America’s Best Restaurants, a national media and marketing company focusing on independently-owned restaurants around the country, has achieved a significant milestone – 1800 episodes of its Roadshow filmed since beginning in summer 2021.
CEO Matt Plapp came up with the idea to do a traveling restaurant-focused food show in 2018. But it wasn’t until 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, that Plapp brought his idea to fruition – that of helping independent restaurants market themselves by telling their story on social media.
Plapp noticed that the big restaurant chains were prospering during the pandemic, and the smaller, single-location independent restaurants were struggling. The few that were doing well and retaining – or even increasing – their business during that difficult time were those rallying the local community for support by telling their stories: how they started, where they came from, and what their restaurant and the community it was in meant to them.
Plapp decided to showcase these stories in a unique way. He bought a Mercedes Sprinter van, wrapped it in his brand colors of orange and blue, and hit the road to highlight the stories of eateries that couldn’t afford the marketing power of chain restaurants. Plapp and two employees filmed at 348 restaurants from June 2021 until the end of that year, launching a program that now films almost every week of the year at hundreds of restaurants around the country.
Episodes are published on the Facebook pages of ABR and more importantly, the restaurant’s page – all so the restaurant is the recipient of engagement, attention, and ultimately increased sales.
Plapp has found that his average marketing campaign bringing attention to an upcoming Roadshow visit skyrockets the engagement that a restaurant sees on its Facebook page. The marketing company’s posts leading up to, day of, and after the visit have shown an increase of 82% likes, 86% shares and an astounding 95% increase in comments compared to what a restaurant can do on its own.
“We’ll hit around three billion Facebook engagements this year on [independent restaurants’] pages,” Plapp says. “Those engagements are what’s helping those restaurants get the love they deserve.”
Today Plapp employs 21 people in the Roadshow division of his company, from sales to show hosts. Teams of hosts and videographers travel in the highly noticeable vans and film up to twenty shows a week. The only state in the contiguous US that they have not yet traveled to is Connecticut, and the Constitution State is on the books for this spring.
“To see what the ABR Roadshow has done the past three years is wild,” Plapp says. “Major media companies film at 40 to 60 restaurants per year – we are hitting 600 to 700 annually.”
Luis Rivera, who has worked for ABR since 2021, has a unique dual role as both show host and executive producer, interviewing potential restaurant candidates to see if they qualify for a spot.
“We’ve had our fair share of ups and downs and everything in between,” Rivera says. “But every time I visit a restaurant, tell their story, and see the impact it brings to their bottom line, I know we’re doing the right thing. At the end of the day I feel privileged to be the voice that brings to life the stories of independent restaurants nationwide.”
The Roadshow’s 1800th episode was filmed at Veracruz Family Restaurant, a family-owned Mexican eatery in Santa Fe Springs, CA. They have a compelling American-dream style story: the original owners, Roberto “Bob” Leon and his wife Blanca, emigrated to the United States over sixty years ago, and opened Veracruz in 1970. It is now owned by grandson Rick Leon, who hopes the episode will help grow his business.
“I want to get us out there a little bit more to create more business opportunities for us, growing the number of locations that we have, things like that,” Leon said. “Brand awareness is probably the number one thing I would want to really [accomplish].”
That brand awareness is a focus of Plapp’s, who says that when America’s Best Restaurants works in conjunction with a restaurant’s marketing efforts, it pays off.
“When the ABR brand is attached to marketing for a restaurant, they get [a lot] more attention in those social media campaigns,” Plapp says. “Our goal is to create massive attention for mom-and-pop restaurants so they can compete with the [chain restaurants].”
Headquartered in Florence, KY, America’s Best Restaurants is a national media and restaurant marketing company that travels the country telling the stories and highlighting the unique food of locally owned independent restaurants as part of their ABR Roadshow. Restaurants are featured not only on ABR’s Restaurant Network of social media channels and website, but also each individual establishment’s Facebook page. With over 1800 episodes filmed, America’s Best Restaurants is the premier marketing agency for restaurant owners and operators to have their story broadcast coast-to-coast. Visit AmericasBestRestaurants.com to learn more and to view the episodes and profiles of hundreds of America’s Best Restaurants!
