Scoring Big with Loyalty: How Ojos Locos is Transforming the Guest Experience

Ojos Locos Sports Cantina kicked off the year with a sharpened focus on the guest experience. At the heart of this initiative is the launch of Loco Rewards, the brand’s new loyalty program and mobile app. Designed to recognize and reward frequent guests, the new digital platform makes it easier than ever to interact with the brand and order Ojos favorites.

Ojos Locos’ new loyalty program and mobile app launched alongside menu and beverage enhancements that deliver authentic Latin flavors and greater value. These updates reflect Ojos Locos’ continued investment in quality hospitality and the communities it serves across Texas and the Southwest, with 35 locations in Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada.

Paytronix sat down with Destinee Rollins, Chief Marketing Officer at Ojos Locos, to learn more about the new program and the exciting ways the brand is engaging customers through its new digital platform.

Tell us about the launch. Why are you excited about Loco Rewards?

We’re thrilled to offer our guests a whole new loyalty experience. As the ultimate Latin sports cantina, Ojos Locos has always been about bringing communities together over a shared love of food and sports. Loco Rewards gives us a new way to thank our guests for continuing to choose us as their go-to place to gather, enjoy a meal, and watch the game.

This first month with our loyalty program has been exciting, the program delivers real value, meaningful rewards, and a deeper connection to the culture, sports, and hospitality that define the Ojos Locos brand.

What makes the program fun and engaging for guests?

Rewards members receive 250 bonus points just for joining, then continue to earn five points for every dollar spent, so they immediately start to earn rewards and access to exclusive members-only offers. With the mobile app, our guests can find a sports cantina nearby, check the menu and order online. They can browse menus and events or even receive alerts to be first to learn about specials and menu updates.

To celebrate the launch, we’re running a major promotion: anyone who signs up for Loco Rewards by April 30th is entered to win two tickets to the 2026 World Cup. Ojos is known for being the soccer cantina, which is why we wanted to our first loyalty giveaway to be World Cup tickets, with games coming to the U.S. in June. Yet while we’re known for soccer, the loyalty program is a big part of expanding our Ojos audience and embracing our second- and third-generation Hispanic guests that are interested in coming in for basketball, football, and other sports as well. So, we’re also doing instant-win promotions right in our restaurants during sporting occasions.

We introduced a basketball jersey giveaway in all stores, with player jerseys from their local NBA team. When a guest in our Chino, CA store comes in during a Lakers game, a team member is walking around giving raffle tickets for anyone who is in the Ojos Rewards program. Those added instant win components make it more than just a basic loyalty program. We’re looking for opportunities to engage, bringing extra value and excitement.

If you’re in watching the game, and there’s an awesome Luka Lakers jersey in front of your face while you're in watching the game… what a great opportunity to sign up for Ojos Locos Rewards.

You’ve had the loyalty program running for about two months . What was your initial focus, and how are you leveraging the Paytronix software?

Our initial focus has been on sign-ups, and the base is growing rapidly. Soon, we’ll have the data needed to launch targeted campaigns. Paytronix makes it easy to turn on win-back campaigns, birthday offers, and frequent-visit pushes.

In a few months, once we have a healthy membership base, we’ll really leverage Paytronix to ramp up personalized messaging and SMS offers. Most importantly, it gives Ojos Locos a direct, modern way to interact with our guests.

How has the initial months gone for employees as they bring guests on board?

The staff is just as excited as the guests! We actually launched a contest for our management teams and daily incentives for our bartenders, servers, and staff on the floor, driving them to sign up new members to win prizes like a free meal, or cool swag. At the store level it’s a competition for each Ojos Cantina to bring on a certain number of guests for the rewards program and if they meet a threshold, the management team wins a cash bonus to distribute. Even at the area director level, the one who oversees the single store with the most overall sign-ups will win a prize.

Because we operate sports bars, that competitive nature is in our DNA. Tying that competition into the loyalty program has built a lot of hype within the four walls of our restaurants.

Why should guests be excited about the new mobile app, and how does the reward structure work?

Our guests visit frequently because they love the experience of watching a game with friends and visiting their favorite Ojos Locos Chica. Driving that frequency is our main goal, so we’ve made the rewards quite generous.

An important note for our guests: even money spent on alcohol accumulates reward points, though reward dollars are redeemed for food. If you buy a round of shots for your buddies, you’ve likely earned $5 toward your next meal just by sitting there.

Why did you choose to partner with Paytronix, and how has it helped you succeed?

Paytronix has been around for so long, it’s a well-known and well-oiled machine for restaurant loyalty and digital engagement. We chose Paytronix because it could be easily programmed and integrated into the existing Ojos technology stack.

The app was built by Paytronix to work like similar apps that our guests already use, with an easy user flow and functionality. It was all just very turnkey for us, integrating right into our Aloha POS. The short answer is that Paytronix is a great program and a dependable option, but it’s not just cookie cutter – it brings new opportunity for us to continue to build on to.

We're looking forward to having a suite of marketing programs from Paytronix, so the platform is much more than loyalty. We also introduced gift cards and are set to begin an e-club program. And we’ll have an improved SMS text program as well, so we can use any of those avenues and communications streams to send exclusive offers once a guest joins their local rewards program.

Thanks for talking with us today. We look forward to seeing what’s next for Ojos Locos Sports Cantina and Loco Rewards.

We’ll be doing plenty more with the rewards program in the months ahead, with the NCAA basketball tournament and other events coming up. We’re planning elevated watch party experiences for the World Cup, and planning a visit program where guests mark a digital passbook when visiting for World Cup games, to earn additional points for special prizes.