Staffing

Luna Grill hires former Taco Bell exec as president

Provided

June 10, 2020

Luna Grill has named Rich Pinnella, a former Taco Bell executive, as president of the Mediterranean concept with 50 locations in southern California and the Dallas area. Pinnella came to Luna Grill last year as chief brand officer, but CEO and co-founder Sean Pourteymour has since given Pinnella the day-to-day operations, allowing Pourteymour to focus on expansion, a news release said.

"Back in 2018 we assessed the company, examining the infrastructure, talent and brand positioning and began searching for the right people to enhance the executive team," Pourteymour said in the release. " We knew we had to prepare for the next phase of strategic growth and began talent acquisition to guide that growth. Rich, along with our new CFO Bob Bartlett, were two of those first key hires and we always had the long-term goal of Rich eventually moving into a key leadership role."

Luna Grill has also added a culinary VP and digital catering director, focusing exclusively on online/mobile and take-out order execution.

"We know our food travels well and like to tell our customers to let us 'replace your kitchen' with fresh, delicious meals prepared with quality ingredients," Pinnella said. "Recent dramatic changes to the dining landscape has given us the opportunity to push off-premise even further, through the COVID pandemic we have grown our delivery business over 150% which was already a significant layer pre-COVID."

Pourteymour said he has incredible confidence in Pinnella's leadership.

"We knew it was time to start looking for someone to take over, but we also knew it had to be someone with the right approach, leadership style and match with the Luna Grill brand and culture," he said. "Rich has been nothing but impressive from the first day, and recent volatilities and the need to innovate have further showcased his leadership ability across our entire organization."

Pinnella will continue to direct the overall Luna Grill brand position and marketing efforts working with the team already in place, with modifications to team member roles and possible new additions coming in the future.

"Sean and I both believe the best way to build a successful company is to develop and bring brilliant people on board, then step aside and let them do what they do best," Pinnella said.

Before making the move to Luna Grill in 2019, Pinnella was an executive with Taco Bell for 20 years, serving the last seven as a VPi and GM. During that tenure, he directed U.S.-based and International functional heads to deliver results across marketing, beverage, culinary, operations and supply chain through an aggressive international expansion to over 500 restaurants, according to the release.