Reintroducing Tony Roma's: CEO Mina's Vision for Growth and Innovation

In this episode of the Restaurant Technology Guys podcast, Jeremy Julian is joined by Mina, the CEO of Tony Roma's. The discussion covers Mina's unique journey from an attorney conducting due diligence during the 2020 pandemic to becoming the permanent CEO in 2023. Mina shares her vision for revitalizing the beloved brand, focusing on menu innovation, expanding both domestically and internationally, and appealing to Gen Z and Millennials. The conversation highlights the brand's resilience, the importance of social media and influencer marketing, and the flexible support system provided to franchisees. Tune in to learn about Mina's strategy to reintroduce Tony Roma's to a new generation while preserving its cherished legacy.

00:00 Tony Roma's

01:01 Introduction and Welcome

01:23 Meet the New CEO of Tony Roma's

01:56 Journey to Becoming CEO

03:10 Challenges and Achievements

04:28 Revitalizing the Tony Roma's Brand

07:55 Explaining the Tony Roma's Experience

09:53 Innovations and Menu Updates

13:45 Franchisee Relations and Flexibility

17:13 Creating Memorable Experiences

19:52 Social Media and Marketing Strategies

23:05 Future Growth and Expansion Plans

27:08 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Transcript

0:02

This is the Restaurant Technology Guys podcast, helping you run your restaurant better.

Jeremy Julian: 0:14

In today's episode, we are joined by the CEO of Tony Roma's. Tony Roma's is a brand that, uh, lives in a lot of people's hearts, is one of those places that they really enjoyed going to, but haven't been in a while. And, uh, the CEO is on to really Reintroduce the concept to the world and to share all of the great things that they continue to do Mina and I Talk about her journey from being on the board to now being the CEO as well as how they're gonna continue to grow the brand domestically as well as Internationally, if you don't know me, my name is Jeremy Julian. I am the chief Revenue officer for CBS Northstar. We sell the Northstar point of sale solution for multi units. Please check us out at cbsnorthstar. com and now onto our episode. Welcome back to the Restaurant Technology Guys podcast. I thank everyone out there for joining us. As I say each and every time I know you guys have got lots of choices. So thanks for hanging with us this week today. I am really excited and I was talking to our guest prior to hitting the record button because I grew up going to this brand and, our guest is going to talk a lot about where it's at, where it's been and where it's going. And so I'm excited to introduce you to. I don't know how long it's been, but you're the new newly appointed CEO of Tony Romans. I don't know. How long has it been?

Mohaimina Haque: 1:29

it's going to be two years

Jeremy Julian: 1:31

Oh my goodness. I can't believe that. I, I thought it was, I thought it was in the last, 12 months or so. So that's crazy. So why don't you tell us a little bit, tell our audience a little bit about who you are first before we jump in, because Your accomplishments and even the last reason you had to reschedule blew me away. I was like, Oh, wow. I get to talk to this lady. That's a, that's pretty important people. So why don't you tell everybody a little bit about your backstory and then we can talk about the, the beloved brand that you get to, get the privilege of running.

Mohaimina Haque: 1:56

Yeah, firstly, Jeremy, thank you so much for having me here today. I'd be happy to share about my background, which is a little bit non-traditional. Then you would back for a CEO of our restaurant brand. So Tony Roma's has been around for 53 years. And those of and love our ribs, I'm sure you have a lot of wonderful memories. I first came across Tony Roma's in the year, 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. And my role at that time was I was the lawyer who was conducting the due diligence for an acquisition. So I did the due diligence for the buyer who ended up buying Tony Romo's in the middle of the pandemic, the entire company. So as an attorney, we provide like the risk, the potentials and I think I probably went above and beyond this case seems so interesting. I started advising about the operation, how to improve it. And I think the client started to see that I got very passionate about this brand. as a result, I was placed as an outside general counsel in the company in 2021. So from 21 to 23, I served as an outside general counsel leading the legal department. the restaurant industry was facing a lot of challenges coming out of the pandemic. One of the challenges was to collect unpaid royalties. At the same time, maintain a very cordial relationship and understand what the franchisees are also going through. So I was tasked with that, and I was able to recover a lot of unpaid royalties without much cost to the company. and I gained a lot of confidence, I think, of the shareholders and the board members. and then in 2023 summer, I was asked to be the interim CEO of the company. One of my condition was. Okay, I can lead this company, but I'm a practicing lawyer. I have a very active and bustling law practice in Washington, D. C. And I didn't see myself giving up legal practice because I wasn't in a position where, I don't like law. That's why I was coming into another industry. I love law and I still do. And I practice law actively. fortunately, the board agreed to that, so I'm in a position where I'm running both my law firm and Tony Robbis. After serving as an interim CEO for a year, the board then decided that I should be named the permanent CEO, and that happened in the summer of 2024. And now, I'm trying to turn the brand around, trying to make it appealing for Gen Zs and Millennials. There are people who have a lot of great memories about Tony Robbis. I always say, there are people. We're filled with nostalgia, and I love it. Wherever I go, I hear about all these memories and special moments they had in different restaurants of Tony Roma's around the world. And now my task is to make sure to create the same type of memories and experience for Gen Z's and millennials. So leading the turnaround effort, trying to make the brand modern yet adhere to our core identity that we're famous for, which are our ribs.

Jeremy Julian: 5:06

I love that. And, again, like I said, I was teasing you earlier just about how privileged I feel because you've got a law practice and you're running a restaurant brand and you still hang out with, with me and our audience. But what made you fall in love with the brand as you were going through due diligence? it's not an easy job running a restaurant brand, especially running a restaurant brand, but there was something in it that you said, you know what, because you've got plenty to do on the law side, but you said, you know what, I feel like I can make a difference. And so what made you get to a place where you fell in love with the brand as you were going through that due diligence? Because as you told that story, I'm sure there's some place sometime that you said, ah, I love this. I love what they're doing. I love these stories. Is it really going back to that? Creating the hospitable memories. Is that where it's at?

Mohaimina Haque: 5:49

No, that is such a wonderful question. I don't think, anyone ever asked me, what made me fall in love with the brand at the due diligence stage? Because as an attorney, we do our legal review, but this brand was special, despite of everything that we found out, and we ultimately advised for the acquisition, What was special about this brand was firstly, if you look at Tony Roma's, it's spread across five continents. You will find Tony Romas in places like Guam, or in the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, in Germany, in Australia. We're dispersed. although our geographical footprint has reduced, in the United States, but I always joke like running Tony Romas is like running the United Nation because you're like everywhere, that international diversity presence that was extremely attractive. And also like how much people actually love the brand. if you looked at the marketing budget, when I was doing the due diligence that Tony Romans has, as opposed to the competitors, it's not as much, it's very modest, but what we have is brand awareness and equity. I was in Davos in January and I had a phenomenal conversation with the board chair, the global board chair of Deloitte. we were talking and she came and she told me how she had a very lovely experience in Tony Robbins about one of her dates, and I thought that is amazing. And she gave me a wonderful idea. She said, you guys should do like a social media series, bringing people in and having them share about their nostalgic memories about the brand. Those type of brand equity that are built over time, that's precious. I think that's not something that all brands have and carry through. The other thing about Tony Romans that we really liked is it's a resilient brand. It went through a lot. It had its highs, it had its lows, but it always came back, and that nature shows that how the brand can actually stand the test of time. So that was another very attractive feature.

Jeremy Julian: 7:54

I love that. for those that are listening to the show that may not have been to a Tony Ramos, cause they're in that same demographic that you're going out to shooting to, to reinvigorate their passion to make these same memories. Can you explain the brand to people that haven't been there? Because. I said to you at the onset, I got a chance to go to one of your stores and you used to frequent there and it was always one of those places that quite frankly, as a younger, you know, person, it was like, this was a special event when I was going to Tony Roma's type of thing. And, I could give you some of those same stories of, date nights with my mom kind of thing. she loved Tony Roma's and we would go, but, for those that haven't been, if it'd been to the brand, if you could explain what is it. I know, but I'm sure some of our listeners are gonna be like, Tony Ramos, I've never heard of that. Help me understand a little bit better.

Mohaimina Haque: 8:37

Yeah, absolutely. So Tony Roma's, I would like to call it as a barbecue ribs capital, the original barbecue ribs capital. If you love ribs, you need to try out Tony Roma's ribs. That's what we're known for. And there is a reason why people have this memories. It's unmatched. of course, I'm biased, so excuse my bias, everyone. But the ribs we have, it's unmatched. If anyone who doesn't know Tony Roma's, I would like you to, think about it as the Ribs Capital. It's the ultimate destination to try out ribs. We do have locations in the United States, not as many rib disperse, but I would say make it your ribs destination. Look out, where is Tony Roma's? We have one in Las Vegas. And it's very popular. People go there and they stand in lines for almost two hours just to try out our ribs. we have Tony Roma's in North Carolina. We have, we still have two locations in California, one near Disneyland. We have Tony Roma's in Iowa. we have Tony Romo's in Montana. We're gonna open one in Tennessee in the next two months. So we're dispersed. We're all across the country. We're in both the coast and select location and in the middle of the country. But I would say Tony Romo's is your ultimate ribs destination.

Jeremy Julian: 9:51

and yeah, the product itself is amazing. Casual Dining, Fast Casual, I know you guys had been playing prior to your arrival. With some different formats, but for again, for those primarily still table service around the world, or have you guys pivoted, the service style?

Mohaimina Haque: 10:06

So around the world, it's still table service. it's casual dining. However, we do have a fast casual sister brand as well. It's called Tony Roma's Bones and Burgers. We opened that in Tampa in December 2022. So it's like almost about, over two years old, our sister

Jeremy Julian: 10:27

I knew that you guys had been pivot, had been trying those different brands. I didn't know how they ended up, how they ended up working. And I know some people, we'll try that because that ultimately is a different, different business model and you can use some of the brand equity to drive some customers in and try the product and then when they see a casual dining they'll flip over. I know Hooters was doing it for a while, I know Buffalo Wild Wings had done it, type of thing.

Mohaimina Haque: 10:46

Yep. And for bones and burgers, we have a huge differentiator, which is when people think about ribs, they think, okay, I need to go sit down in a table and, have the ribs. We have a proprietary grill in our fast casual concept where we can make the ribs under six minutes. So it's basically ribs on the go.

Jeremy Julian: 11:05

Oh my goodness, that's incredible. That's awesome. and to your point, oftentimes when you go to get ribs, it's like it's an experience. You've got to be there for a bit. And I love that you guys have found a way to do that. Talk to me a little bit about how you think about the brand. You talked about the fact that you guys are growing here in the States. How do you think about reintroducing that, in your story earlier, you're talking to the Deloitte, people, there's a way that some have been very successful and others have struggled. So talk me through what you guys are thinking about because reintroducing the brand and ensuring that they hold a place in people's hearts is important for you guys to continue to grow it. So how have you guys thought about growing? Cause it's a, it's a. It's a tough world out there right now, as you very well are aware, especially in casual dining.

Mohaimina Haque: 11:47

absolutely. it's a landscape that's very saturated and consumers, taste buds keeps on evolving. And the key is that, you to keep up with that. So although we have our core offering our ribs, our onion loaf that we're known for at the same time, it's imperative that we try out items that are popular with Gen Z's and millennials. So what we have done, we're rolling out this limited time offer menu through which we're doing like consistent, menu innovation each quarter, and we're trying out different mocktails or Trying to, appeal to a very diverse, palette, in terms of offering some pescatarian options or, cauliflower ribs. We're trying to test and experiment what works. Part of the reason, and it's a continuous process. This is a process I feel like if you need to keep a brand relevant, menu innovation, it's a continuous process. There is no end to it. You need to keep up with, the consumer demands, and we are liking what we are seeing in terms of what we are offering. I know our location in Edmonton, they got a very positive feedback, and Tony Romo's in Edmonton for our, Q1 winter menu. We have variety, various type of mocktails. And, we also have, lamb. Ribs. So we are trying to diversify to appeal to different taste. And as I said, it's a continuous process. There is no end to it.

Jeremy Julian: 13:17

Yeah, no, and I think that all too often what happens and, I'm going to get on my soapbox here for just a second because I've been doing this for a long time, is as these brands will find some level of success, as you and then they sit on their laurels and don't continue to innovate and don't continue to be relevant to the next group, and then service suffers and people go, Ah, I don't really feel like Tony Romo's because I don't want this one menu item, which is the only thing I've ever gotten. And, and to your point, it also does go back to marketing to ensure that they know that you're trying these different things. And how do you balance the innovation and the franchising? Because, I think the majority of your guys group is franchise based, if not all of it. That's hard because they're in a, challenging spot. And so I know a lot of times it's hard sitting in your seat because you want to go forward, but you've got franchisees that may have been burnt in the past, or they're reluctant to go too far away from the core. Help me understand, or help our audience understand how you are managing that.

Mohaimina Haque: 14:13

Yeah, that is one of the biggest obstacles. But introducing new items, especially, if you have locations that are very spread out,

Jeremy Julian: 14:23

Yeah,

Mohaimina Haque: 14:27

ordering the products, and each franchisee is basically left with taking their own decision. So the way, it works, in order to be flexible, because you have to strike that fine balance, while we want to, launch these new items. But it's hard to enforce across all your franchisees, to have them offer these items because some of them may, some items may be popular in Canada. They may not be popular in Malaysia, and we are so dispersed when it comes to franchisees. I always say that we have a very, Freestyle democratic type principle where it's take it or leave it and part of the reason is in post pandemic world You have to give them that flexibility for the existing franchises It will be easier for me for the new franchises for our new corporate store to offer these menu items and then people and there will be more awareness. So right now what we are having is like a patchwork, even if the reception that we want to get, okay, these menu items are great. We are seeing that in some areas they're offering it in other areas. Some franchisees are not offering it at all and you don't want to push too hard because you have to be mindful of what they went through. How did they recover? Cause each franchisee has different story. some are just trying to survive. So you need to provide that support. As a franchisor, I think we have that obligation towards them. at the same time, as I say that, we want to get the words across. It's easier when you have a lot of corporate store for corporate owned brand. I think if you launch a menu, you will see that everywhere. For consumers, it's hard to decipher, right? What is corporate owned and what is franchisee owned? In our case it's almost all franchisee owned right now, except for the sister brand we have in Tampa, Florida. So at the end of the day, it's better to give your franchisee some flexibility, but at the same time, do marketing, do the testing. I'm not giving up on the testing. I'm not giving up on menu innovation. My whole approach is I'm going to keep on doing menu innovation and offer the items, maybe. Some franchisee decide not to participate on Q1 and they may have a change of mind and decide on Q2 because their financial situation will allow them. I think from my perspective, I'm going to keep on doing the menu innovation and as for my franchise partners, I will give them the flexibility they need.

Jeremy Julian: 16:58

I love that because I think, again, having been in the space for a while, I've seen franchisors struggle because they try and shove stuff down and the franchisees bucket, and then they don't trust corporate to give them what they need to be successful. So the flexibility, I think, is great. How do you consider, how do you even think about creating experiences? Because to me, casual dining is oftentimes about. Experiences. It's where you're celebrating, it's where you're going out on a date. It's where you're going out to celebrate a wedding. It's where you're going out to celebrate a, some event, graduation. how do you think about it at the CEO level to create experiences within the store? Because it starts before you ever hit the store. It starts with even thinking about the name of Tony Romos all the way through until you get, and pick up, Pick up your car at the, in the parking lot after the fact. So how do you consider that?

17:48

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Mohaimina Haque: 18:24

nowadays, going to a restaurant is about an experience. It's no longer about just food alone, like people want to have an experience, right? Which is why even like from my personal experience, I can share. I like going to a restaurant that offers like a hot pot because you get to, Choose your own ingredients. Go with your family. You like that shared experience. For Tony Roma's, we are definitely looking into what type of experience we can provide. In terms of, and that's something we want to innovate to where people come as a family. They sit down. They're not only enjoying ribs, but they're having a very wholesome experience. experience. there's some things in the back that we tried and it's still like a work in progress. For example, having, those virtual eyeglasses, for customers to participate in metaverse things like that. but these are like all work in progress, but this whole idea of creating an experience is something that's very important to us. And we do understand that we will have to do that in order to stay competitive In the market, it's just no longer about the food, it's also about creating that wholesome customer experience.

Jeremy Julian: 19:38

And I call it the experience halo. Cause that, we talk about the fact that you're going to continue to tell your friends what a great experience you've had when you've been to Tony Romo's. last line of questioning before we talk about where the brand is going, talk to me a little bit about how you guys are using. Social media and marketing in general, because again, we know that's where a lot of these new demographic that you're looking for are finding their ways to restaurants. some people, some brands are using influencers, some brands are doing their own things. Talk to me a little bit about how you guys even consider that the social media experience in acquiring new guests and then keeping them coming back.

Mohaimina Haque: 20:14

So social media is very important. It's no longer just an option. It becomes a, a very inherent part of your marketing plan.

Jeremy Julian: 20:23

So you mean you can't just hire an intern and say, here, go to town on this thing. And I'm teasing you because I think all too often brands go, Oh, we'll hire some college kid that knows how to use TikTok and make them go do their thing versus it truly being part of the brand strategy. So I apologize for cutting you off, but I think it's important. The people that are listening, it's not just an afterthought. It truly has to be part of your strategy going forward. So I'll let you finish this to how Tony Romans is implementing it.

Mohaimina Haque: 20:45

You are absolutely right, Jeremy. it's not an afterthought anymore. It's no longer. Okay, let's just hire an intern and they can handle social media because you need to understand where are your customers are. Your customers are spending most of the time. And social media across platforms, whether it's for my, legal services or it's for Tony Roma's. I basically build my legal services, by being a virtual law firm. So I understand the power of social media. So when I came to Tony Roma's. I tried to sell that idea like, Hey, listen, we need to be active on social media. We need to be very active on Instagram, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, on Tik TOK, across various platforms. and it's just not enough that you're on social media, you're posting, you have to be interactive. There has to be giveaways. There has to be influencer events, which is something we do in Tampa. For Tony Romo's Bones and Burgers. We bring influencers to Tampa and our sister concept. We have our, PR team with whom we work with in New York and they get us influencers that we offer to our franchise partners across various location because this is something that shouldn't be taken lightly. It is very much embedded in the brand strategy. And the other thing about social media is sometimes you will feel okay, I'm just Posting, but nothing is happening. It's not gonna work overnight. There's something consistency, just like everything else. You need to have a very consistent presence on social media.

Jeremy Julian: 22:14

I love that. and again, the whole influencer thing, I was just, with my family at a brand, partially because I saw it this weekend, it was, Hey, where are we going out to dinner? And I saw, a, engagement with that brand. and quite frankly, it made me start to crave the product that I saw there, and I ended up going there partially because of that, because it was like, ah. I've been wanting to go there. We've got a free night. let's go check it out. And I guarantee you, had I not been continued to get connected to that brand on social, it wouldn't have happened. And all too often, a lot of people in your seat, think of it as an afterthought because they don't engage in it. They don't get to the place that you're at sitting there. scrolling TikTok all day long, but unfortunately, the consumers that you do, especially at that younger demographic are spending more time on these platforms. So ensuring that you can, be where they are and have that conversation with them so that you are relevant. is a huge piece. where is the brand going? you talked about a new store opening in a couple of months. Where are you guys going? Are you guys looking to continue to expand in the U. S.? Are you guys looking to stay international? Help me understand, are you looking to grow the sister concept? Talk to me a little bit about what for the future for Tony Roma's because it's a brand that, that, the world will be a worse place if it's not here. I can promise you that. Because it's an amazing brand that's created a lot of memories for a lot of people. And I want to see it succeed. I want to see it go back to growing and expanding and continuing to be the place that people want to go.

Mohaimina Haque: 23:34

this is the year where we are. I think this is the year of Tony Roma's growth. Tony Ramos is here to stay and grow and both in the United States and internationally. I personally believe that this is an American brand. It has a lot of brand awareness, brand equity, and sometimes, as I told you, our marketing budget may not be as much as our competitors, but we still receive a lot of love, a lot of praise from our customers. This is a brand that has immense potential. to do very well in the United States. people are always telling us like, bring Tony Romo's back in every location we were in. So I see Tony Romo's will do very well in the U S if we can again, go back to a couple hundred unit count that we used to have once upon a time. What I like to say is reclaim our glory. So in the United States, it's reclaim our glory project, Try to go back to those 200 units all across the U. S. Internationally, we would like to spread our wings. Like we're already there, but it'd be nice to have additional units. Especially in geographic areas where there is a lot of brand awareness. And Tony Roma's international entry actually happened a long time back. Our franchise partner in Japan, that contract was signed, I believe, back in late 1970s. So something that you have built, where the company right now, how I am seeing it, it has potential to grow both domestically and internationally. There is no reason to scale back, one or the other. because you have the presence. We have everything that we need. We have the relationship. We know how to support franchise partner. The main thing of a franchise or franchisee relationship is to have confidence of potential franchisees because they're always asking, will the franchise or be helpful? And that is where we have mastered at, to support our franchise partner. When people are viewing franchise options, one of the main question comes up, Okay, I will be the operator. I'll be running this brand. How much support will I get? And what I have designed is basically bespoke support. It's customized. It's not cookie cutter. It's not just, franchisees coming to the headquarter, taking training and then there is no contact. It's a relationship building and it's a continuous one. So I think there is a lot of potential both in the U. S. and globally, especially in the Middle East and in Europe. And of course, Asia Pacific. So I see a lot of potential in those three regions globally. And in terms of our sister brand, I think people who are interested in Tony Roma's should look into the sister brand because the build up cost is a lot lower for potential franchisees. And the sister brand will do very well Tony Roma's Bones and Burgers in like movie theater, or college campuses, and service centers, and malls, and other establishments. Where they need like a food quarter, quick service, even standalone. We do have prototype for standalone, like a drive through standalone Tony Romas bones and burgers, and the build out cost is a lot lower than the actual Tony Romas. So it'll make anyone who's interested in the brand, their entry, into this space a lot quicker.

Jeremy Julian: 26:44

and I would say that there's a lot of weight space, ironically, for this type of brand. It's experiential. It's fantastic product. It has brand equity. And there's not a whole lot of people, there's a lot of people that have ribs on their menu, but not at the center of their menu. you can go a lot of places, but it's not at the center, at the core of who they are and what they do. And so I think you guys have a lot of opportunity to continue to grow, not just here, but obviously internationally. How do people learn more if they're interested, if they're sitting here on this call listening, listening to the podcast, or driving down the road, and they're at a place where they're a master franchisor for a different brand, or they're looking to get into, put another logo, or they're brand new, what can they do to engage with your team to learn more about where they can take Tony Roma's, to places that it currently isn't?

Mohaimina Haque: 27:29

Yeah, absolutely. We do have a site. It's Tony Roma's franchise dot com. So please visit that. Please visit our homepage as well. And, if anyone wants to reach out to me, please connect with me on LinkedIn. I'll be happy to speak with you and put you in touch with our sales and development team.

Jeremy Julian: 27:48

wonderful. and I think rumor has it you are speaking on a panel at a conference in the next couple of weeks, is that correct?

Mohaimina Haque: 27:54

That is correct.

Jeremy Julian: 27:55

you seem so excited about that. no, I'm teasing. Awesome. thank you for sharing the story of the brand, Shane. Thank you for continuing to invest in it. I love to hear these stories of brands that, again, have a lot of nostalgic components that people just love it. And, I know for those units that are still out there, they're doing really well for their communities. Something is lost when we lose a restaurant that, that, that does this. So I'm glad that you guys are on the path towards, towards continued growth. so Amina, thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for sharing. I think you're the first lawyer that I've had on the show turned CEO. So that is also a first for me. So I'm excited about that as well. so thank you for that, to our listeners, guys. Thank you guys for hanging out with us this week and make it a great day.

Mohaimina Haque: 28:34

Thank you so much, Jeremy.

28:37

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