With the chain facing declining guest counts, Murphy unveiled a turnaround plan last month that included serving Donatos at up to 425 Red Robin restaurants by 2022.īy finishing what Post started, Murphy is betting that pizza will drive guest frequency and increase average check while also lifting the brand’s delivery business.
Red Robin spent three years researching pizza under three CEOs, including newly tapped leader Paul Murphy. So, a category extension is something super, super interesting to us.” “But from an opportunity standpoint, pizza is very Americana just like the food that Red Robin offers. It always will be,” Jason Rusk, vice president of business innovation at Red Robin, told NRN. “As we looked at are overall menu, burgers are always at the heart of who we are. Led by then-CEO Denny Marie Post, the Greenwood Village, Colo.-based casual dining was searching for a food offering that would complement its burger-centric menu. That all changed in 2018 when the family-run pizza company was approached by Red Robin Gourmet Burgers. “We were very cautious about who we got involved with,” Donatos CEO Tom Krouse told Nation’s Restaurant News in a recent phone interview.
After the founder of Donatos Pizza repurchased the chain from McDonald’s in 2003, the Ohio-based pizzeria brand – known for its edge to edge toppings – was reluctant to partner with any big corporation.
