Max's North America earns $2,000,000 in commission-free online sales

Client Spotlight:

Max's North America

Max’s North America builds relationships and revenue with data

With 21 locations in North America, 180 in the Philippines, and 4 in the Middle East, Max’s Restaurant knows who their guests are and what they want. In fact, that’s been the key to their success since day one.

In 1945, American troops occupying Quezon City in the Philippines became friends with Maximo Gimenez, whose home served as a reliable place to enjoy a drink and some camaraderie. Inspired by this ritual, Maximo opened a proper café, and soon Ruby, his niece and a café employee, created a new chicken recipe that attracted not only the troops but also the public. Soon, Max’s became “The House That Fried Chicken Built.”

Today, Max’s maintains a strong connection to guests thanks to powerful technology and effective marketing.

Reaching a niche audience with SEO

Care Pantojan, Marketing Manager for Max’s North America, knows that Filipino fried chicken attracts guests who want a different cuisine than the standard fast-food fare. Whether those guests are searching specifically for Filipino fried chicken or something outside of the usual burger chains, he wants Max’s to show up in search results. Improving SEO was top of mind when Care chose to partner with Popmenu for select locations in the United States and Canada—and that partnership has paid off.

In 2024, Max’s earned more than $2,000,000 in commission-free online orders with Popmenu thanks in part to the increased visibility Popmenu’s website provides them in search engines. First, a Popmenu interactive menu means each dish has its own unique page, which is more content for Google to index. Plus, guests can leave reviews for each dish, which both helps other guests choose a meal and tells Google that this page has fresh, relevant content. Those features are built into the platform and put Max’s on a path to higher organic rankings.

"The reviews we get are really important because they get posted on each menu item. So when someone searches ‘best Filipino fried chicken in Las Vegas,’ that review appears on Google."

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Those on-site reviews are also valuable because they affect the customer journey. When a guest looks at the menu to browse dishes, they are also seeing how much other guests liked it. It helps shift their thinking from “Is this restaurant good?” to “Will I like this specific dish?” and move them toward placing an order.

Care also ensures he’s attracting guests by using the right keywords throughout his website—from dish descriptions to the About Us page. After consulting his keyword analytics tool to identify the keywords bringing guests to his site, he logs into Popmenu and adjusts language in a matter of seconds thanks to a simple user interface that doesn’t require any coding skills. Plus, the updates happen in real time.

“Working with Popmenu is really great because they really give us ideas on how to create more search engine optimization.”

Care Pantojan

Marketing Manager for Max’s North America

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Owning data is the first step to building a relationship

Enhanced SEO was a crucial first step to get guests in the door, but Max’s wanted to keep them coming back. No matter how great the cuisine is, restaurants are competing to capture consumer spend—and not just with other restaurants. That’s why building a personal connection is so important to Care, and having access to comprehensive, real-time data about nearly 75,000 guest contacts makes that possible..

Max’s has proven that the right combination of marketing and guest data gets results without adding more work to their plate: Max’s email open rate (60.5%) and click-through rate (8.3%) are significantly higher than the industry average, and their automated campaigns have driven more than $330,000 in revenue. All without anyone at Max's having to lift a finger.

For example, Max's sends an automated message to guests after they place an online order and explains they will be entered into a drawing for $500 if they leave a dish review. That email has generated more than $31,000 in sales. Also, when a customer hasn’t placed an order in a while, Max’s sends an automated email to come back and place an order—which has earned more than $74,300 in sales.

These messages perform well because Max’s is reaching out to guests with relevant messaging at the right time, which means they're more likely to open them and take action. As a result, Max’s not only earns more revenue but also strengthens a personal connection with their customer base, improves SEO for their website, and rewards guests.

“As operators, we need to start building relationships with our customers because without them we’re nothing.”

Care Pantojan

Marketing Manager for Max’s North America

Popmenu + Genius: one menu, one ordering flow, fewer manual updates

What initially drew Nick, along with marketing director Brennan Best, to Popmenu was its seamless integration with Great Basin’s POS system Genius. Prior to Popmenu, any menu or website changes were manual and time-consuming: menus changing two to four times a year and updates across locations via various technologies, all online orders were routed through third parties, cutting into the restaurants’ profits. After choosing Popmenu, the team has saved significant time: instantaneous website changes across all channels, online orders go directly from the Popmenu platform into the Genius POS, and guests’ orders are fulfilled with less room for error.

In the months following the launch, Great Basin has seen an average month-over-month 11% increase in online ordering gross payment value (GPV), which is the total amount processed during transactions. During that period, they’ve also gained more than 1,000 new guest contacts (a 9% increase)—and those new followers have driven almost 75% of their orders. With Popmenu, Great Basin is capturing guest information so they can stay top of mind and continue to build a loyal customer base.

“The ability [as a result of the Popmenu integration] for our customers to order directly from our website, and for that to be less expensive for them without the additional markups for third-party delivery, has been a gamechanger for us and has really improved the experience for our guests.”

-Brennan Best
Marketing Director of Great Basin Brewing Company

Stronger communications or better SEOhappier guests

For Great Basin, technology isn’t just about efficiency–it’s about staying connected with their guests and their community. So when they had to navigate between several scattered and disparate communications tools, they weren’t able to get their message across in the meaningful, consistent way that aligns with their values.

The Popmenu platform has enabled Great Basin to unify their messaging, while still allowing each location to have its own unique voice. Within the platform, they’ve been able to customize the look and feel of each location’s landing page to convey the fact that each restaurant has a different personality.

“It's always been important for us to listen to our community, while also conveying our brand’s narrative to our community as well. The Popmenu platform has been super helpful because not only does it allow us to receive feedback from our guests, but it also enables us to respond directly to those guests.”

-Brennan Best
Marketing Director of Great Basin Brewing Company

The brewery’s SEO has also improved since integrating with Popmenu, as their website’s event inquiry page for guests looking to host onsite parties has seen a surge in traffic. Soon after Great Basin made the switch to Popmenu, location managers were trying to understand why they were seeing unprecedented levels of interest in events. As a result, they are currently booked with private parties through mid-2026.

“Popmenu’s built-in marketing tools have replaced several standalone systems, saving costs and creating consistent messaging. We were able to cut a few hundred dollars a month by consolidating tools, and now our messaging – emails, events, promotions – all run through one seamless system.”

-Nick Meyer
Director of Operations and Owner of Great Basin Brewing Company

Smooth and supported implementation

As any restaurant team can attest to, rolling out new technology across multiple locations can be daunting and challenging. But Nick, Brennan, and the entire Great Basin staff credit both Popmenu’s onboarding process and its client service reps for a smooth transition. Even launching the integration during one of Great Basin’s busiest seasons didn’t slow things down.

“We had everything running in about a week across four locations – it was one of the easiest integrations we’ve done. We even went live right before summer events, and it didn’t faze the team at all. Once everything was set, we were off and running.”

-Nick Meyer
Director of Operations and Owner of Great Basin Brewing Company

For more tips, follow Popmenu.

Want a closer look at how automation can bring in more orders while saving you time and money? Book a 20-minute, no-pressure demo with Popmenu.

We’ve got your back. Every. Day.

Max's North America earns $2,000,000 in commission-free online sales

Max’s North America builds relationships and revenue with data

Reaching a niche audience with SEO

Owning data is the first step to building a relationship

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Nevada brewery saves time, grows direct online ordering, and unifies multi-location operations with Popmenu and Genius.

Popmenu + Genius: one menu, one ordering flow, fewer manual updates

Stronger communications or better SEOhappier guests

Smooth and supported implementation

For more tips, follow Popmenu.

We’ve got your back. Every. Day.

For more tips, follow Popmenu.

We’ve got your back. Every. Day.