Tortas Frontera Adds Digital Ordering
Tillster, a provider of digital ordering and engagement solutions for restaurants, announced today its partnership with Tortas Frontera to support the brand’s pivot to 100% digital ordering amid the Coronavirus pandemic. With the unanticipated closure of some of their locations, the restaurant selected Tillster to deploy a rapid solution for online ordering and delivery and increase operational efficiencies.
A Pivot to Off-Prem
In January 2020, Tortazo, the newest restaurant concept by chef Rick Bayless, opened its doors to great fanfare in Chicago’s Willis Tower. The dine-in, Mexican-inspired eatery was in the process of expanding its business with the addition of online ordering; however, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic caused Willis Tower to empty, resulting in Tortazo to temporarily close its doors in March. The restaurant has since reopened and sought to pivot quickly and adapt to the new environment by creating brand awareness and reaching customers through a digital interface.
Secret Weapon: A Branded Ghost Kitchen
Restaurant brands -- Fazoli's, Wingstop, Lemonade, Nathan's Famous, Fat Brands and Coolgreens, to name a few -- are tapping the power of ghost kitchens in urban areas as off-premises heats up.
Tortazo's pivot included adopting the more familiar Tortas Frontera brand and opening a ghost kitchen to serve customers in a 100% digital environment.
“We wanted to meet our customers where they are, so the transition to a ghost kitchen and digital ordering was critical,” explained Patrick Little, Director of Operations. “To be successful, we needed to get up and running quickly with a familiar and beloved brand, and Tillster’s solutions allowed us to deploy a new integrated digital system.”
In the effort to bolster Tortazo’s business, Tillster leveraged the well-known Tortas Frontera name for the secondary branding of the ghost kitchen and also quickly built a brand-specific website to support both direct delivery and delivery through third-party partners, including DoorDash and UberEats. The highly automated system accepts orders through a digital ordering platform, seamlessly integrates them into the restaurant’s POS system, and dispatches the delivery service provider’s driver to pick up the order and deliver it to the consumer.