A family restaurant grows revenue and relationships with AI marketing

Client Spotlight:

Rubys Jamaican Kitchen

How did Ruby’s grow marketing-driven revenue from an average of $2,000 a month to $12,000? With a little help from AI.

Ruby’s Jamaican Kitchen in Alexandria, Virginia, offers authentic Jamaican cuisine that tastes homemade…because it is. Bridgett Richardson, owner of Ruby’s, takes pride in making meals from scratch that honor the legacy of her mother, the restaurant’s namesake.

“Our food is as authentic Jamaican as you’re going to get it. If I’m running low on something, and I need to re-cook it, it does not happen in 15 minutes,” says Bridgett.

That dedication to authenticity means Bridgett works 18-hour days, which leaves her no time to plan marketing strategies and create content. Enter Popmenu AI Marketing.

Marketing for the operator who has no spare time.

Brigette’s husband Anthony, who often assists with marketing, urged her to give Popmenu’s new AI tool a try to see if it could accomplish some of the marketing tasks they were too busy to take on themselves. She signed up for it and didn’t think about it again--but fortunately, Anthony did.

Popmenu AI Marketing uses artificial intelligence to automatically create a full month of timely and unique content. The emails, texts, and social posts are based on the restaurant’s menu, reviews, events, and more. All the owner has to do is approve (or edit) and hit the schedule button. Anthony did just that, unbeknownst to Bridgett.

“I got hit so bad for my lunch rush. Not only that: the brown stew that was featured was one of my slowest items. It was sold out in two hours, and I wondered what was going on. Even the employees were saying, ‘Nobody eats brown stew like this,’” said Bridgett.

When Anthony told her a text went out promoting brown stew, she was shocked at the effectiveness and keeps it on her radar now.

“Now, even though I don’t pay attention to all of the marketing, I try to stay aware of when a text or an email goes out. I know I will get hit with a rush of orders. Whatever is featured on that day is what people are coming in and asking for—and that’s how I know it works. Marketing actually does work,” said Bridgett.

For Ruby’s Jamaican Kitchen, AI Marketing addressed a persistent challenge many businesses face: getting in front of customers. Bridgett points out that everyone is looking at their phones all day, so sending an email or text message allows her to meet customers where they are.

“AI marketing is capturing information about the people we care about. We consider them family. They will see those Instagram posts and text messages. The more we see them, the more they should feel they are not just a face or just a number but are becoming part of the family.”

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Relevant Marketing Builds Relationships

“The marketing emails and texts are right in front of them saying, ‘You know these people. You know the kind of service you’re going to get. You know the kind of food that you’re going to get. How about having lunch with them?’ That takes the burden of promotion off me,” says Bridgett.

Originally, Bridgett used automated emails—a feature available to all Popmenu customers—to consistently market to Ruby’s customers. These customizable emails, which are sent based on guest behavior, helped to bring in nearly $2,400 in marketing-driven online sales a month. However, once she added AI Marketing’s mass email and text message campaigns, Ruby’s Jamaican Kitchen grew online sales to over $6,300 within one month and then doubled it the following month.

When they were both too busy to approve content in June, the marketing-related revenue dipped, but still reached nearly $5,000 because they had been consistently marketing during the months prior. When they approved content in July, that number jumped back up to $13,000...and continues to grow.

AI Marketing saves time but keeps a personal touch

“If you are as busy as I am, and you really want to see your business grow without having that added responsibility, it takes a little bit more than just having the food, customer service, and team behind you. You really do have to put the work into the other part of it. For the price, I’ve seen a tremendous difference in just how customers come in and are more aware of what they want to eat. And it really does help.”

Bridgett Richardson

Owner, Ruby's Jamaican Kitchen

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.

A family restaurant grows revenue and relationships with AI marketing

How did Ruby’s grow marketing-driven revenue from an average of $2,000 a month to $12,000? With a little help from AI.

Marketing for the operator who has no spare time.

Relevant Marketing Builds Relationships

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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.