Friction Labs

We design websites and run AI agents for local businesses — see what we build

Friction Labs
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Hospitality·Portland, OR

Pearl District Cafe

A neighborhood cafe turned a static page into a booking-and-reviews machine — catering inquiries now answer themselves.

12 min
median first reply (was next-day)
2.1×
catering bookings / month
+73
new 5-star reviews in a quarter

The challenge

Catering and large-party requests came in by DM and email at all hours and often sat unanswered until the next morning, by which point the booking was gone.

What we built

  • Conversion-focused site with a catering inquiry flow
  • Avery — instant inquiry follow-up over SMS
  • Quinn — review funnel after every event
  • CRM with a simple events pipeline

We answer every catering lead in minutes now, even when we're slammed behind the counter.

Owner · Pearl District Cafe