Most restaurant operators think televisions are simply there to entertain guests.
Chris Ives sees them differently.
As CEO of Bubbakoo’s Burritos, Ives is leading the fast-casual brand through its next phase of growth. With 140 locations and plans to reach 300 over the next five years, maintaining a consistent guest experience across every restaurant has become one of the company’s biggest priorities. One way Bubbakoo’s is doing that is through its partnership with Atmosphere, turning every television into another expression of the brand.
More Than a Television Screen
Founded in 2008 along the Jersey Shore, Bubbakoo’s Burritos was built around one simple idea: create something different. The founders wanted more than another burrito concept. They wanted every restaurant to reflect the laid-back energy and personality that inspired the brand.
That philosophy extends beyond the menu.
Rather than showing cable news or sports, every Bubbakoo’s restaurant features its own branded television channel through Atmosphere. Guests watch surfing, skateboarding, snow sports, and other action sports that reinforce the company’s Jersey Shore roots and “Create Something Different” mindset.
“We don’t have cable in our shops,” Ives said. “It’s Bubbakoo’s TV delivering on our ‘Create Something Different’ mantra.”
From USB Drives to a National Brand
The partnership didn’t start with custom programming.
Before working with Atmosphere, Bubbakoo’s restaurants relied on USB drives loaded with YouTube videos featuring surfing, skating, and other action sports. As the company expanded, that approach became increasingly difficult to manage across dozens of locations.
Atmosphere eventually approached the company with an idea: instead of simply providing content, why not build an entire Bubbakoo’s television channel?
The result gave every restaurant a consistent look and feel while allowing programming to adapt to local markets. Mountain communities might feature snow sports, while coastal locations continue highlighting surfing and other action sports that fit the brand’s personality.
Protecting the Culture
For Ives, creating a consistent experience becomes more difficult with every new restaurant.
“You unfortunately get a little bit of that dilution of our core genuine hospitality standards,” he said. “Every day I wake up thinking about how we can deliver better service and hospitality across all of our stores.”
That’s why every part of the restaurant matters.
The food, the hospitality, the conversations between employees and guests, and even what’s playing on the televisions all contribute to how customers experience the brand.
Technology Should Support Hospitality
Ives believes technology should remove friction for restaurant teams, not replace them.
Behind the scenes, Bubbakoo’s uses AI and data tools to help operators understand guest behavior, improve forecasting, and identify operational opportunities faster. Inside the restaurant, however, managers are expected to focus on serving guests rather than staring at dashboards.
“We try to pull out all the tech from the general managers,” Ives said. “Most importantly, they’re working the shifts and delivering on the guest experience.”
Atmosphere fits naturally into that philosophy. Instead of giving operators another task to manage, it helps deliver a consistent brand experience automatically across every location.
Scaling the Experience
As Bubbakoo’s works toward 300 restaurants, Ives knows consistency can’t come from operations manuals alone.
It comes from creating an environment that feels unmistakably like Bubbakoo’s every time someone walks through the door.
For the company, Atmosphere has become more than an entertainment platform. It’s another tool for telling the brand’s story, reinforcing its personality, and creating the kind of guest experience that can scale alongside the business.
For restaurant operators, it’s a reminder that the right technology shouldn’t distract from hospitality.
It should make it even stronger.
