Colorado-based Cheba Hut, a cannabis-themed sandwich chain, is on a roll, riding the high of robust growth over the last few years, surpassing 80 shops late last year after sprouting its 50th restaurant in 2022.
A 2026 Food On Demand Outstanding Operator, the brand packed its tech stack with new partners last year, including the full rollout of Toast point-of-sale systems and the launch of Munchie Mob Rewards, a new loyalty program.
Cheba Hut’s off-prem operations grew from less than 5 percent of the brand’s total sales mix before the coronavirus pandemic shook the industry in 2020 to more than 35 percent in 2025.
Brian Witte, senior vice president of operations, credited much of that success with an almost obsessive desire to balance the in-shop experience with delivery.
“We’re all about what we call ‘the interaction, not the transaction,’” Witte said. “We want every customer encounter to feel unique, whether it’s through a digital platform or in the shop. Really focusing on those different sales channels and different priority guests allows you to dial in the customer experience in the restaurant by giving the right resource allocation to each one of those separately.”
A key component of tailoring the restaurant experience to guests, Witte said, is leveraging customer data and listening to feedback. Tech partners, such as Olo and Ovation, simplified both of those tasks for the brand in 2025.
“Understanding who those customers are is a little bit new to us, because our data has never been as robust as it is now,” Witte said. “So, when we look at how we’re going to innovate the menu to support some of these initiatives, then we go deeper, and we look at how different products — as we bring in a gluten-free bread — travel differently than what we had before, because it’s not the same as the bread that we traditionally offer.”
Delivering some of the special aspects of in-house dining that guests appreciate most about Cheba is crucial to capturing off-prem customers, Witte said, even if they never step foot in the shop. One simple yet meaningful example the brand took to accomplish this goal was the introduction of the Cheba Fizz as an online-exclusive menu item: a mixture of Kool-Aid and soda, which guests can access easily in the restaurant but was previously unavailable for delivery.
Additionally, Cheba Hut formally launched a new app and loyalty solution with Thanx last fall, a step Witte described as a significant initiative to enhance delivery and takeout options. The effort resulted in a five-fold increase in guest signup rates for the rewards program.
“We’ve really updated the loyalty side of that in particular so that we can make sure that our customers who are ordering through first-party in particular — especially that delivery side — are finding reasons to re-engage (and) are able to be offered new promotions,” Witte said.
A significant boost to Cheba Hut’s off-prem sales stemmed from catering, which increased by almost 100 percent on a per-store basis from 2023 to 2025. 
In 18 months spanning 2024-25, three-quarters of the brand’s shops went live on ezCater as part of a push toward full implementation. Olo Catering Plus enabled features such as house accounts, scheduling/invoicing orders, and tax-exempt orders through Olo Switchboard.
Throughout the first half of 2025, Cheba Hut rolled out Toast POS systems, resulting in updated kitchen display systems, new insights across sales channels and a greater ability to monitor tickets. This change was accompanied by other minor adjustments across the restaurants to simplify processes for both staff and customers.
“Sometimes, it’s the low-tech things that you need to look at first — start with the basics,” Witte said. “As we have started to have a more sophisticated ordering experience on the app side, we’re looking at the basics on the in-shop level, like the pick-up signage. How do we make it more vibrant and stand out to people who are engaging in a digital platform and still make it feel branded, fun and unique?”
Witte said the brand is continuing to explore ways tech can improve operations this year, noting kitchen automation in particular is a primary focus as Cheba Hut looks at menu innovation in the latter part of 2026.
The Outstanding Operators Program highlights 20 innovative brands taking creative paths to success with all things off-premises. Each winner receives a $1,000 charitable donation to their organization of choice and will be recognized on-stage at the 2026 Food On Demand Conference. Register today!
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