Technology

Tiki Taco triples footprint with Bikky guest insights

Photo: Tiki

June 17, 2025

Tiki Taco, specializing in Southern California-style tacos and burritos, is tripling its footprint to nine locations by fall 2025, attributing significant sales growth to its partnership with Bikky, a customer data platform for multi-unit restaurants.

Founded by three entrepreneurs just before the pandemic, Tiki Taco initially weathered COVID-19 with a walk-up window before rebranding and expanding. After opening its third location in 2024, the company brought on CEO Eric Knott to scale the brand with optimized operations and a robust tech stack.

Knott identified a customer data platform as critical technology. Bikky now guides Tiki Taco's growth strategy, influencing menu development and future real estate decisions.

"Now that we understand specific guest journeys, we can tailor our strategies to match guest behavior," Knott said in a company press release. "We've never been able to target with such precision before."

By leveraging Bikky's segmentation tool, Tiki Taco identified its highest-frequency guests and top retention drivers. This led to more effective marketing campaigns and a 15% year-over-year, same-store sales increase.

The restaurant has also used Bikky to refine its menu, removing under performing items like the grilled fish taco, and to gauge the success of monthly specials. "The heart of the benefit of Bikky is being able to say things with certainty," Knott said, emphasizing the data-driven approach.

Tiki Taco locations are planned for pop-ups in hospitals and arenas, permanent stores across Kansas City and stalls in Kansas University's football and basketball stadiums.

"Tiki Taco's journey demonstrates the power of combining entrepreneurial vision with data-driven decision-making," Abhinav Kapur, BikkyCEO, said in the release. "By understanding their guests at this granular level, Tiki Taco has access to the same caliber of analytics that traditionally only the largest restaurant brands could leverage."

Tiki Taco joins other multi-unit brands, including Robeks, Playa Bowls and Dave's Hot Chicken, that use Bikky for guest data and analytics.