TL;DR
The restaurant industry saw a wave of leadership changes in April, including new chief executives at Denny's, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, and Bagels & Co. Development hiring remained hot, with new chiefs at several chains signaling unit expansion and format optimization.
April was a busy month in restaurant company C-suites after a relatively quieter March.
Three chains named new chief executives: Bagels & Co. promoted an executive, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams brought in the former leader of Ben & Jerry’s, and Denny’s named a successor for Kelli Valade.
Development hiring remained hot, with new chiefs at Sweetgreen, Chicken Salad Chick, GoTo Foods, and Ford’s Garage signaling unit expansion, format optimization, and stronger pipelines.
On the finance front, Red Robin, Mountain Mike’s, and Firebirds added CFOs, while Fogo de Chão’s longtime CFO retired.
Marketing and brand leadership is in the spotlight as Chipotle tapped Fernando Machado, Ford’s Garage named its first CMO, and the Women’s Foodservice Forum appointed a chief brand officer.
Digital and technology investment is accelerating with Topgolf’s new chief information officer and GoTo Foods’ first chief digital officer.
Franchisee and operator alignment also advanced, with Diversified Restaurant Group redefining operations roles to scale execution.
Board refreshes at Jack in the Box and Yum Brands bring seasoned growth and finance expertise to guide strategy.
In this story
This story was originally published by Leigh Anne Zinsmeister in Nation's Restaurant News on May 5, 2026. Burnaze summarizes and links to the original reporting.
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