Reinventing Fast Casual in the Pandemic Age - Paul Mangiamele, CEO, Legendary Restaurant Group

Paul Mangiamele, CEO, Legendary Restaurant Group

I have been a “turn-around guy” for the last 20 years and rarely do I encounter someone like Paul Mangiamele, who swooped in to fix long-standing fast casual brands Bennigan’s and Steak & Ale. He not only wanted to set  these brands on a better course, he put his money where his mouth was and bought the franchise. Once he had them back on their feet (and ensured distribution of those Baby Back Ribs and Monte Cristo sandwiches again), along came the pandemic. And yes, he and his wife Gwen, the co-owners, persisted and came up with new ways of connecting with customers and even increased their reach globally.

If you are not familiar with the Fast Casual category, the Applebee’s and Sizzler’s of the restaurant world promise familiar menus nationally, but have been contracting for some time. Paul Mangiamele  was brought in in 2011 to lead the turnaround of Bennigan's and Steak & Ale but he ended up buying the firm and bringing the brands back from the brink of Chapter 7. What worked? As Paul says “Not too many CEO’s own their brands (100%) and the fact that my wife and I have significant skin in the game by investing our own money lends strong credibility to our franchise offerings and models.”

Paul’s work with these origin fast casual brands embodies the three key components of reboots that I teach at the Kellogg School: people, platform, and passion.

Rather than cut costs as many turn-around experts advise, Paul decided to “invest our way into profitability, not save our way into profitability.” He followed the precepts of  Ray Kroc, of McDonald's, who always said that the quality of service, cleanliness and value equals profitability. “I bought what I saw was the unlocked value of the brand and wanted to shine up these diamonds that got a little dirty through the mismanagement of people. We brought the leadership and retained the intellectual capital that my team possesses.”