Tequila’s recognition has surged over the previous decade. Tequila and mezcal revenues reached $6.7 billion in 2024, up 2.9 p.c from the earlier 12 months, at the same time as general spirits revenues declined. That progress displays a broader shift in client preferences towards premium spirits, genuine manufacturing strategies, and experience-driven ingesting events.
As visitors turn into extra serious about high quality, craftsmanship, and authenticity, essentially the most profitable eating places are turning tequila choices right into a guided selection by utilizing clear storytelling, a structured menu, and employees who can confidently suggest new experiences. When executed effectively, tequila storytelling will increase verify averages and provides visitors a purpose to return and take a look at a distinct bottle subsequent time.
What’s Tequila Storytelling in a Restaurant, and Why Can it Increase Margins?
one hundred pc Agave Tequila already has momentum. Shoppers see it as a cleaner spirit, typically related to no components and an genuine expertise. Additionally it is generally described as extra uplifting in comparison with different spirits. That notion alone has helped gasoline demand.
Storytelling in a restaurant setting goes additional than these perceptions. It means giving context. Is the tequila highland or lowland? Is it a small batch? Is it additive-free? Is it aged like a whiskey or designed for shiny cocktails? When everyone seems to be aligned on even one clear, memorable element, tequila strikes from being simply one other pour to one thing value exploring.
Serving to visitors perceive tequila higher additionally has a direct impression on gross sales. When visitors perceive what makes a tequila particular, they’re much extra open to upgrading. A fantastically delivered clarification can flip a primary margarita right into a premium one. That schooling reduces hesitation, and as visitors perceive what they’re paying for, they turn into extra comfy spending just a little extra.
Matching Tequila Storytelling to Visitor Intent on the Desk
Tequila’s rise has reshaped cocktail tradition. In lots of markets, tequila is now rivaling vodka in gross sales progress, signaling a shift in customers’ base spirit decisions. Visitors are leaning towards lighter, brisker profiles and spirits that really feel extra pure. Because the class turns into extra crowded, visitors are beginning to look past the well-known model names and ask extra considerate questions on who makes the tequila, the place it comes from, and what units it aside.
That curiosity creates actual alternative on the desk. Some visitors join with tales about heritage and craftsmanship, whereas others care extra about how clear it tastes or how effectively it mixes in a cocktail. Some need one thing stylish, whereas others need one thing genuine and rooted in custom. The bottom line is listening to intent. A visitor ordering a spicy margarita is totally different from somebody asking for a neat pour. Matching the story to the second will increase each satisfaction and spend.
Organising a Tequila Menu to Improve Revenue
In lots of locations, customers are shifting away from the short shot tradition and towards sipping and cocktail experiences. For eating places, that pattern opens the door to sensible menu curation.
Right here is an easy technique to construction your tequila menu:
- Begin with a simple entry choice. Supply a strong, approachable home tequila that’s high quality, whereas accessible and inexpensive.
- Add a mid-tier premium selection. This could really feel like a step up in high quality and craftsmanship.
- Embrace a high-end choice. Characteristic a top-shelf additional añejo or restricted bottle at the next worth level to set the tone for high quality.
Having a transparent construction creates a pure development for visitors, making premium decisions really feel much less intimidating and serving to them perceive their choices. Construction drives notion, and notion drives margin.
How Employees Coaching Provides to the Equation
Even the most effective tequila menu is not going to drive greater margins if employees should not assured speaking about it. Coaching turns a very good menu into actual outcomes. When servers perceive the fundamentals, just like the distinction between blanco and reposado, or one key element a couple of featured bottle or model, they’ll information visitors naturally fairly than sounding scripted.
Coaching doesn’t should be advanced. Lean in your provider companions to offer employees schooling. Give employees sufficient coaching for every menu tier and assist them perceive which tequila fits which kind of visitor, and the way to talk that confidently. When employees imagine in what they’re recommending, visitors are extra open to upgrading, and the suggestion feels useful.
A well known instance of this executed at scale is Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco. Julio Bermejo constructed his tequila program round schooling from the bottom up, visiting distilleries in Jalisco, studying from producers firsthand, and bringing that data again to his employees and visitors alike. He created the Blue Agave Membership, a tequila schooling and tasting program that encourages individuals to deepen their data of agave spirits via guided studying and examinations. The result’s a group that speaks about tequila with real conviction and visitors who belief their suggestions. When employees imagine in what they’re recommending, that enthusiasm is contagious on the desk.
Indicators Your Tequila Program Is Creating Extra Engaged Visitors
One of the simplest ways to know if tequila storytelling is working is to have a look at visitor habits, not simply gross sales. If visitors turn into extra curious, ask extra questions, and discover the class, the numbers will normally comply with.
Tommy’s in San Francisco presents a very good instance. They did not construct one of the crucial revered tequila packages in North America by merely stocking extra bottles. They invested closely in employees schooling and visitor experiences. Over time, tequila grew to become a part of the restaurant’s identification. Visitors did not simply order tequila. They explored it.
Eating places can search for related indicators in their very own packages:
Premiumization of orders: Are visitors shifting past effectively tequila and selecting reposados, añejos, or small-batch expressions? If a visitor is available in for the standard margarita however leaves having upgraded to a premium tequila as a result of a server shared a compelling story, that is a transparent signal the class is gaining worth.
Exploration habits: Are visitors making an attempt totally different tequilas every go to? One of many strongest indicators of profitable storytelling is when visitors cease treating tequila as a commodity and begin treating it like a class value exploring. A visitor who orders a blanco one go to, a reposado the following, and finally tries a flight is demonstrating rising engagement.
Flight and tasting participation: Eating places that supply tequila flights, guided tastings, or pairing experiences can monitor whether or not visitors are selecting these choices extra often. Tommy’s famously constructed demand by turning tequila schooling into an expertise.
Employees-driven upgrades: Are servers efficiently recommending premium pours and specialty cocktails? When employees really feel assured explaining manufacturing strategies, regional variations, or growing old kinds, visitors are sometimes extra prepared to spend a number of {dollars} extra as a result of they perceive what makes the product totally different.
Class share of gross sales: As a substitute of specializing in general beverage income, eating places ought to monitor tequila’s share of alcohol gross sales. If storytelling is working, tequila typically captures a bigger portion of visitor spending over time.
Finally, profitable tequila storytelling modifications visitor habits. As a substitute of ordering the identical drink each go to, visitors turn into extra curious, extra adventurous, and extra prepared to commerce up. If these numbers are shifting in the suitable course, storytelling is working. That is when storytelling strikes from being a advertising train to a measurable income driver.
