News

Mooyah hires former Taco Bueno COO to replace Michael Mabry

May 3, 2019

Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes has hired Tony Darden as its president and COO, replacing Michael Mabry, who left the brand in April to serve as chief development office for Fuzzy's Taco Shop.

Darden, who mostly recently served as COO at Taco Bueno and spent more than a decade at Panera Bread and more than 15 years at Bennigan's, has hit the ground running, Mooyah CEO and Chairman Anand Gala, said in a company release.

"Tony is a great fit for the culture at Mooyah and his experience growing heavy-hitting brands like Panera will be instrumental in driving Mooyah forward in its next phase of growth," he said. "We've had expansion on the menu for the last two years and now Mooyah has the depth of industry experience to really drive the brand into new markets and to innovate in the interest of our exceptional franchise owners." 

Mooyah also added three other leadership positions this year, including:

• John Hunter, director of Supply Chain.
• Scott Haehnel, manager of Real Estate & Development.
• Coleman Williams, manger of Construction Project 

"Tony and our enhanced leadership team bring a wealth of knowledge and a passion that fits the culture of Mooyah and the direction for the company moving forward," he said. "With these strategic additions, combined with our dedicated existing team members, we now have an unparalleled depth of restaurant and franchise industry experience informing the future of the brand. We are ready to leverage that in the interest of providing increased support to our operators and in expanding the Mooyah  brand into new markets and territories with both new and existing franchisees." 

After an affiliate of Balmoral Funds LLC and Gala Capital Partners LLC acquired Mooyah in 2017, Gala took over as CEO and has stayed focused on streamlining operations and enhancing franchisee support and development initiatives.

"When you look at Mooyah, the food quality is there. It's top-notch in the industry," Darden said in the release. "The aesthetics of the restaurant are great and the culture of the brand is simply amazing, and you experience that in each and every restaurant within the system."

Mooyah is based in Texas.