Doug Marschke knows a thing or two about running restaurants. With six different Mexican-inspired restaurants across San Francisco, Doug has spent years mastering the perfect neighborhood taco joint, and has put smiles on thousands of customers’ faces for almost two decades.

At Underdogs Too, customers devour everything from classic street tacos and loaded nachos to Nick’s Way tacos that are loaded with extra toppings. The explosion of flavors on Underdog Too’s menu got customers through the door, and when Doug added Grubhub delivery, demand skyrocketed.

It didn’t take long for Doug to expand Grubhub’s services to all of his restaurant locations. Soon Underdogs Tres, Underdogs Cantina, Tacko, TODOS and North Beach Cantina were live on Grubhub Marketplace. Customers all across the San Francisco area are only one Grubhub delivery driver away from Doug’s creations.

The creativity and passion Doug and his managing partners put into each restaurant has allowed them to build a unique brand. Each restaurant has its own personality and draws inspiration from the community it serves. 

“At the end of the day we are building communities everywhere,” Doug said. “That includes within our own network of restaurants and restaurant employees.”

Running restaurants with a sustainable mission

At Doug’s six restaurant locations, good Mexican-inspired food isn’t the only thing on the menu. 

The one thing you can be sure of at every restaurant location is that their ingredients are local and sustainable. In fact, sustainability has been a top priority for Doug since he opened his first restaurant in 2006. As environmentally-conscious shopping is on the rise, It’s important for both Doug and his customers to understand where his food is coming from.

“Being sustainable is just being a good citizen of the world,” Doug said “We could ignore the impact we make as humans, or we can do something about it.”

And Doug has chosen to do something about it – removing straws from his locations, using sustainable packaging, buying local ingredients and cooking with grass fed and free range meat are all things Doug does to uphold his environmental pledge. Doug and his team’s efforts earned them an Ocean Friendly Restaurant recognition from the Surfrider Foundation.

Limiting food waste at each restaurant location not only promotes sustainability, but it’s also helped cut costs. Every detail is investigated at Doug’s restaurants to eliminate waste.

“Everything that comes through our door we try to reuse,” Doug said. “It’s our duty as a restaurant to help the environment.”

Doug’s commitment to sustainability carries over to his restaurant’s delivery and takeout orders as well. His employees combine packaging and eliminate extra waste while paying mind to customers’ requests. It’s policy to only add utensils and napkins upon customer request. The number of complementary sauces is also limited to reduce mindless waste.

“The way we can get around people’s wasteful behavior and try to train them to be more mindful,” Doug said. “Nothing’s worse than getting a Grubhub order and having to throw away an entire pile of packaging.”

Using POS integration to improve operations

Running multiple restaurants comes with a lot of logistical oversight. Operational efficiency is a top priority for Doug, and essential to keep all six locations open. That’s where Grubhub comes in.

Grubhub’s POS integration has given Doug a single place to manage the different technologies and ordering processes his restaurants deal with daily. Using only one system to oversee multiple restaurants allows Doug and his team to stay efficient, streamlining operations.

Doug relies on Grubhub’s Toast integration to manage his restaurants. With this integration, Doug can sync his menus, hours and orders between platforms for each restaurant. This eliminates the need for separate tablets and logins, making it easier for his front-of-house staff to focus on what matters: the customers.

 “When I onboard a new restaurant to the POS integrations, it’s quick and straightforward,” Doug said. “It works for all my restaurants.”

Reaching more customers with Grubhub delivery

There’s one thing Doug’s restaurants have proven for over a decade: tacos taste just as good on the go as they do in-house. The different locations have perfected keeping quesadillas steamy, chips crunchy and burritos wrapped on the go. Delivery is a constant at all six of Doug’s restaurants.

To Doug, delivery is an essential part of modern dining. As delivery took the restaurant industry by storm, Doug knew he needed to expand his dining services.

Developing our own software and managing our own drivers would end up costing more in the long run. That’s why we utilize Grubhub, it does this work for us.

Doug Marschke, Owner of Underdogs Too

“Developing our own software and managing our own drivers would end up costing more in the long run,” Doug said. “That’s why we utilize Grubhub, it does this work for us.”

With Grubhub Delivery, Doug and his management team can set their own delivery boundaries and track orders. Grubhub drivers handle getting the food to customers, giving Doug and his team more time to focus on in-house operations.

“We wouldn’t be in business without third-party partnerships like Grubhub,” Doug said. “Being able to have this other line of revenue keeps us in business.”

Third-party delivery accounts for 20-50% of his six restaurants’ individual revenue. 

Using Grubhub to expand marketing impact

As a seasoned restaurant owner, Doug understands how no restaurant is profitable without loyal customers. The real challenge is finding the right avenues to reach these customers and convince them to place an order.

What marketing strategy works the best for Doug?

He’s tried it all: email campaigns, newsletters, social media accounts and direct mailing, just to name a few. To keep up with modern diners, Doug has leaned into partnership marketing as well.

“Using Grubhub’s marketing features has allowed us to have a wider reach,” Doug said. “Promotions reach Grubhub customers, and we can see the ROI in our Grubhub dashboard.”

Grubhub’s promotion tools have also allowed Doug to experiment with his marketing strategies at his different locations to find what works best. He stays up to date with Grubhub’s flexible promotions, changing tactics based on customer habits during busier ordering times.

“What’s really nice about Grubhub is the matching funds that come up from time to time,” Doug said. “It’s a no-brainer for us to opt-in to a promotion where Grubhub will match our funds. When we run promotions, our revenue goes up.”

But at the end of the day the marketing strategy that Doug has found works the best is creating community connections.

“Being involved in the community like we are is important,” Doug said. “Whether it’s supporting a local school or community events, our brand and our name gets out there.”

—–

Are you a restaurant owner looking to gain more customers and grow your business? Partner with Grubhub today to make your restaurant a community staple like Underdogs Too.