With customer loyalty programs growing in popularity among both restaurant operators and consumers, brands are already demonstrating out-of-the-box incentives in 2026 to boost app downloads and draw attention to rewards initiatives.
Restaurant loyalty is no longer as simple as offering points for purchases, according to an October 2025 article from DoorDash for Merchants. Today’s diners desire relationships with restaurant brands — loyalty beyond discounts.
Optimal loyalty programs make enrolled customers feel like “insiders” with privileges beyond those of other guests, according to the DoorDash article. Benefits like early access to specials, events or personalized recommendations can turn occasional diners into more frequent customers.
Ojos Locos Sports Cantina, a Dallas-based sports cantina with 35 locations, started the new year with a promotional effort for its new Loco Rewards program with a grand prize catered to the interests of its customer base: two free tickets to the 2026 World Cup. According to a Dec. 30, 2025, press release, the program aims to recognize and reward frequent guests, providing members-only offers and early alerts on specials and menu updates.
Ojos Locos’ website states that the sports bar concept launched in 2010 and was specifically designed for the Latino community. The loyalty program launch in January reflects a sharpened focus on guest experience in the new year.
Ojos Locos Sports Cantina started the new year with promotional effort for its recently launched Loco Rewards program.
“We have always been about bringing communities together over shared love of food and sports, and Loco Rewards gives us a new way to recognize the guests who continue to choose Ojos Locos as their place to gather, enjoy a meal and watch the game,” Destinee Rollins, CMO of Ojos Locos, said in a press release. “As we start the new year, we’re thrilled to offer a loyalty experience that delivers real value, meaningful rewards and an even deeper connection to the culture, sports and hospitality that define our brand.”
According to a late-2024 article on loyalty program innovations from the National Restaurant Association, there is significant competition in the customer loyalty space, with 67 percent of restaurants offering loyalty programs.
Two key steps in building programs that deliver value and foster deep levels of customer loyalty, according to the NRA report, are offering exclusive rewards and implementing gamification. With points rewarded for purchases and the World Cup sweepstakes, Ojos Locos’ recent effort checks both of those boxes.
Slim Chickens, a quick-service restaurant chain headquartered in Arkansas, took a different approach in appealing to customers with a recent effort to promote its new mobile app. In a Jan. 1 press release, the brand incentivized app downloads with store credit for new users and a corresponding donation to No Kid Hungry, a nonprofit focused on addressing childhood hunger nationwide.
The Slim Chickens promotion offered $5 in credit to each eligible new app user, with a similar amount benefiting the Washington D.C.-based charity up to a maximum of $40,000.
For every app download in January, Slim Chickens will donate $5 to No Kid Hungry —up to $40,000—while rewarding guests with $5 in Slim Chickens credit.
“Childhood hunger is an issue that affects every community, including the ones our restaurants serve every day,” Patrick Noone, chief marketing officer of Slim Chickens, said in a press release. “By linking a simple action to real support, we’re giving guests a meaningful way to help No Kid Hungry reach more children during a critical time of year.”
Whether it be a chance to win highly sought-after sporting event tickets or a donation to admirable causes, brands are getting creative to draw customers to their apps and loyalty programs. As customer loyalty continues to grow as a factor in shaping consumer behavior, the trend of clever, meaningful promotional incentives for such programs appears poised to continue throughout the new year.
