Restaurant Operational Review

Submitted by Fotios Ntagiantas

2015

Table of Contents

Executive Summary Page 3

1. Introduction Page 4

2. Service Concept Page 4

3. Servicescape Page 5

3.1 Location Page 5

3.2 Designed Environment Page 5

4. Service Delivery System Page 6

4.1 People Page 6

4.2 Systems Page 6

4.3 Equipment & Technology Page 7

5. Service Experience Page 8

5.1 Conclusion Page 8

5.2 Recommendations Page 8

6. References Page 9

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Executive Summary

This report provides an operational review of Wahaca restaurant in Oxford Circus, London.

Wahaca’s proposed concept is to serve Mexican street food matched with fresh, locally sourced ingredients in a contemporary restaurant setting.

A personal service experience at the restaurant suggests that Wahaca indeed delivers the service promise to the customer. A variety of Mexican classics such as quesadillas, tacos, tostadas, and taquitos is offered for reasonable prices. In addition, the restaurant’s servicescape constitutes a core competency, as the aesthetics exude a unique, vibrant, cheerful atmosphere that resembles Mexico’s street stalls, with the layout being carefully designed to deal with space constraints.

With regards to service delivery system, distinctive organisational culture characterises its people, Wahacos as the company calls them, who deliver service in a friendly, cheerful and professional manner. Moreover, service delivery system seems to be effective, with quickly delivered food and smoothly executed service cycle. Noticeably, whilst the back-of-house is decoupled, Wahaca has embraced the “open kitchen” trend that allows for customer engagement. Last but not least, innovative technology solutions, such as the Cielo Kitchen Display System and the Flypay mobile app, add value to the operations by eliminating costs, increasing employee productivity, and enhancing guest experience.

Nonetheless, it is recommended that a punch to the flavours would add value to the rather plain food that can be found in a number of competitors, while a more vibrant staff uniform would match better with the restaurant’s servicescape. Finally, the restaurant’s tipping policy should be re-considered to deal with dissatisfaction of wait staff that could negatively impact their performance.

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1. Introduction

The purpose of this report is to review the operation of Wahaca restaurant in Oxford Circus, London. The proposed service concept is presented first, followed by an analysis of the servicescape and the service delivery system in terms of its people, systems, equipment and technology. Finally, it draws a conclusion and makes recommendations based on a personal experience that took place on 22 October 2015 during lunchtime.

2. Service Concept

Wahaca’s proposed concept is to serve Mexican street food in a restaurant setting. Co-founded by Thomasina Miers and Mark Selby in 2007, Wahaca “was born from their love of fresh, honest, Mexican market food” (Wahaca, 2015a). Wahaca founders arguably gave a new dimension to the Mexican food market, which, at the time, was synonymous to cheap, fast-food places mainly offering typical burritos, tortilla chips, and shots.

A look at Wahaca’s website prompts customers to expect a modern, vibrant, casual dining experience as the core product, with Mexican inspired flavours matched with fresh, locally sourced ingredients serving as the actual product. Mexican classics such as quesadillas, tacos, tostadas, and taquitos, as well as a number of bigger dishes comprise the restaurant’s constantly evolving seasonal menu (Wahaca, 2015b).

Wahaca’s concept is service-focused; the range of services it provides is narrow, revolving around Mexican cuisine, whereas the target market is broad (Ball et al., 2003). In terms of demographics, Wahaca targets essentially anyone into that cuisine, from business to leisure customers, with Millennials at the forefront, as suggested by its youthful spirit. The additional kids’ menu clearly shows Wahaca caters for families as well. With regards to locations, the chain is fast-growing with already nineteen branches in the UK, mainly in London, and plans to expand further in the coming years (Wahaca, 2015c).

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3. Servicescape

3.1 Location

The restaurant benefits from the huge traffic Oxford Circus attracts. With countless businesses around the corner, it can rely on repeat visits by customers whose work is based there, as well as casual people who walk in to fill their appetite while visiting the area for shopping. The restaurant’s strategic location demonstrates Wahaca’s aim for high visibility and ease of access, both crucial in attracting customers (Parpal, 2014).

3.2 Designed Environment

Restaurant design forms an integral part of the service package (Navasivayam and Li, 2008); and Wahaca has evidently taken this into consideration to create a competitive advantage.

The restaurant’s exterior features large transparent windows which attract the attention of passers-by by giving them a taste of the colourful interior, while the distinctive Wahaca logo shines prominently at the top of the building.

Regarding the interior, the ground floor comprises a small open kitchen, a staff-bar, and a dining area with a medium capacity of approximately 200 covers, while a small customer-bar and toilets can be found on the basement. The “fixed position” layout of the dining area has a practical design, with staff having easy access to the kitchen and bar, while tables are generously spaced apart allowing for customers’ comfort and staff to perform their duties conveniently. The “process” layout of the open kitchen, organised into different sections (starters, main dishes, etc.,) is also carefully designed to deal with space constraints (Tuttle, 2012).

Looking at the aesthetics, Wahaca exudes a contemporary, vibrant, and ultimately unique ambience. Colourful Mexican flags hang from the walls, while artefacts by Mexican and British artists resemble Mexico’s street stalls. Moreover, light walls are internally illuminated with yellow light to give the dining area a welcoming, sunny disposition, while traditional Mexican music playing on the background adds to the blend. Finally, distinct spaces are brought together by cleverly placed viewpoints which encourage a natural flow of circulation around the restaurant (Softroom, 2015).

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4. Service Delivery System

4.1 People

Wahaca endeavours to achieve service excellence culture that focuses on serving and satisfying the customer by instilling a friendly, upbeat attitude to its employees. Calling them “Wahacos”, the company aims to create a sense of community that shares the values of humility, involvement, passion, integrity, and innovation that characterise Mexican market stalls (Wahaca, 2015d). This strategy is supported by the theory that a strong organisational culture is essential in delivering a unique guest experience, ultimately constituting a core competency (Baird and Wang, 2010).

Weekly newsletters are distributed to employees that provide company news updates, acknowledge achievements, and share information on upcoming trainings and events (Wahaca, 2015e). The purpose of this practice is to create engagement through knowledge sharing and rewarding; a highly recommended way for improving employee performance (Gilmore and Williams, 2013).

On another note, Wahaca has adopted a somewhat controversial tipping policy, according to which waiters are required to hand over 3.3% of card sales and 0.075% of cash sales at the end of every shift, regardless of how much money they have made on tips. This policy is justified by the company as being part of its sharing culture, since this money is used to distribute waiters’ tips to other staff, such as kitchen and bar workers, thus creating a fair place to work (O’Carroll, 2015).

4.2 Systems

Wahaca’s service delivery process follows simple steps of the casual dining service cycle. Guests are greeted by the host at the entrance, while the waiter takes over once they are seated. The concepts of Information Processing Operation (IPO) and Customer Processing Operation (CPO) best describe the various stages of guest experience (Jones et al., 2009). The first applies for activities such as the waiter explaining the menu to guests and communicating the order to the kitchen, while the latter characterises such activities as the allocation of guests to tables by the host, the food and drink delivery by the waiter with the runners’ assistance, and the payment process in the end.

High interaction takes place throughout the dining experience, with staff frequently checking with customers if they are happy with their meals or need something more (drinks, desserts, etc.). This is an effective way to ensure customer satisfaction, while attempting to maximise profits by upselling (Ball, 2008). In the end, guests are

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encouraged to give feedback on their experience on comment cards and Wahaca’s website. This tactic is in line with the theory of service experience, which supports that operations are most productive when customer feedback adapts the delivery process (Jones et al., 2009).

Noticeably, Wahaca has adopted a clever way of dealing with waiting time, which simultaneously allows for reaching for extra profits; in case the restaurant operates at its asset frontier, the host informs guests of the waiting time and encourages them to have some drinks at the bars in the meantime. This approach is consistent with the theory that an effective way of managing wait is to make it acceptable and even enjoyable to guests (Norman, 2008).

With regards to the back of house, whilst it is decoupled form the dining area, it follows the “open kitchen” trend. That way, Materials Processing Operation (MPO) can take place separately from front-of-house functions (Ball, 2008), while simultaneously engaging diners by bringing the food preparation within their view (Tuttle, 2012).

4.3 Equipment & Technology

Consistent with the theory that technology can be used to add value to operations, Wahaca has invested in innovative technology solutions to create a competitive advantage (Jones et al., 2009).

With regards to staff interaction with technology, Wahaca utilises Cielo Kitchen Display System, which connects to network and cloud services so that orders can be sent directly from the dining area to the kitchen through a handheld console (Box Technologies, 2015). This way, Wahaca aims to increase customer satisfaction by improving order efficiency and accuracy, leaving staff free to serve customers in a fast and seamless manner, while simultaneously eliminating print costs and handwritten orders.

In terms of customer interaction with technology, Wahaca implements the Flypay mobile app to complement its Point of Sale (POS) system. The app allows for quick, easy, and simple mobile payments, reducing transaction time and increasing productivity for front-of-house team by cutting down on time when calculating and processing bills (VeriFone, 2015). In addition, it provides accurate and intelligent statistics to help Wahaca run its business more effectively by reconciling transactions and generating detailed centralised real-time reports. Outside the dining experience, Wahaca widely uses social media to engage customers through initiatives such as online competitions and voting for dishes to be included on the menus.

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On another note, Wahaca takes pride in its commitment to sustainability. Materials with high recycled content are used, such as its paper menus that also serve as table mats, along with energy efficient equipment, water efficient taps, and sustainable timber (Wahaca, 2015f).

The aforementioned tactics demonstrate Wahaca’s objective of using technology to pursue both a cost producer strategy and a high value added strategy (Whitelaw, 2008).

5. Service Experience

5.1 Conclusion

After a personal service experience at Wahaca restaurant in Oxford Circus, it is concluded that Wahaca’s service concept indeed delivers the service promise to the customer.

The restaurant fulfils its promise for Mexican street food made of fresh ingredients, with a variety of reasonably priced dishes available to satisfy customers’ taste.

Servicescape is a unique selling point for the restaurant. The vibrant aesthetics harmonise with the Mexican food concept and enhance the meal experience, while practicalities of the layout have been taken into consideration.

Distinctive service culture characterises the waiting staff, who deliver service in a friendly, cheerful, and professional manner.

Operating at its asset frontier during the visit, service delivery system was effective, with quickly delivered food and smoothly executed service cycle.

Innovative technology is utilised to control costs and add value to the service experience, thus creating a competitive advantage for Wahaca.

5.2 Recommendations

Following are some recommendations for improving Wahaca’s service delivery system:

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A punch to the flavours could give the concept more value, as many of the current offerings are rather simple dishes that can be found in a number of Mexican restaurants.

Staff uniform could change into something more vibrant to resonate with the cheerful Mexican concept. The current one is rather dull and makes it difficult for customers to distinguish the staff at times.

Tipping policy should be re-considered, as it seems to cause dissatisfaction to waiters, ultimately running the risk to create alienation and negatively impact their performance.

6. References

Baird, K. and Wang, H. (2010) “Employee empowerment: extent of adoption and influential factors”, Personnel Review, 39(5), pp.574-599.

Ball, S. (2008) Hospitality Systems, in Jones, P. (Ed.) (2008) Handbook of Hospitality Operations and I.T. Elsevier: Burlington, MA., pp.19-42.

Ball, S. Jones, P. Kirk, D. and Lockwood, A. (2003) Hospitality Operations: A Systems Approach. Continuum: London.

Box Technologies (2015) Cielo Kitchen Display Systems. Thame: Box Technologies. Available at: http://boxtechnologies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Cielo-KDS-Brochure-v21.pdf (Accessed: 28 October 2015).

Gilmore, S. and Williams, S. (2013) Human Resource Management. 2nd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Jones, P., Lockwood, A. and Mogendorff, D. (2009) Management of hospitality operations. 3rd edn. London: South-Western Cengage Learning/University of Surrey.

Namasivayam, K. and Lin, I.Y. (2008) The servicescape, in Jones, P. (Ed.) (2008) Handbook of Hospitality Operations and I.T. Elsevier: Burlington, MA., pp.43-62.

Norman, D.A. (2008) The Psychology of Waiting Lines. California: Nielsen Norman Group. Discussion Paper 98/2008. Available at: http://www.jnd.org/ms/Norman%20The%20Psychology%20of%20Waiting%20Lines.pdf (Accessed: 31 October 2015).

O’Carroll, L. (2015) “Mexican-style Wahaca is latest food chain to be accused of unfair tipping policy” The Guardian, 03 October. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/oct/03/wahaca-chain-accused-of-unfair-tipping-policy (Accessed: 01 November 2015).

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Parpal, M. (2014) “Choosing a New Restaurant Location” Foodservice Warehouse, 29 August. Available at: http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/blog/new-restaurant-location/ (Accessed: 27 October 2015).

Softroom (2015) Studio Profile – Hospitality. London: Softroom. Available at: http://www.softroom.com/PDF/SOFTROOM_HOSPITALITY.pdf (Accessed: 23 October 2015).

Tuttle, B. (2012) “Nothing to Hide: Why Restaurants Embrace the Open Kitchen” Time, 20 August. Available at: http://business.time.com/2012/08/20/nothing-to-hide-why-restaurants-embrace-the-open-kitchen/ (Accessed: 28 October 2015).

VeriFone (2015) Flypay and Wahaca Case study. Available at: http://www.verifone.co.uk/company/resources/flypay-and-wahaca-case-study/ (Accessed: 30 October 2015).

Wahaca (2015a) About Us. Available at: http://www.wahaca.co.uk/story/about-us/ (Accessed: 25 October 2015).

Wahaca (2015b) Menu. Available at: http://www.wahaca.co.uk/menu/food/ (Accessed: 25 October 2015).

Wahaca (2015c) Locations. Available at: http://www.wahaca.co.uk/locations/ (Accessed: 25 October 2015).

Wahaca (2015d) We Are Familee. London: Wahaca.

Wahaca (2015e) Ola Wahacos Newsletter – Issue 43. London: Wahaca.

Wahaca (2015f) Red, White & Green. Available at: http://www.wahaca.co.uk/sustainability/ (Accessed: 25 October 2015).

Whitelaw, P.A. (2008) ITC and Hospitality Operations, in Jones, P. (Ed.) (2008) Handbook of Hospitality Operations and I.T. Elsevier: Burlington, MA., pp.168-184.

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