Restaurant marketers: it’s that time again. We’re excited to announce the 2025 PAR Engagement Customer Awards, recognizing the brands and teams who are raising the bar for what customer engagement looks like today. This year’s winners built connected strategies across loyalty, ordering, and operations, pairing standout creativity with disciplined execution to create experiences guests actually want to come back for, again and again.
What made this year especially fun to judge was the range of innovation on display. Some winners proved how fast a brand can move when it fully embraces the PAR ecosystem—launching lifecycle journeys, scaling always-on campaigns, and testing new engagement mechanics in months, not years. Others showed how to modernize mature programs with fresh challenges, craveable value moments, and a loyalty experience that still feels unmistakably on-brand. Across every category, one theme was clear: the best results happen when brands meet guests where they are, reduce friction, and deliver value that feels personal—whether that’s through a perfectly timed offer, a smarter ordering flow, or an experience that turns loyalty into something guests can feel.
“These awards celebrate the customers who are pushing the boundaries of what engagement can be—combining great ideas with real operational execution,” said Savneet Singh, CEO of PAR Technology. “We’re proud to recognize the brands building stronger relationships with their guests and setting a new standard for the industry.”
A huge congratulations to all of our winners. Keep reading as we highlight each honoree and the strategies behind their success, showcasing the unique ways they’re using PAR Engagement to drive acquisition, retention, and loyalty-led growth.
Smoothie King entered the PAR Engagement ecosystem in 2025 with urgency and a clear mandate: move faster, work smarter, and turn digital into measurable growth. In just their first year, they activated the PAR suite as a true growth engine—connecting loyalty, digital ordering, payments, and operations to deliver a seamless guest experience while hitting key business goals, including acquisition targets and staying on pace for digital sales growth.
What makes Smoothie King an All Star is the rare combination of innovation and benchmark-leading performance. They’ve built a sophisticated digital ecosystem, leveraging PAR Pay, PAR POS, and PAR Punchh alongside a custom app, Braze, and a data pipeline, while moving quickly on SSF and gearing up for PAR Games. And they’re not just executing—they’re excelling: Smoothie King is beating 75th percentile benchmarks among 500+ QSR brands across multiple categories, while leaders Keith McLellan, Shannon Murphy and Robert Aumuller helped drive 4% loyalty sales growth and a 35% enrollment increase.
Dave’s Hot Chicken earns our Campaign Hot Shot award for treating loyalty like a creativity engine, not a coupon machine. Across the board, their campaigns show a rare mix of brand voice, experimentation, and “you had to be there” energy that keeps guests checking the app and coming back. From Free Slider Day (a simple, high-value loyalty-exclusive that drove a major spike in sign-ups and engagement) to seasonal storytelling like 12 Days of Dave’s, they consistently turn the program into a place where fans get the biggest moments, best perks, and most on-brand rewards—playful, bold, and built for sharing.
A standout example is Dave’s After Dark, a campaign that perfectly matched their late-night identity and actively shaped guest behavior. Running Friday through Sunday nights from mid-June through mid-August, it rewarded qualifying purchases after 10pm with rotating bonus points and surprise perks (free slushers, sliders, cheese fries, premium upgrades). During active campaign weekends alone, Dave’s generated ~98K new signups and ~99K app downloads—just over half of all signups and downloads during that period—while reinforcing Dave’s as the go-to late-night destination. And they’re not slowing down: upcoming activations like Dave’s limited-edition plushie (earning a custom collectible through repeat visits and minimum spend) show how they’re pushing loyalty into exclusive, culturally relevant brand moments that fans genuinely want to chase.
Red Robin earned our Digital Innovator award for how boldly they reimagined loyalty and then rebuilt the digital journey around it. In 2024, they relaunched their program so guests can earn on all orders and items (not just burgers), which required a major evolution in how they deliver value, drive engagement, and compete in casual dining. Over the last year, they’ve pushed into new territory with initiatives like 2X points for the first time, more innovative and competitive offer strategies, and a thoughtful refresh of their experience through Redemptions 2.0—all while keeping the guest experience at the center, including improvements that show up right at the table.
Just as important, Red Robin’s approach stretches the ecosystem forward. They’ve thoughtfully evolved their tech stack and partnerships, working across platforms like Ziosk and NCR; they bring that same momentum into their collaboration with PAR Punchh. They show up with ambitious asks, a willingness to test and learn, and a genuinely collaborative mindset that pushes all of us to build better, smarter solutions for the market.
Coconut Kenny’s wins Ordering Visionary for putting the guest experience at the center of every ordering decision—and then building the digital infrastructure to match. With daily and weekly specials layered on top of happy hour deals, their menu strategy is designed to deliver maximum value across virtually every category. To make sure guests could actually find and use those offers online without friction, the team partnered with PAR Ordering to revamp their online ordering menu setup and flow, supporting complex deal structures, combos, and real-world menu-item edge cases.
The payoff was immediate and measurable: Coconut Kenny’s reported month-over-month revenue increases from online ordering, driven directly by the improved menu configuration and Ordering mobile app updates. It’s a great example of a brand making operational and tech decisions based on what guests value most—more choice, better deals, and a smoother path to checkout.
NORMS earns our Retention Rockstar award for the way they keep guests engaged long after the first visit, continuously building and optimizing retention-focused journeys inside PAR Punchh. They’re always in motion: launching and refining welcome and frequency journeys, running challenges that give guests a reason to return, and activating recall campaigns to re-engage members before they lapse. It’s a disciplined, always-on approach that treats retention as a strategy, not a single campaign.
And it’s working. NORMS is seeing strong momentum in program growth and engagement, including a 61% quarter-over-quarter increase in signups, along with gains in loyalty sales and transactions both QoQ and YoY. Most importantly, their retention rate now exceeds the 75th percentile benchmark—proving they’re not just acquiring members but building a loyalty program guests stick with.
Denny’s is our Rookie of the Year because they didn’t just launch a loyalty program, they came out swinging with a full-funnel lifecycle strategy and the kind of campaign velocity you rarely see from a brand that’s only been live for six months. Since launching in August, they’ve already built a robust foundation with a 4–6 step welcome journey, always-on acquisition via a signup campaign, and core lifecycle drivers like birthday and compression campaigns—all running continuously to convert new members, re-engage lapsed guests, and keep momentum high from day one.
What really sets Denny’s apart is the pace and ambition: they’ve deployed nearly 100 campaigns in roughly six months, plus a steady stream of post-check-in activations designed to increase frequency and engagement (with plans to evolve those into Challenges as soon as April/May). With Braze powering much of their orchestration, Denny’s is treating loyalty as a living, always-optimizing engine—testing, learning, and scaling fast. That level of execution, paired with a clear commitment to building durable guest journeys (not just one-off promos), is exactly what Rookie of the Year is all about.
Evan Pardue and Pierson Matejovsky earn our Marketers of the Year award for turning Condado Rewards into something guests don’t just use, they genuinely seek out. Over the past few years, they transformed a program that “worked” in theory into a high-participation, experience-led loyalty engine that feels unmistakably Condado: tested, refined, and fully “Condado-fied.” Instead of relying on short-term discounts, they redesigned loyalty as a behavior-driven experience—one that inspires joy, belonging, and repeat visits—helping Condado move against the category trend with record retention, lower churn, and increased lifetime value.
The results are standout: in two years, loyalty participation grew 75% and loyalty-driven sales increased 55%, while digital conversion climbed into the 75th percentile for casual dining. Evan and Pierson fueled that momentum with big, brand-forward moments—like Best Bud Beats, Peezler’s Pass, and Best Buds Month—plus real-world experiences like 12 Best Bud Tastings that created a feedback loop with culinary and innovation. Pierson also drove disciplined, profitable growth in 2025: integrating Daily Deals with loyalty via Wildcard Wednesday (doubling sign-ups YoY), delivering the highest check-ins and app sessions in program history during Best Buds Month, and setting sales and engagement records for major tentpoles like National Taco Day, National Burrito Day, and Cinco de Mayo—all without incremental discounting.
Jason’s Deli earns Loyalty Royalty for proving that even the most established programs can keep evolving and keep growing. As a mature brand heading into its 50th anniversary in 2026, Jason’s Deli continues to push the boundaries of what loyalty can do, partnering closely with our LS, MS, and CS teams to launch creative, behavior-driving campaigns throughout the year—from the Club Club frequency push to challenges like the baked potato purchase campaign. They continue to build thoughtful experiences that keep the program fresh and guests coming back.
And the impact is undeniable: from Jan 1, 2024, to Jan 1, 2025, Jason’s Deli grew loyalty membership by 34.2%, adding 354,000+ new members—a standout achievement for a long-running, mature program. That growth was fueled by smart program updates including a new welcome series and a sign-up reward, alongside compelling acquisition moments like their 12 Days of Delicious holiday push. We also want to say this clearly: we value this partnership immensely, and the effort Jason’s Deli brings year after year means a lot to our teams and to the success we build together.
Russ Fliegler from Portillo’s is our Voice of the Customer Champion Award winner because he doesn’t just attend VoC events, he actively makes the product better every time he shows up. Across multiple VoC formats (labs, workshops, SWOT sessions, and research discussions), he consistently delivers feedback that’s specific, rooted in real business outcomes, and immediately actionable.
What truly sets Russ apart is the breadth and strategic impact of his engagement. As an active member of PAR’s Product Advisory Group, he’s helping shape our upcoming innovations alongside our product team—bringing both forward-thinking ideas and operational reality to the table. His contributions have influenced multiple product areas, from gamification concepts grounded in Portillo’s brand (including a “Build a Chicago Hot Dog” idea) to practical integration constraints, enablement for non-technical teams, and research-informed perspectives on Gen Z and the future of loyalty. He represents the kind of partnership VoC is built for—and we’re grateful for the time, candor, and leadership he brings to our community.
Yoshinoya America is our Tech Stack Wizard winner because Michael Faustino and team have modernized how a 125-year-old brand engages guests—by connecting the PAR ecosystem (PAR POS, PAR Punchh, and PAR OPS) into a single, performance-driven digital engine. Over the past year, built a fully connected journey where discovery, ordering, loyalty, and even gifting work together seamlessly. From launching Yoshinoya America’s first Digital Ads & Performance Media program powered by Punchh attribution, to ensuring every new channel or product rolls cleanly into mobile ordering and loyalty, they’ve created a tech stack that’s measurable, scalable, and built for growth.
What truly sets Yoshinoya America apart is the way they paired sophisticated marketing automation with operational alignment. They developed best-in-class lifecycle journeys, from new guest onboarding to habit-building, lapsing-guest recapture, and repeat-visit optimizations, while partnering deeply with Operations to build a stronger in-store loyalty culture through PAR OPS training and simplified execution. The result: smarter engagement with less reliance on discounting, stronger loyalty participation, and multiple record-setting months across traffic and profitability—proof that when technology, data, and field execution are aligned, digital transformation becomes sustainable, not just flashy.
Capriotti’s is our Acquisition Ace because they’re using PAR Engagement to make loyalty enrollment feel effortless, no matter where the guest starts their journey. The team focused on removing friction at every touchpoint, promoting Capriotti’s Rewards through new store opening campaigns, integrating SMS sign-up directly into loyalty enrollment, and enabling guests to join instantly at the register with just a phone number.
Capriotti’s also became the first brand to integrate Punchh with DoorDash Storefront, extending loyalty into off-premise ordering and turning digital transactions into identifiable guest relationships. The result is a scalable acquisition engine powered by PAR Engagement, meeting guests where they are and capturing loyalty at the moment of intent to build stronger connections with every visit.
Raising the Bar, Year After Year
To every winner recognized here: thank you for trusting PAR Engagement as a partner and for raising the standard for what customer engagement can be. Your work is more than impressive metrics or memorable campaigns; it’s proof that when brands connect strategy, technology, and operations, they can create experiences guests genuinely want to come back to.
We’re proud to celebrate your momentum, your creativity, and the teams behind it all. Congratulations to the 2025 PAR Engagement Customer Awards winners, we can’t wait to see what you build next.
