UEAT online ordering and app: Satisfying Quebecers’ love of poutine with tech

Chez Ashton got its start in 1969 when Ashton Leblond, at the young age of 21, realized his dream: he bought a French fry food truck for $5000. He branded it Ashton Snack Bar and served a typical menu of the time: fresh fries, hamburgers, hotdogs and meatloaf. He introduced poutine in 1972. Over the years, Chez Ashton experienced exponential growth; the company began opening restaurants throughout the Greater Québec City region. In 2022, Chez Ashton had 23 restaurants. The chain was acquired by a young couple of local entrepreneurs to carry on its mission of serving high-quality, distinctive and always-fresh food!

The Challenge

Before the pandemic, Chez Ashton was very popular for its counter, drive-thru and take-out orders—especially the restaurant’s legendary poutines and beef sandwiches that are made with local ingredients and fresh each day.

When the pandemic hit, Chez Ashton demand skyrocketed for drive-thru and take-out. In order to meet customer demand and ease pressure on front-of-the-house staff, Chez Ashton started looking for a technology partner to help the company offer online ordering off of its website and through a branded mobile app. The Chez Ashton team talked to local restaurateurs from other chains to determine which platform was the easiest and fastest to implement and which platform had all the important features: effortless upselling and cross-selling and an intuitive interface to ensure a stellar customer experience.

The Results

Chez Ashton was recommended to use UEAT by several of its peers in Québec. “UEAT seemed simple, affordable and entirely customizable,” explained Mylène Beaulieu, Head of Communications and Marketing at Chez Ashton. “We knew it worked well and were immediately convinced as so many other restaurants were using it.” Chez Ashton decided to embark on its technology transformation with UEAT.

The integration of online ordering on Chez Ashton’s website and the development of its mobile app was carried out within a very short timeframe. Chez Ashton’s marketing team put together a limited-time launch promotion to not only show the benefits of the two solutions but also collect customer feedback.

The results were almost immediate. The promotion generated a lot of orders and drew in many customers. Throughout the lockdown period and beyond customers kept coming back for more of the restaurant’s delicious food. Although restaurant dining rooms have reopened, Chez Ashton’s online ordering remains highly popular—and the customer feedback has been amazing on social media.

“Customers love it. It’s a time saver: they no longer have to queue to order. Ordering on our website or mobile app is very user-friendly and convenient,” Mylène added. Mylène also pointed out that take-out orders have substantially increased. Proof that even in a post-pandemic world, online ordering is still very popular indeed!