La Nacional

La Nacional is a beloved restaurant in Monterrey, a true institution of Northern Mexican cuisine. We were hired by Gastronómica, the production house behind some of the city’s premier restaurant brands including Gallo71, Yoko, Americana and SkinJoint, to work alongside them in elevating the customer experience, while pursuing a new set of service & hospitality standards, a drive for innovation in both menus and operations, and installing a new work culture and ethic.

We worked closely with Gastronomica’s team for 2 years on what we identified as the 3 main pillars for change: the customer experience, the internal innovation culture and the company’s culture.

On the experience front, we mapped the current experience, identifying all touchpoints and interactions in the front-of-house and their impact in the back-of-house. Through a series of workshops we then designed an updated and slightly upgraded service model, whose core components were 10 new signature “La Nacional” moments.

On the innovation front, we implemented creative methods, frameworks and tools that allowed the company to update the operational and service model, and also designed a special creative space for the company, that blends both recipe creation as well, tasting environments and operational innovation.

On the training front, we carefully refined the service and operational model, designed a new service manifesto, and worked with Gastronomica’s team on a new program for onboarding and early training of new personnel.