How BJ’s Restaurants Strengthens Guest Experience through Connected Operations with Crunchtime Kitchen and Host

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. is a nationally recognized casual dining brand known for its brewhouse roots, handcrafted beers, and expansive menu. Operating more than 200 restaurants across 30 states in the U.S., BJ’s delivers high-volume service while maintaining a consistent, celebratory guest experience. Supporting that scale requires technology that can grow alongside the business without compromising service quality or employee satisfaction.

Gong cha Uses Crunchtime Ops Execution to Improve Task Completion, Guest Return Visits, and Brand Standards

Gong cha increased brand standards compliance and improved above-store oversight across its 400+ stores in North America with Ops Execution. The increased visibility and access to real-time data empowers leadership to make more informed decisions and will help scale its store and field operations teams as it adds 300+ U.S. locations in the next two years.

CHALLENGE

Sustaining Growth While Delivering an Exceptional Guest Experience

As BJ’s continued to expand, the brand faced the challenge of sustaining growth while consistently exceeding guest expectations. With large-format restaurants seating approximately 250 guests each, teams needed tools to manage walk-ins, reservations, waitlists, floor plans, and kitchens, all without overwhelming staff or creating friction for guests.

BJ’s leadership sought a technology partner capable of scaling across the entire brand, while integrating seamlessly into daily operations and supporting both customer-facing and kitchen teams. Brian Krakower, CIO, notes, “Our core focus is always to ask ourselves: ‘Are we delivering an exceptional guest experience and are we always exceeding their expectations?’”

BJ’s Restaurants paired Crunchtime Kitchen with Crunchtime Host to create a connected technology stack that supports both operational efficiency and guest satisfaction. Crunchtime Host enables intuitive table management, waitlist control, reservations, and two-way SMS communication, giving guests more freedom and transparency throughout their visit.

Crunchtime Host integrates with tools like Reserve with Google and OpenTable while capturing valuable guest data and linking directly to BJ’s Restaurants customer loyalty program. Crunchtime Kitchen streamlines kitchen workflows, improves speed and accuracy, and ensures consistent execution across all locations. Together, both Kitchen and Host are easy to learn and use with minimal training needed, empowering teams to stay confident, especially during new restaurant openings and peak-volume periods.

Partner Brand Guidelines

These guidelines are your go-to resource for representing the Crunchtime brand accurately across your website and marketing channels. By consistently applying our core brand elements—including our logo, solution lock-ups, and color palette—you help maintain a unified, strong brand presence that builds trust with our mutual customers.

As a partner, you have access to ready-made visual assets designed to help you showcase Crunchtime Kitchen and Crunchtime Host. Please share this guide with your marketing team, product managers, graphic designers, and any other stakeholders to ensure all communications align with our branding policies.

SOLUTION

Real-time visibility and standardized operations for more compliance and efficiency in stores

Gong cha adopted Ops Execution to standardize operations and improve communication between stores, above-store teams, and headquarters. Rolling out the platform in phases, the team ensured smooth implementation and strong adoption. Gong cha’s success with Ops Execution stemmed from:

Store excellence guides: Gong cha created a comprehensive guide within Ops Execution to help managers prepare for third-party evaluations with visual aids and practice assessments.

Checklists and audits: Tasks like opening/closing procedures and food safety checks were standardized across all locations to ensure consistency and make it easier to track performance data from store to store.

National operations initiative calendar: To ensure execution against seasonal promotions, regional or market-specific projects, etc., Gong cha assigned tasks and projects in Ops Execution ahead of these initiatives so that stores could have visibility into upcoming work while also tracking how stores completed (or didn’t complete) the work.

Franchisee engagement: Franchisee and team engagement were also integral to success. Ops Execution forms helped align franchisees with performance goals, integrating compliance metrics into bonus structures to incentivize adoption. Additionally, interactive tools like the “Gong cha Great Values” form encouraged daily team member engagement and reinforced company values.

“With Ops Execution, Gong cha can easily track performance metrics, gather data from individual stores, and identify specific opportunities for improvement with more accuracy.”

Rebecca Kahn
Sr. Director of North America
Master Franchise Operations

Why this report is different

Industry Insights
Unlike broad state-of-the-industry overviews, these findings offer fresh, unfiltered data and perspectives directly from 300+ of your industry peers, anonymously surveyed to reveal what's really working (and what isn't) to drive growth in today's restaurant landscape.

Actionable Benchmarks
Instantly see how your operations stack up and identify precise areas for improvement to drive competitive advantage.

Collective Learning
Gain clarity on key trends, validate your own assumptions, and learn from the collective wisdom of the industry.

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RESULTS

Significant improvements in operational consistency, compliance, and decision-making

Within just the first year of rolling out Ops Execution, Gong cha improved operational performance in several key areas:

• 49% more daily tasks completed, demonstrating consistent execution of operational priorities and enhanced team accountability

• 20% better compliance with brand standards, ensuring a more uniform and high-quality experience across all locations

• 25% increase in guest return rates, reflecting stronger customer loyalty and consistent positive experiences across locations

• 20% increase in guest satisfaction, measured by Net Promoter Score (NPS), highlighting the impact of operational excellence on customer experiences

The data-driven insights provided by Ops Execution also empowered district managers to address operational weaknesses effectively. One franchisee—initially among the lowest performers—transformed into a top-three operator within only 90 days by following a customized action plan based on the insights from Ops Execution reports. This success illustrates the platform’s ability to drive meaningful and lasting improvements.

“Crunchtime Ops Execution was the right choice for us because it’s very easy to use, makes sense, and helps us standardize operations as we scale,” said Kahn. Gong cha’s commitment to operational excellence and brand integrity ensures that it will remain a leader in the competitive premium tea market.

RESULTS

Significant improvements in operational consistency, compliance, and decision-making

Within just the first year of rolling out Ops Execution, Gong cha improved operational performance in several key areas

49%

more daily tasks completed

demonstrating consistent execution of operational priorities and enhanced team accountability

20%

better compliance with brand standards

ensuring a more uniform and high-quality experience across all locations

25%

increase in guest return rates

reflecting stronger customer loyalty and consistent positive experiences across locations

20%

increase in guest satisfaction

measured by Net Promoter Score (NPS), highlighting the impact of operational excellence on customer experiences

RESULTS

Scalable Operations, Happier Teams, and Stronger Guest Loyalty

With Crunchtime Kitchen and Host in place, BJ’s Restaurants has built a technology foundation that scales effortlessly with growth. Teams can manage large guest volumes more efficiently, reduce staff stress, and maintain a seamless flow between the host stand and the kitchen.

The connected system provides deep operational insights, allowing BJ’s to analyze reservation sources, wait times, seating efficiency, and visit history in real time. This visibility empowers leaders to make smarter decisions across the estate while improving consistency at the restaurant level.

By standardizing technology across its footprint, BJ’s Restaurants continues to grow its brand, strengthen guest loyalty, and deliver the high- quality, memorable experiences guests expect every day, in every location.

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