Case study · Restaurant · Sarasota
Lucky 8 SRQ: the first video we made hit 1.2 million views
Before we started filming, their reels topped out at 2,855 views. The first one we made together did about 1.2 million across Instagram and Facebook, public counters as of August 2026.
The situation
A great New Orleans-inspired kitchen with almost no video presence. Before January 2026, reels went out sporadically and topped out at 2,855 views. The food deserved a crowd the feed was not bringing.
Nobody was in the kitchen with a camera during service, which is the only time any of it is worth watching.
The play
Weekly on-site reel shoots during service. Kitchen point-of-view shots, the boil coming out of the pot, regulars mid-crack. Hook-first edits (a hook in the first second, pacing built for the scroll), posted natively to each platform on a cadence that never skipped a week.
The first video we made together was the smash burger reel, posted 11 January 2026 as an Instagram collab post.
What happened
The smash burger reel reached 715K+ on Instagram and 485,862 on Facebook, about 1.2 million views cross-platform, public counters as of 9 August 2026. Facebook followers went from 610 to 6,215 between 1 January and 25 July 2026, up 919%.
Across 2026, Facebook reels published for Lucky 8 SRQ earned 1,193,860 views between 1 January and 9 August. In June the restaurant earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand and ABC 7 came to tell the story. The audience was already there.
- Before SiestaTheir reels topped out at 2,855 views before January 2026.
- About 1.2M views cross-platformThe smash burger reel, the first video of the partnership, posted 11 January 2026: 715K+ on Instagram and 485,862 on Facebook, public counters as of 9 August 2026.
- About 597K viewsThe hand-cut fries reel, 16 to 17 March 2026: 389K on Instagram and 208,366 on Facebook, public counters as of 9 August 2026.
- About 449K viewsThe Michelin reel filmed with ABC 7, 24 June 2026: 243K on Instagram and 205,965 on Facebook, public counters as of 9 August 2026.
- Facebook followers up 919%610 to 6,215, 1 January to 25 July 2026.
- 1,193,860 viewsFacebook reels published 1 January to 9 August 2026.
Why it worked
Their best reel before us had 2,855 views. The first one we made has about 1.2 million. That was not luck and it was not a hack. It was that somebody was standing in the kitchen during service with a camera, which is the one thing a restaurant cannot outsource to a scheduling tool.
If you run a kitchen, the content already exists. It happens every night between five and nine. The only question is whether anyone is there to film it.
Want this for your restaurant?
We film on site, during service, every week. See more client results, or read how we approach restaurant social media marketing.
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