How Ata used Toast Benchmarking to grow Tuesday sales by 41%

Looking back, David credits insights from Toast Benchmarking for helping him make the right decision at the right time. It wasn’t just about fried chicken — it was about seeing opportunities others missed and acting on them.

Now, Tuesday night is a staple, the restaurant is thriving, and the next big move — Sunday brunch — is already in the works.

David, the new owner of fine dining restaurant Ata in Louisville, KY, had a problem: Tuesdays were dead. Bad news for a restaurant already struggling despite a menu refresh and a makeover.

Using Toast Benchmarking to understand local market trends and competitive insights, he noticed that Tuesdays were actually busy for competitors. The market was there; he just needed to tap into it.

Another insight stood out: Fried chicken wasn’t a major player in the area. But he believed it could be; customers kept asking about it, remembering his famous fried chicken from when he was a chef at a local, renowned horse racing track. Maybe fried chicken, which his neighbors weren’t offering, could solve his Tuesday night dilemma.

The bold move: betting on fried chicken

Fried chicken night was born, and almost immediately David noticed an impact. His “dead” Tuesday nights became one of his busiest of the week, with sales surging 41%. The restaurant was full. And what was everyone ordering? The fried chicken special

Using data to keep growing

Fried chicken night was only the beginning. With Toast Benchmarking, the team continued to refine their strategy:

• They tracked category performance and found their dessert sales outperformed competitors — thanks to a new emphasis on upselling techniques.
• They optimized wine and liquor sales, using market data to guide purchasing decisions.
• They planned Sunday brunch expansion, knowing which times and dayparts had the highest demand.