Pedro Uchôa, founder and CEO of TAP, joins Zack Oates to share how a Brazilian fast-casual concept built lasting loyalty in New York and Miami. With a 100% gluten-free menu and an atmosphere full of energy, TAP blends authentic flavor with genuine hospitality. Pedro brings a marketing background from São Paulo, using storytelling and brand identity to turn everyday transactions into meaningful moments.

Winning the Room (01:31)

TAP took home the Perfect Pitch win after presenting a distinct Brazilian concept to a packed room of operators. “We’re bringing to a market something that’s unique. It’s hard. It’s challenging,” Pedro says.

Authenticity You Can Feel (03:06)

For Pedro, hospitality starts with sincerity. “Everybody that walks through the door, we have to make that a special moment.” At a recent menu launch, guests told the team, “You guys changed our lives.”

NYC Pace, Fast Casual Precision (06:04)

Running a restaurant in New York demands both speed and care. “People want to come in, have a good time, and they’re leaving,” Pedro explains. Convenience and connection must coexist in every visit.

Turning Feedback into Training (07:25)

Using Ovation, TAP opens direct dialogue with guests and turns feedback into leadership lessons. “That was a great response, but next time let’s add this and that.” It’s how Pedro coaches his managers to grow from within.

Storytelling Inside the Four Walls (09:41)

TAP brings Brazil to life with murals by a Rio graffiti artist and a playlist curated by a Brazilian DJ. “We have to understand what we’re bringing different and push on that.”

Community and Collaboration (13:05)

Pedro highlights neighboring concepts like Pincho and Happy’s, proving there’s room for everyone to succeed. “There’s space for everybody.”

TAP’s formula is simple but powerful: culture, design, and authentic connection. The result is a brand that stands out in a crowded market and keeps guests coming back for more.

Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/uchoapedro/

https://www.instagram.com/uchoa__pedro/?hl=en

https://www.linkedin.com/company/eat-tap/

https://www.instagram.com/eat_tap/?hl=en

https://www.eattap.co/

Transcript

00:00:00:06 – 00:00:26:09

Zack Oates

Welcome to another edition of Given Ovation, the Restaurant guest Experience podcast. I’m your host Zach. It’s. And each week I chat with industry experts to uncover their strategies and tactics to help you create a five star guest experience. This podcast is powered by ovation, the feedback and operations platform built for multi-unit restaurants. Learn what is actually happening in your restaurants and exactly how to improve while driving revenue.

00:00:26:09 – 00:00:50:05

Zack Oates

Learn more at ovation. Up.com. And today I am so excited! We have Mister Pedro Hoa and he is the founder and CEO of Tappy, which is based in New York City. It is a Brazilian concept full of flavors and energy. If you are in New York City and you want to experience a little bit, just follow them on social.

00:00:50:05 – 00:00:55:02

Zack Oates

They’ve got a phenomenal social. But Pedro, welcome to the podcast, my friend.

00:00:55:04 – 00:01:04:04

Pedro Uchôa

Thank you so much. Love the energy, Zach. Love to be here and share a little bit more of our tappy and what we’re doing, and let’s chat.

00:01:04:06 – 00:01:29:10

Zack Oates

Now, I had known of you because you’ve been working with one of our account reps for ovation, and so he’s been talking about what a great brand you are. So I already looked you guys up, but then you guys won the perfect pitch competition as well. What did that mean to you? To win that from a room full of your peers going through two rounds of voting, one round of preliminary voting, just to even get in.

00:01:29:10 – 00:01:31:09

Zack Oates

What did that mean to you guys?

00:01:31:11 – 00:02:06:02

Pedro Uchôa

Oh, man. For us, it’s a big accomplishment as you said, like in a room with I don’t know how much 100, 200 people from the industry all around the US and bringing our concept, our Brazilian health, the 100% gluten free concept to the market. For us, just being there was already like, we’re going to be able to share a little bit of what we’re doing to everybody, and we love to go to these events to learn, and this time sharing and having everybody like, whoa, what is this?

00:02:06:05 – 00:02:30:21

Pedro Uchôa

Because we’re bringing to a market something that’s unique. It’s hard. It’s challenging. Actually. It’s not a bag or a pizza or any like normal, like tacos. You have all of that all around the US. So when we bring like, tapioca sandwiches, Ponzi casual, that’s the Brazilian cheese bread with acai and smoothies. It was such a great vibe and at the end winning.

00:02:30:21 – 00:02:44:19

Pedro Uchôa

It was awesome. And for us since then it’s been resonating and especially for our team, we were able to bring this victory to them and being able to even empower them as well and keep on pushing, you know.

00:02:44:21 – 00:03:06:18

Zack Oates

Well, it’s amazing what you’re doing and the concept is just so fresh. It looks so good, so vibrant, and you’re obviously doing something that is resonating with your customers. And so your guest experience is so palpable online. Talk to me about what do you think are some of the most important aspects of guest experience nowadays?

00:03:06:20 – 00:03:30:10

Pedro Uchôa

We talk about authenticity, right? A lot, and for us that’s something we push because we’re a Brazilian concept. So we have to bring authenticity to our stores and to our guests experience. And I think when we think about authenticity and personalization, that’s what we can build to the guest experience. You know, like we have to enable and understand that each guest counts.

00:03:30:12 – 00:03:50:07

Pedro Uchôa

So we talk a lot about that with the guests, with our team actually. So everybody that walks through the door, everybody that’s ordering, we have to make that a special moment. And with our Brazilian hospitality, I think that plays a big role. We are a warm country. We are warm people. We love to embrace, get to know the guests.

00:03:50:07 – 00:04:18:16

Pedro Uchôa

You know, like we have our managers talking by name, remembering the name of the dogs that come in. Last week we rolled out our new menu and we had the opportunity to create an event and bring our most loyalty guests to the event from all three locations in New York. First time we did it, we were vulnerable. We didn’t know what was going to happen, and having people coming in in like hugging us and saying, like, you guys changed our lives.

00:04:18:20 – 00:04:41:03

Pedro Uchôa

I had a lady, 65 year old lady, and she was like almost crying, you guys welcome you. I come here every week two times, three times and I feel embraced. I never went to Brazil, but this is already good for me. So I think, yes, experience is when we understand and also being able to personalize the experience in some ways.

00:04:41:03 – 00:05:09:19

Pedro Uchôa

And ovation for example, we started this month actually using you guys. And it’s such a powerful tool and we’ve been receiving so many feedbacks. But it’s exactly to that point when my manager calls the guest by name, like shares his name in response to the guest that wasn’t expecting to be responded, buy it back. You know, sometimes. So that surprise also I think builds to the whole guest experience.

00:05:09:21 – 00:05:33:10

Zack Oates

I love that because, you know, I look at ovation just like a restaurant in terms of we can have a great product and we can have a great service. But at the end of the day, it’s the people that are using it that really matter. It’s because of the culture that you’ve created, Pedro, that instills in your people the ability to respond to that guest and to make them to know that you’re supposed to make them feel the love and feel the hospitality.

00:05:33:12 – 00:06:00:06

Zack Oates

That’s really what makes it. Because good food, if it’s delivered with poor service, isn’t going to make it. It’s not really going to matter. And ovation is just a tool for you guys and for the culture that you’ve created and the people that you’re bringing in. So kudos to you that they are leveraging every opportunity they can. But I love that story about that woman coming in, because that feeling, that’s what creates lifelong customers.

00:06:00:06 – 00:06:03:22

Zack Oates

And that’s what you need to succeed in any city, especially in New York.

00:06:04:02 – 00:06:28:21

Pedro Uchôa

Especially in New York. We talk a lot about that because we have to be always on top of our feet. Of course, any city you have to you’re in the game, you’re in the market, you’re bringing something to people. We have to always be elevating. And being in New York, it brings another level. You have so many concepts that open and close in less than one year or two years, especially in the restaurant business in New York.

00:06:28:23 – 00:06:59:01

Pedro Uchôa

And we’re there eight years. We survived pandemic. We were growing. We have three locations there, and we also have one in Miami that just completed a year. And we’re really excited to what’s coming. But it’s always about having our people, having our staff understanding what we believe and putting the guest on the next layer of what we have to do to make these people come in, have a great time and come back because it’s experience and convenience.

00:06:59:01 – 00:07:25:14

Pedro Uchôa

We’re a fast casual concept, so we’re looking at the time of preparation and people are imagine New York people are on their pace. They want to just come in, they want to have a good time and they’re leaving. They’re going to another spot, they’re going to work and everything. So having that possibility and having tools, as you said, that empowers us to go to that next level that until last month, we didn’t have it.

00:07:25:14 – 00:07:51:10

Pedro Uchôa

We’re trying other ways to get the feedback, to get the review on Google. We still have some tactics in place to have our managers getting to the tables because, you know, a fast casual, the challenge is we’re serving something different at the first point. The second point is people come in the ordering, the counter, and for us to ask for a review before they eat, it doesn’t make sense.

00:07:51:12 – 00:08:17:12

Pedro Uchôa

I can’t have my cashier asking for a review before they even receive the order. So we have some special treats that the managers, they can approach the guest after they eat to get the table cleaned and ask for how it was their experience. But I think at the other point, having this open channel for people to send their feedback and we start the chatting.

00:08:17:14 – 00:08:43:04

Pedro Uchôa

And even with the leadership level, I’ll share with you. It’s been such a great possibility for me to try to teach also and have my managers even more leveling up their game and understanding about hospitality, because having the conversation from the leader with the manager, with those internal chats in situations, I can’t have that in on a daily basis.

00:08:43:04 – 00:09:01:19

Pedro Uchôa

Before I couldn’t and now I can talk with my manager from the Upper West Side. That was a great response. But next time let’s add this and that and see how it works. And that’s at the same time you have the manager’s learning curve, because a lot of people, they became like in our culture we love to promote people.

00:09:01:19 – 00:09:30:22

Pedro Uchôa

So every manager that we have in our stores, they’re not they didn’t study to be managers of a restaurant. You have their background and they’re learning at the same time. So this exchange of backgrounds, I didn’t come from the restaurant business. I came from the marketing business. Also, I worked 12 years in Sao Paulo in agencies and three years now with my brother, learning about the restaurant business, in bringing my background of customer experience and having these possibilities.

00:09:30:22 – 00:09:41:08

Zack Oates

And also I love that. And so in the things that you’ve been looking at in the last three years, what are some tactics that you would recommend to improve the guest experience? What are some things that have worked for you guys?

00:09:41:10 – 00:10:02:12

Pedro Uchôa

Again, I’ll touch on the authenticity. When I joined therapy with my brother, I truly believe in storytelling and bringing layers of connection. So we brought a graffiti artist from the slums of Rio de Janeiro. It’s not just any graffiti artist, it’s a graffiti artist that never traveled to the US that we’re able to bring to do all the murals in all the stores.

00:10:02:14 – 00:10:28:12

Pedro Uchôa

We got a playlist that is curated by a DJ in Brazil. It’s a little details with the Brazilian flag that we actually didn’t have any Brazilian flag in the store. And if we’re bringing something unique, if listeners hear other entrepreneurs, you I think we have to understand what we are bringing different in game on. We have to try to level up in that part because people are going to understand even more.

00:10:28:13 – 00:10:51:18

Pedro Uchôa

The competition is hard if you get any other concept. Of course, our competition, because we’re bringing something that, oh, there’s not a other tapioca sandwich on the other corner, but you have other options. So we have an education challenge. But other entrepreneurs, for example, if you have a pizza place or a chicken space, you have thousands of options that people can go to.

00:10:51:18 – 00:11:27:21

Pedro Uchôa

So what does it bring to the guests? What are you bringing different? And push on that and try to tell that story not only on social media but inside the store as well. Having the staff know about the story. For example, on our onboarding, we have to have people understanding our story. So the video that we shared in the fast Casual summit, for example, now it’s already part of our onboarding process, having the managers truly understand where we’re going and having people like, oh, because we had other day, like now in New York, we went to do the menu.

00:11:27:23 – 00:11:47:20

Pedro Uchôa

We use the time also to get the staff together, and we passed it through the message again, and we saw employees that were there. They didn’t even realize some of the aspects that we’re we’re bringing. So also having your staff understanding that because at the end of the day, they are at the cashier at the store every day.

00:11:47:22 – 00:12:01:05

Pedro Uchôa

They are doing the connection. It’s not me and Cleo, my brother. So I truly believe in that. I think for you to level up on your guests experience, you have to have your staff on board and the best way possible as well.

00:12:01:07 – 00:12:27:05

Zack Oates

I love that because I think that makes so much sense when whatever you do, you got to do something that looks different, right? If somebody walks into your restaurant and they can’t tell where they are because it looks like everyone else, it’s not going to be the experience. It’s going to bring them back. Doesn’t have that memory. But looking at your locations online, they pop, man, and you look at other brands that are doing really well right now.

00:12:27:07 – 00:12:46:01

Zack Oates

Walking to a Dave’s Hot Chicken and tell me that you’re in some other restaurant besides Dave’s Hot Chicken. You walk in and you know from the second you walk in where you are and it has a vibe to it. And I think that there’s some other really awesome concepts to do the same thing auto over at Pinch Show.

00:12:46:03 – 00:13:03:03

Zack Oates

I mean, you walk into a paint show and you’re like, I’m in a pinch show. Like it’s got a great vibe to it. That’s super cool. Now, obviously you’ve been in this industry now for a few years, but you had a great marketing career before this. When you look at the people that you follow. Who is someone that deserves an ovation?

00:13:03:03 – 00:13:05:04

Zack Oates

Who’s someone that we should be following?

00:13:05:06 – 00:13:28:09

Pedro Uchôa

Oh man, you just touched on one that is auto from pinch. So I love his concept and we got to meet recently. Actually, there’s so many people out there that are doing a great job. There’s a concept here in Miami called Happy’s. They’re our neighbors. Next to us, Danny and Eduardo, that bring a mediterranean real concept learning curve.

00:13:28:09 – 00:14:05:14

Pedro Uchôa

Also like two, three years here. And I wanted to point out them because they’re always trying to bring the guests and having their personalized experience in there, like door to door with us. They’re like, oh, it’s cool to walk in. That brings another point that partnerships, there’s space for everybody. So we have like four restaurants, one lined here in Ricco in Miami, and we talk as owners, as restaurant tours all the time, you know, because one day the person is going to eat the terrarium, and the other day they’re going to eat a Brazilian, and the other day they’re going to eat like at tits chicken.

00:14:05:14 – 00:14:07:24

Pedro Uchôa

That’s another concept, a chicken concept here.

00:14:08:01 – 00:14:09:06

Zack Oates

What’s it called?

00:14:09:08 – 00:14:10:16

Pedro Uchôa

It’s called tits chicken.

00:14:10:22 – 00:14:14:23

Zack Oates

Oh, okay, I misunderstood, you know.

00:14:15:00 – 00:14:21:16

Pedro Uchôa

It’s it’s it’s a oh, it’s an Australian concept that just got here in Miami. So Miami vibe.

00:14:21:18 – 00:14:23:07

Zack Oates

Okay. Here we go.

00:14:23:09 – 00:14:44:08

Pedro Uchôa

Yeah. They’re looking for expansion also in New York. So these connections are I think that’s the beauty of the industry. When we can have conversation, go to these events and have entrepreneurs sharing and wanting the success of each other. So I think they’re doing a great job at Happy’s looking and trying to understand their guests, listening to them.

00:14:44:10 – 00:14:51:18

Pedro Uchôa

Danny is always at the restaurant, also getting the feedback and putting in practice things. So I think that’s a good shout out for them.

00:14:51:24 – 00:14:59:08

Zack Oates

I love that and Pedro, for those who want to find and follow you and the success journey of Tappy, where can they go?

00:14:59:10 – 00:15:23:13

Pedro Uchôa

So on Instagram you touched on Instagram. So the handle is eat underscore top. We’re putting out a lot of videos content backstage where we’re leveling up always there in on LinkedIn. You guys can follow me Pedro you show I love to post also on LinkedIn even more now we’re sharing. We like to connect, so please reach out and let’s network as well.

00:15:23:15 – 00:15:34:03

Zack Oates

Awesome. Well, Pedro for bringing us a big bite of Brazilian flavor and hospitality to the US. Today’s ovation goes to you. Thank you for joining us and giving ovation.

00:15:34:05 – 00:15:37:06

Pedro Uchôa

Thank you so much Zach was a pleasure.

00:15:37:08 – 00:15:38:19

Zack Oates

Obrigado.

00:15:38:21 – 00:15:39:12

Pedro Uchôa

Obrigado.

00:15:39:18 – 00:16:04:18

Zack Oates

Over to God. Thanks for joining us today. If you like this episode, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite place to listen. We’re all about feedback here. Again, this episode was sponsored by ovation, a two question, SMS based, actionable guest feedback platform built for multi-unit restaurants. If you’d like to learn how we can help you measure and create a better guest experience, visit us at Ovation up.com.