ve tried almost all promos and they work pretty well, but there is one that has worked a bit better,” Ben said. “It’s the spend $35 get $5 off that’s always a bit more successful.”
With Online Ordering and DoorDash, Señor G’s has seen a dramatic boost in online sales. Without the extra time needed for employees to take orders in person or over the phone, Señor G’s became more efficient and better positioned to take on more orders.
I did 2,000 orders with you guys last month. Imagine if we had to input all of that by hand.
A lasting partnership
For Señor G’s, the exclusive partnership with DoorDash continues to be profitable. Online Ordering promotions brought in more than 500 customers and $29,000 in sales from October 2021-February 2022, and Ben looks forward to the continued relationship between Señor G’s and DoorDash.
“I know some people have every third-party delivery app but that’s not me,” he said. “I’d rather stick with DoorDash.”
Ready to launch Online Ordering on your website?
Join Señor G’s and other restaurants using Online Ordering to fuel their growth, commission-free. Learn more about Online Ordering and what online ordering can do for your business.
