La Terracica: concept, menu and operating systems by Jiwa Biru

La Terracica started in Lo Pagán in 2018. Today there are four restaurants in Murcia and Alicante. Business model, menu, and kitchen and bar systems by Jiwa Biru.

The first Terracica, in Lo Pagán

The group had a brand that was losing money, and La Terracica was built on top of it. The first menu test was on 25 December 2018. By 2019 the brand was established.

After the success of La Terracica in Lo Pagán, the old brand was removed from the Torrevieja restaurant and La Terracica opened there at Easter 2019. Later came La Terracica Playa Flamenca and La Terracica Benijófar. Today there are four restaurants, one in Murcia and three in Alicante.

The concept

A place that works for anyone at any time of day.

It is open all day, and everything is built for a continuous flow. Tables are never reset between services: you can eat at any time and have a coffee at any time. That is always respected.

Anyone would ask who the target customer is. Some models do not need one. Very few, and La Terracica is one of them. What holds the place together is the model, how it is carried out, and its positioning.

You go to La Terracica because it is La Terracica, and it works.

Why it works

An all-day model is built from the operations. The menu, the service and the organisation of the kitchen and the bar come from how the place has to run during every opening hour. Operations, business model and positioning are fully aligned.

At La Terracica, the model itself sells. What sells is how everything fits together: the food and drink, the place, the pace and the waiter. Front-of-house staff keep an eye on each table and offer a second drink if the customer wants one. The team works on attention, pace and the culture of the brand, not on pushing sales.

Every kitchen and bar station has its own visual operating sheets. With them, a new person learns the job in a week, and the dish comes out the same whoever makes it.

Every detail was taken care of, including the tableware, which had to stay away from fashionable tableware. It is La Terracica’s tableware, and it does not take centre stage. It is part of the whole.

Since the pandemic, the menu has been reviewed regularly to improve profitability. With menu engineering and working systems, the restaurant serves quality food fast, with a low average spend and high profitability.

Part of the work was making it clear that La Terracica is neither a restaurant nor a café. It is La Terracica, and it works.

Jiwa Biru