Case Studies
Eight Websites. One Brand. How H-Town Restaurant Group Drives Success Online.
After struggling with its website vendor, the group made famous by Hugo Ortega took ownership & started to flourish.
- Cuisine type:
- Multiple
- Locations:
- 7
- Founded:
- 1983
- City:
- Houston, TX
Products Used:
H-Town Restaurant Group is one of Houston's most iconic culinary institutions, with award-winning concepts such as Backstreet Cafe, Hugo's and Xochi helping to define the city's restaurant scene for decades.
However, H-Town's digital presence didn't always run as smoothly as its restaurants do. In 2016, it had just four websites managed by a New York-based contractor. With 1,630 miles separating them, the long-distance relationship created issues: delayed menu updates, infrequent website maintenance, clashing design aesthetics and unclear technical ownership.
Within months of adding BentoBox in 2016, the group launched four websites with brand-enhancing design, valuable marketing features and a user-friendly platform for staff to manage. In the years since, H-Town has continued to grow its footprint with several new concepts — and BentoBox has continued to grow with it.
$1.4 mil
direct online ordering revenue
$515k
online catering revenue (total)
$134k
online catering revenue (2021 holidays)
The first and most important thing H-Town wanted in a website was control. It needed a centralized platform that was easy enough for restaurant staff to manage, but modern enough to provide a stellar online guest experience. One place where it could easily edit menus, monitor inventory, pull reports and trigger pop-up alerts on the homepage.
H-Town’s director of human resources and IT, Taj Walker, has been extremely pleased with the experience. "For just three people to manage all of these sites — it’s remarkable," Walker says.
But it wasn’t just control that brought H-Town Restaurant Group to BentoBox. It was quality and new revenue streams. When H-Town launches a new concept, BentoBox’s design team works hand-in-hand with H-Town’s management team to weave the fabric of each new brand into the web design. This includes not just the homepage but online commerce features such as direct online ordering and pre-order & catering, which H-Town uses to drive substantial low-commission revenue.
The design of each H-Town restaurant website is tailored to each specific brand, visually telling guests what to expect.
With BentoBox's direct online ordering, Hugo's can customize the design of its ordering page — and also upload menu images, which help drive checkouts.
Regular menu pages also allow for custom design and imagery. Tabs allow for easy navigation across menu sections, and text-based menus help with SEO.
To further diversify revenue streams beyond ordering, H-Town sells cookbooks and gift bundles through an online merchandise store.
In addition to its restaurants, H-Town uses BentoBox for its corporate website, which provides information about the restaurant group and team.
When we launch a new concept, using BentoBox is a no-brainer. They know what restaurants need.
Taj Walker
Director of Human Resources & IT, H-Town Restaurant Group
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