Restaurants and food / Palo Alto, CA

Arya Steakhouse

Almost 20 years in business. Arya came to us when everything was working

Arya is a Persian steakhouse in Palo Alto, open since 2007 and rated 4.4 on Yelp. We made it a place people want to talk about again by putting its Persian side first.

The restaurant

2007
open in Palo Alto since: 4.4
on Yelp, almost 1,800 reviews: 4.6
on OpenTable

The situation

On paper, it needed nothing

Mike and Fera Hashemi, a married couple from Iran, founded Arya in Palo Alto, in the middle of Silicon Valley. Mike is the chef, and Fera runs the restaurant with him.

It has been open since 2007, with a 4.4 on Yelp from almost 1,800 reviews and a 4.6 on OpenTable. Regulars keep coming back, and companies book their dinners there. By every outside sign, it was a restaurant that needed nothing.

The risk

How restaurants lose guests

Restaurants rarely lose guests all at once. It happens quietly. First the place stops being news. Then people stop thinking of it when they choose where to go on Friday. Regulars still come, but more and more new guests pick places that opened recently and look fresher.

The numbers hold up for a while, which is exactly why nobody notices the problem until it shows in revenue. Most owners come to an agency at that point, when the place needs rescuing.

Arya came earlier. Fera and Mike felt that a restaurant this established had to become relevant again while that was still about growth, not survival. For an agency, that is the best time to start. There is no fire to put out, so you can build.

The asset

What only Arya has

There are dozens of steakhouses in the Bay Area. Prime steak, good wine and a dark dining room are things many of them do well, and if that is all you compete on, you look like everyone else.

But only one of them is a Persian steakhouse with Iranian owners. Tahdig with a crispy crust, kebabs, saffron and Persian hospitality sit next to a cowboy ribeye and dry aged steaks. That mix is why people drive to Arya on purpose. A fresh look was only part of the job. The rest was putting up front what the neighbors don't have.

Brand Refresh
Positioning
Visual Direction
Content Production
Page Management

The content

Tahdig next to a cowboy ribeye

The Persian side of the menu moved to the front: tahdig, kebabs and saffron beside the steaks, as the main reason to choose Arya.

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Food

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Sample content

Story reels

Stories in a split frame

The results

What changed

Arya stopped looking like a restaurant that has simply been around a long time. The account got a consistent visual style that matches the level of the place, so the feed and the dining room now say the same thing.

The Persian side of the menu moved to the front. Tahdig, kebabs and saffron now stand beside the steaks as the main reason to choose Arya, not as a side note.

A restaurant that lived on reputation and regulars for almost 20 years became a place people want to talk about again. The kitchen, the owners and the story are the same. They are just shown the way people want to see them today.

Why it matters

The best time to refresh your restaurant on social media is when it feels unnecessary. While guests keep coming and the reviews are good, you can take your time and do it right. Once the room empties, you do the same work in a rush, and it costs a lot more.

And if your restaurant sits in a niche full of similar places, don't try to win with what everyone has. Find what only you have, like the cuisine, the owners' story or a signature dish, and put it at the center. That is what people will drive to you for.