There’s the restaurant experience, and then there’s Terror Tacos. Step through the doors of this St. Louis fast-casual joint and you’ll find a no-punches-pulled homage to death metal, horror films, and veganism — the holy trifecta for owners and brothers Bradley Roach and Brian Roash. On paper, it should never have worked — vegan Mexican food? In the Midwest? With Psycho playing in the background? — but the STL community has embraced Terror Tacos with open arms, voting it Best Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurant in St. Louis Magazine’s A-List.
The business is the culmination of a lifelong dream for the brothers, who’d talked about running a plant-based restaurant together for decades. During the lead-up to opening their doors, they knew they’d launch as carryout only — and they also knew, thanks to lessons gleaned from working front and back-of-house for much of their lives, that they wanted to partner with a fast, flexible tech platform from the get-go.
The challenge: Expanding from a takeout-only model to dine-in customers
Terror Tacos opened its doors during the COVID-19 pandemic, so it was initially set up for takeout only. As regulations eased, the business learned how to navigate a new normal. They had to figure out how to handle a steady stream of dine-in customers and make a number of adjustments to their operations to meet demand.
One of the adjustments was how they communicated orders to the kitchen. Initially, it relied on traditional paper tickets but as the pace picked up, they would easily fall to the floor or get wet and messy, creating an annoying experience for staff. The manual kitchen process also didn’t help the newly formed lines that were often out the door.
Longer lines also meant that staff in the front-of-house had to deal with customers exhausted from long wait times, creating a challenging experience for customers and staff alike. Bradley needed a way to expand its operations toward a new experience so that he could keep up with demand and create an easier experience on both sides of the register.
The solution: Creating a system that serves both customer types
Terror Tacos expanded its investment in Square to help sustain its growth. The business adopted Square for Restaurants and implemented individual kitchen display systems (KDS) for its bar and kitchen, helping it to distinguish between dine-in customers and take-out orders. “Basically, people order online or come in and the KDS splits all the items on the tickets, so the bar knows what they have to make, and the kitchen knows what they need,” explained Bradley.
The business has further improved efficiency by utilizing QR codes, allowing customers to order from their phones and eliminating the “horrible line” that used to crowd the restaurant on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday nights.
I think we probably average in the 30 to 40% range for all of our food is online order and takeout, and then we use the QR codes for all of the tables, which is a huge help because before [every customer waited in line].”
Bradley Roach → Co-founder and co-owner of Terror Tacos
Nowadays, online and takeout customers can simply skip the line and wait at the bar for their order and those dining in can use the QR codes to pull up the menu and already know what they want before they sit down.
The impact: Deeper customer relationships and a stronger operation
With a more streamlined experience, the business can now focus on building an even deeper Terror Tacos experience. The business leverages Square Loyalty to build out its loyalty program where customers can earn a dollar for every ten dollars they spend. But in true Terror Tacos form, loyalty points are described as “coffins”, keeping in line with its brand experience.
Terror Tacos uses an in-depth understanding of returning and new customers to help strengthen those relationships. “We can just pull up who our top customers are and send them a gift card and a thank you,” said Bradley.
The business is in the process of taking the customer relationship a step further by finding new ways to connect with them through its merchandise line. All of the merchandise is currently sold in stores and mainly consists of T-shirts designed by local artists and the brothers themselves, but they’re planning on eventually selling the items online and using Square to help facilitate orders.
Leaning deeper into the notion of connecting with customers is crucial for Bradley and Brian as they curate a one-of-a-kind experience for customers and horror fans as they expand their offerings and eventually their footprint. According to Bradley, they’re focused on one key thing in everything they do: “We want to make sure Terror Tacos feels like a [unique] local joint and not just the horror [taco chain].”
