diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 574baea..e6f916c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ You only need to run "First Time Setup", the first time. After that you can use
 
 - Start the development environment `./vendor/bin/sail up -d`
 - Stop the development environment `./vendor/bin/sail down`
-- Refresh the database structure `./vendor/bin/sail migrate:fresh --force`
+- Refresh the database structure `./vendor/bin/sail artisan migrate:fresh --force`
+- Updating Dependencies `./vendor/bin/sail composer update`
 
 ### 👇 Importing Data
 
diff --git a/app/Console/Commands/PerformanceTestCommand.php b/app/Console/Commands/PerformanceTestCommand.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..93f2df4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/Console/Commands/PerformanceTestCommand.php
@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Console\Commands;
+
+use Illuminate\Console\Command;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Log;
+
+class PerformanceTestCommand extends Command
+{
+    /**
+     * The name and signature of the console command.
+     *
+     * @var string
+     */
+    protected $signature = 'perf:gauntlet {--iterations=20}';
+
+    /**
+     * The console command description.
+     *
+     * @var string
+     */
+    protected $description = 'Runs a gauntlet of performance tests on the /v1/breweries/meta endpoint.';
+
+    /**
+     * The test scenarios to run.
+     */
+    private array $scenarios = [
+        'by_city' => 'san',
+        'by_name' => 'dog',
+        'by_state' => 'California',
+        'by_postal' => '92124',
+        'by_country' => 'United+States', // Use URL-encoded value
+    ];
+
+    /**
+     * Execute the console command.
+     */
+    public function handle(): int
+    {
+        $iterations = (int) $this->option('iterations');
+
+        $this->runIndividualTests($iterations);
+        $this->runCumulativeTests($iterations);
+
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Run tests for each filter individually.
+     */
+    private function runIndividualTests(int $iterations): void
+    {
+        $this->info("\n--- 🚀 Running Individual Filter Tests ({$iterations} iterations each) ---");
+        $results = [];
+
+        foreach ($this->scenarios as $filter => $value) {
+            $this->output->write("Testing filter '{$filter}'...");
+            $times = $this->runTest("{$filter}={$value}", $iterations);
+
+            if (empty($times)) {
+                $this->output->writeln(' <error>FAIL</error>');
+
+                continue;
+            }
+            $this->output->writeln(' <info>OK</info>');
+
+            $results[] = [
+                'filter' => $filter,
+                'avg' => number_format(array_sum($times) / count($times), 2),
+                'min' => number_format(min($times), 2),
+                'max' => number_format(max($times), 2),
+            ];
+        }
+
+        $this->table(
+            ['Filter', 'Avg (ms)', 'Min (ms)', 'Max (ms)'],
+            $results
+        );
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Run tests with filters being added cumulatively.
+     */
+    private function runCumulativeTests(int $iterations): void
+    {
+        $this->info("\n--- 🚀 Running Cumulative Filter Tests ({$iterations} iterations each) ---");
+        $results = [];
+        $queryParams = [];
+
+        foreach ($this->scenarios as $filter => $value) {
+            $queryParams[$filter] = $value;
+            $queryString = http_build_query($queryParams);
+            $activeFilters = implode(', ', array_keys($queryParams));
+
+            $this->output->write("Testing filters: {$activeFilters}...");
+            $times = $this->runTest($queryString, $iterations);
+
+            if (empty($times)) {
+                $this->output->writeln(' <error>FAIL</error>');
+
+                continue;
+            }
+            $this->output->writeln(' <info>OK</info>');
+
+            $results[] = [
+                'filters' => $activeFilters,
+                'avg' => number_format(array_sum($times) / count($times), 2),
+                'min' => number_format(min($times), 2),
+                'max' => number_format(max($times), 2),
+            ];
+        }
+
+        $this->table(
+            ['Active Filters', 'Avg (ms)', 'Min (ms)', 'Max (ms)'],
+            $results
+        );
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Run the actual HTTP requests and measure response times.
+     */
+    private function runTest(string $queryString, int $iterations): array
+    {
+        $times = [];
+
+        // IMPORTANT: This is the correct URL for the API endpoint
+        $baseUrl = config('app.url').'/v1/breweries/meta';
+        $url = $baseUrl.'?'.$queryString;
+
+        // Add debugging output for the URL
+        if ($this->getOutput()->isVerbose()) {
+            $this->line("  -> Testing URL: {$url}");
+        }
+
+        for ($i = 0; $i < $iterations; $i++) {
+            $startTime = microtime(true);
+            try {
+                $response = Http::get($url);
+                if (! $response->successful()) {
+                    Log::error('Perf Test Failed Response', ['url' => $url, 'status' => $response->status(), 'body' => $response->body()]);
+
+                    return []; // Stop this test on first failure
+                }
+            } catch (\Exception $e) {
+                Log::error('Perf Test Exception', ['url' => $url, 'message' => $e->getMessage()]);
+
+                return []; // Stop this test on first failure
+            }
+
+            $endTime = microtime(true);
+            $times[] = ($endTime - $startTime) * 1000; // in milliseconds
+        }
+
+        return $times;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/app/Models/Traits/V1/BreweryFilters.php b/app/Models/Traits/V1/BreweryFilters.php
index 6b893b7..f2ade60 100644
--- a/app/Models/Traits/V1/BreweryFilters.php
+++ b/app/Models/Traits/V1/BreweryFilters.php
@@ -15,47 +15,39 @@ public function scopeApplyFilters(Builder $query, Request $request): Builder
         return $query
             ->when($request->has('by_city'), function (Builder $query) use ($request) {
                 $pattern = urldecode($request->input('by_city'));
-
-                $query->whereLike('city', "%{$pattern}%");
+                $query->whereLike('city', "{$pattern}%");
             })
             ->when($request->has('by_country'), function (Builder $query) use ($request) {
                 $pattern = urldecode($request->input('by_country'));
-
-                $query->whereLike('country', "%{$pattern}%");
+                $query->whereLike('country', "{$pattern}%");
             })
             // ->when($request->has('by_dist'), function (Builder $query) use ($request) {
             //     [$latitude, $longitude] = explode(',', $request->input('by_dist'));
-
             //     $query->orderByDistance($latitude, $longitude);
             // })
             ->when($request->has('by_ids'), function (Builder $query) use ($request) {
                 $values = array_map('trim', explode(',', $request->input('by_ids')));
-
                 $query->whereIn('id', $values);
             })
             ->when($request->has('by_name'), function (Builder $query) use ($request) {
                 $pattern = urldecode($request->input('by_name'));
-
+                // NOTE: Keeping by_name as-is since it's harder to get exact matches
                 $query->whereLike('name', "%{$pattern}%");
             })
             ->when($request->has('by_postal'), function (Builder $query) use ($request) {
                 $pattern = urldecode($request->input('by_postal'));
-
-                $query->whereLike('postal_code', "%{$pattern}%");
+                $query->whereLike('postal_code', "{$pattern}%");
             })
             ->when($request->has('by_state'), function (Builder $query) use ($request) {
                 $pattern = urldecode($request->input('by_state'));
-
-                $query->whereLike('state_province', "%{$pattern}%");
+                $query->whereLike('state_province', "{$pattern}%");
             })
             ->when($request->has('by_type'), function (Builder $query) use ($request) {
                 $types = array_map('trim', explode(',', $request->input('by_type')));
-
                 $query->whereIn('brewery_type', $types);
             })
             ->when($request->has('exclude_types'), function (Builder $query) use ($request) {
                 $types = array_map('trim', explode(',', $request->input('exclude_types')));
-
                 $query->whereNotIn('brewery_type', $types);
             });
     }
@@ -68,12 +60,10 @@ public function scopeApplySorts(Builder $query, Request $request): Builder
         return $query
             ->when($request->has('by_dist'), function (Builder $query) use ($request) {
                 [$latitude, $longitude] = array_map('trim', explode(',', $request->input('by_dist')));
-
                 $query->orderByDistance($latitude, $longitude);
             })
             ->when($request->has('sort'), function (Builder $query) use ($request) {
                 $values = explode(',', $request->input('sort'));
-
                 $values = collect($values)
                     ->map(function ($value) {
                         return array_map('trim', explode(':', $value));
diff --git a/database/migrations/2025_08_20_235803_add_indexes_to_breweries_table.php b/database/migrations/2025_08_20_235803_add_indexes_to_breweries_table.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8237fb3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/database/migrations/2025_08_20_235803_add_indexes_to_breweries_table.php
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+<?php
+
+use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
+use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
+
+return new class extends Migration
+{
+    /**
+     * Run the migrations.
+     */
+    public function up(): void
+    {
+        Schema::table('breweries', function (Blueprint $table) {
+            $table->index('name');
+            $table->index('city');
+            $table->index('state_province');
+            $table->index('country');
+            $table->index('postal_code');
+        });
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Reverse the migrations.
+     */
+    public function down(): void
+    {
+        Schema::table('breweries', function (Blueprint $table) {
+            $table->dropIndex(['name']);
+            $table->dropIndex(['city']);
+            $table->dropIndex(['state_province']);
+            $table->dropIndex(['country']);
+            $table->dropIndex(['postal_code']);
+        });
+    }
+};