Einstein Noah Restaurant Group Inc. has announced the appointment of Brian Unger as executive vice president of operations and Mike Ellis as executive vice president of franchise and restaurant development, effective immediately.
As previously announced, Dan Dominguez, chief operating officer, will retire from the company at the end of June 2011 and will transition his responsibilities to Unger. As part of his retirement Dominguez also has agreed to continue to provide services to the company on a consulting basis for a two-year period.
Unger has a wealth of experience within the restaurant industry, including having spent 25 years at McDonald’s Corporation. He began his career with McDonald’s in Downers Grove, Ill., in 1985, and joined McDonald’s International group in 1991, working in Latin America. He moved to Puerto Rico in 1992, where he was named director of operations for Central America and the Caribbean. In 1997, Unger was appointed director of operations for Latin America, and in 2003, was named president of the Caribbean Region, where he led the rapid expansion of McDonald’s there. He returned to the U.S. business in 2005, as senior VP/GM of McOpCo West Division in McDonald’s USA. In 2009, he moved to Toronto to lead Canadian corporate operations as VP, McDonald’s Canada.
Ellis has a deep background in franchising, real estate development, construction and design, and has held leadership roles at a number of restaurant operations. He most recently served as chief development officer at O’Charley’s Inc. Previously, he served as SVP, Development at Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, and before that, as chief development officer at Burger King Corporation. Ellis also held various positions of increasing responsibility at Darden Restaurants Inc.
