After five years at the helm of Carlsbad, Calif.-based Rubio's Fresh Cantina, Dan Pittard is stepping down as the company's president and CEO and will be replaced by Marc Simon.
Pittard will remain on Rubio's board of directors, although no reason was given for his departure. Meanwhile, Simon has served as the company’s chief operating officer since September 2009 and was its senior vice president of operations from November 2007 to September 2009.
From 1994 to 1998, Simon served as vice president of Corporate Development at McDonald's Corporation where he helped identify, negotiate and complete McDonald's first non-hamburger investment, Chipotle Mexican Grill. Post transaction, he then joined Chipotle as a regional director and developed key markets such as Chicago, Minneapolis and Wisconsin, opening 144 new units for the chain.
After leaving Chipotle, and prior to joining Rubio's, Simon served as CEO of America's 2 Incredible Pizza Company. He also spent 16 years with Ernst & Young LLP, where he became a consulting principal specializing in strategic planning consulting.
