April 7, 2025 • 28 mins
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
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
This is the RestaurantTechnology Guys podcast, helping
you run your restaurant better.
Jeremy Julian (00:14):
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 placesthat they really enjoyed going
to, but haven't been in a while.
And, uh, the CEO is on to reallyReintroduce the concept to the
world and to share all of thegreat things that they continue
to do Mina and I Talk about herjourney from being on the board
(00:39):
to now being the CEO as well ashow they're gonna continue to
grow the brand domestically aswell as Internationally, if you
don't know me, my name is JeremyJulian.
I am the chief Revenue officerfor CBS Northstar.
We sell the Northstar point ofsale solution for multi units.
Please check us out atcbsnorthstar.
com and now onto our episode.
(01:01):
Welcome back to the RestaurantTechnology Guys podcast.
I thank everyone out there forjoining us.
As I say each and every time Iknow you guys have got lots of
choices.
So thanks for hanging with usthis week today.
I am really excited and I wastalking to our guest prior to
hitting the record buttonbecause I grew up going to this
brand and, our guest is going totalk a lot about where it's at,
where it's been and where it'sgoing.
And so I'm excited to introduceyou to.
(01:23):
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 (01:29):
it's going to be two years
Jeremy Julian (01:31):
Oh my goodness.
I can't believe that.
I, I thought it was, I thoughtit was in the last, 12 months or
so.
So that's crazy.
So why don't you tell us alittle bit, tell our audience a
little bit about who you arefirst before we jump in, because
Your accomplishments and eventhe 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 prettyimportant people.
So why don't you tell everybodya little bit about your
(01:52):
backstory and then we can talkabout the, the beloved brand
that you get to, get theprivilege of running.
Mohaimina Haque (01:56):
Yeah, firstly, Jeremy, thank you so much for
having me here today.
I'd be happy to share about mybackground, which is a little
bit non-traditional.
Then you would back for a CEO ofour restaurant brand.
So Tony Roma's has been aroundfor 53 years.
And those of and love our ribs,I'm sure you have a lot of
wonderful memories.
(02:17):
I first came across Tony Roma'sin the year, 2020 in the middle
of the pandemic.
And my role at that time was Iwas the lawyer who was
conducting the due diligence foran acquisition.
So I did the due diligence forthe buyer who ended up buying
Tony Romo's in the middle of thepandemic, the entire company.
(02:38):
So as an attorney, we providelike the risk, the potentials
and I think I probably wentabove and beyond this case seems
so interesting.
I started advising about theoperation, how to improve it.
And I think the client startedto see that I got very
passionate about this brand.
(02:59):
as a result, I was placed as anoutside general counsel in the
company in 2021.
So from 21 to 23, I served as anoutside general counsel leading
the legal department.
the restaurant industry wasfacing a lot of challenges
coming out of the pandemic.
One of the challenges was tocollect unpaid royalties.
At the same time, maintain avery cordial relationship and
(03:23):
understand what the franchiseesare also going through.
So I was tasked with that, and Iwas able to recover a lot of
unpaid royalties without muchcost to the company.
and I gained a lot ofconfidence, I think, of the
shareholders and the boardmembers.
and then in 2023 summer, I wasasked to be the interim CEO of
(03:45):
the company.
One of my condition was.
Okay, I can lead this company,but I'm a practicing lawyer.
I have a very active andbustling law practice in
Washington, D.
C.
And I didn't see myself givingup legal practice because I
wasn't in a position where, Idon't like law.
That's why I was coming intoanother industry.
(04:06):
I love law and I still do.
And I practice law actively.
fortunately, the board agreed tothat, so I'm in a position where
I'm running both my law firm andTony Robbis.
After serving as an interim CEOfor a year, the board then
decided that I should be namedthe permanent CEO, and that
happened in the summer of 2024.
And now, I'm trying to turn thebrand around, trying to make it
(04:29):
appealing for Gen Zs andMillennials.
There are people who have a lotof great memories about Tony
Robbis.
I always say, there are people.
We're filled with nostalgia, andI love it.
Wherever I go, I hear about allthese memories and special
moments they had in differentrestaurants of Tony Roma's
around the world.
And now my task is to make sureto create the same type of
(04:52):
memories and experience for GenZ's and millennials.
So leading the turnaroundeffort, trying to make the brand
modern yet adhere to our coreidentity that we're famous for,
which are our ribs.
Jeremy Julian (05:06):
I love that.
And, again, like I said, I wasteasing you earlier just about
how privileged I feel becauseyou've got a law practice and
you're running a restaurantbrand and you still hang out
with, with me and our audience.
But what made you fall in lovewith the brand as you were going
through due diligence?
it's not an easy job running arestaurant brand, especially
running a restaurant brand, butthere was something in it that
(05:26):
you said, you know what, becauseyou've got plenty to do on the
law side, but you said, you knowwhat, I feel like I can make a
difference.
And so what made you get to aplace where you fell in love
with the brand as you were goingthrough that due diligence?
Because as you told that story,I'm sure there's some place
sometime that you said, ah, Ilove this.
I love what they're doing.
I love these stories.
Is it really going back to that?
Creating the hospitablememories.
(05:47):
Is that where it's at?
Mohaimina Haque (05:49):
No, that is such a wonderful question.
I don't think, anyone ever askedme, what made me fall in love
with the brand at the duediligence stage?
Because as an attorney, we doour legal review, but this brand
was special, despite ofeverything that we found out,
and we ultimately advised forthe acquisition, What was
special about this brand wasfirstly, if you look at Tony
(06:11):
Roma's, it's spread across fivecontinents.
You will find Tony Romas inplaces like Guam, or in the
Dutch Caribbean island ofCuraçao, in Germany, in
Australia.
We're dispersed.
although our geographicalfootprint has reduced, in the
United States, but I always jokelike running Tony Romas is like
running the United Nationbecause you're like everywhere,
(06:34):
that international diversitypresence that was extremely
attractive.
And also like how much peopleactually love the brand.
if you looked at the marketingbudget, when I was doing the due
diligence that Tony Romans has,as opposed to the competitors,
it's not as much, it's verymodest, but what we have is
(06:55):
brand awareness and equity.
I was in Davos in January and Ihad a phenomenal conversation
with the board chair, the globalboard chair of Deloitte.
we were talking and she came andshe told me how she had a very
lovely experience in TonyRobbins about one of her dates,
(07:15):
and I thought that is amazing.
And she gave me a wonderfulidea.
She said, you guys should dolike a social media series,
bringing people in and havingthem share about their nostalgic
memories about the brand.
Those type of brand equity thatare built over time, that's
precious.
I think that's not somethingthat all brands have and carry
(07:35):
through.
The other thing about TonyRomans that we really liked is
it's a resilient brand.
It went through a lot.
It had its highs, it had itslows, but it always came back,
and that nature shows that howthe brand can actually stand the
test of time.
So that was another veryattractive feature.
Jeremy Julian (07:54):
I love that.
for those that are listening tothe show that may not have been
to a Tony Ramos, cause they'rein 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 topeople that haven't been there?
Because.
I said to you at the onset, Igot a chance to go to one of
your stores and you used tofrequent there and it was always
one of those places that quitefrankly, as a younger, you know,
(08:17):
person, it was like, this was aspecial event when I was going
to Tony Roma's type of thing.
And, I could give you some ofthose same stories of, date
nights with my mom kind ofthing.
she loved Tony Roma's and wewould go, but, for those that
haven't been, if it'd been tothe brand, if you could explain
what is it.
I know, but I'm sure some of ourlisteners are gonna be like,
Tony Ramos, I've never heard ofthat.
Help me understand a little bitbetter.
Mohaimina Haque (08:37):
Yeah, absolutely.
So Tony Roma's, I would like tocall it as a barbecue ribs
capital, the original barbecueribs capital.
If you love ribs, you need totry out Tony Roma's ribs.
That's what we're known for.
And there is a reason why peoplehave this memories.
It's unmatched.
of course, I'm biased, so excusemy bias, everyone.
(08:58):
But the ribs we have, it'sunmatched.
If anyone who doesn't know TonyRoma's, I would like you to,
think about it as the RibsCapital.
It's the ultimate destination totry out ribs.
We do have locations in theUnited States, not as many rib
disperse, but I would say makeit your ribs destination.
Look out, where is Tony Roma's?
We have one in Las Vegas.
(09:19):
And it's very popular.
People go there and they standin lines for almost two hours
just to try out our ribs.
we have Tony Roma's in NorthCarolina.
We have, we still have twolocations in California, one
near Disneyland.
We have Tony Roma's in Iowa.
we have Tony Romo's in Montana.
We're gonna open one inTennessee in the next two
(09:40):
months.
So we're dispersed.
We're all across the country.
We're in both the coast andselect location and in the
middle of the country.
But I would say Tony Romo's isyour ultimate ribs destination.
Jeremy Julian (09:51):
and yeah, the product itself is amazing.
Casual Dining, Fast Casual, Iknow you guys had been playing
prior to your arrival.
With some different formats, butfor again, for those primarily
still table service around theworld, 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 fastcasual sister brand as well.
It's called Tony Roma's Bonesand Burgers.
We opened that in Tampa inDecember 2022.
So it's like almost about, overtwo 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'lltry that because that ultimately
is a different, differentbusiness model and you can use
some of the brand equity todrive some customers in and try
the product and then when theysee a casual dining they'll flip
over.
I know Hooters was doing it fora while, I know Buffalo Wild
Wings had done it, type ofthing.
Mohaimina Haque (10:46):
Yep.
And for bones and burgers, wehave a huge differentiator,
which is when people think aboutribs, they think, okay, I need
to go sit down in a table and,have the ribs.
We have a proprietary grill inour fast casual concept where we
can make the ribs under sixminutes.
So it's basically ribs on thego.
Jeremy Julian (11:05):
Oh my goodness, that's incredible.
That's awesome.
and to your point, oftentimeswhen you go to get ribs, it's
like it's an experience.
You've got to be there for abit.
And I love that you guys havefound a way to do that.
Talk to me a little bit abouthow you think about the brand.
You talked about the fact thatyou guys are growing here in the
States.
How do you think aboutreintroducing that, in your
story earlier, you're talking tothe Deloitte, people, there's a
(11:26):
way that some have been verysuccessful and others have
struggled.
So talk me through what you guysare thinking about because
reintroducing the brand andensuring that they hold a place
in people's hearts is importantfor you guys to continue to grow
it.
So how have you guys thoughtabout growing?
Cause it's a, it's a.
It's a tough world out thereright now, as you very well are
aware, especially in casualdining.
Mohaimina Haque (11:47):
absolutely.
it's a landscape that's verysaturated and consumers, taste
buds keeps on evolving.
And the key is that, you to keepup with that.
So although we have our coreoffering our ribs, our onion
loaf that we're known for at thesame time, it's imperative that
we try out items that arepopular with Gen Z's and
(12:10):
millennials.
So what we have done, we'rerolling out this limited time
offer menu through which we'redoing like consistent, menu
innovation each quarter, andwe're trying out different
mocktails or Trying to, appealto a very diverse, palette, in
terms of offering somepescatarian options or,
(12:31):
cauliflower ribs.
We're trying to test andexperiment what works.
Part of the reason, and it's acontinuous process.
This is a process I feel like ifyou need to keep a brand
relevant, menu innovation, it'sa continuous process.
There is no end to it.
You need to keep up with, theconsumer demands, and we are
liking what we are seeing interms of what we are offering.
(12:53):
I know our location in Edmonton,they got a very positive
feedback, and Tony Romo's inEdmonton for our, Q1 winter
menu.
We have variety, various type ofmocktails.
And, we also have, lamb.
Ribs.
So we are trying to diversify toappeal to different taste.
And as I said, it's a continuousprocess.
(13:15):
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 onmy soapbox here for just a
second because I've been doingthis for a long time, is as
these brands will find somelevel of success, as you and
then they sit on their laurelsand don't continue to innovate
and don't continue to berelevant to the next group, and
then service suffers and peoplego, Ah, I don't really feel like
Tony Romo's because I don't wantthis one menu item, which is the
(13:38):
only thing I've ever gotten.
And, and to your point, it alsodoes go back to marketing to
ensure that they know thatyou're trying these different
things.
And how do you balance theinnovation and the franchising?
Because, I think the majority ofyour guys group is franchise
based, if not all of it.
That's hard because they're ina, challenging spot.
And so I know a lot of timesit's hard sitting in your seat
(14:00):
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 ouraudience 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 spreadout,
Jeremy Julian (14:23):
Yeah,
Mohaimina Haque (14:27):
ordering the products, and each franchisee is
basically left with taking theirown decision.
So the way, it works, in orderto be flexible, because you have
to strike that fine balance,while we want to, launch these
new items.
But it's hard to enforce acrossall your franchisees, to have
them offer these items becausesome of them may, some items may
(14:50):
be popular in Canada.
They may not be popular inMalaysia, and we are so
dispersed when it comes tofranchisees.
I always say that we have avery, Freestyle democratic type
principle where it's take it orleave it and part of the reason
is in post pandemic world Youhave to give them that
flexibility for the existingfranchises It will be easier for
(15:13):
me for the new franchises forour new corporate store to offer
these menu items and then peopleand there will be more
awareness.
So right now what we are havingis like a patchwork, even if the
reception that we want to get,okay, these menu items are
great.
We are seeing that in some areasthey're offering it in other
(15:33):
areas.
Some franchisees are notoffering it at all and you don't
want to push too hard becauseyou have to be mindful of what
they went through.
How did they recover?
Cause each franchisee hasdifferent story.
some are just trying to survive.
So you need to provide thatsupport.
As a franchisor, I think we havethat obligation towards them.
(15:55):
at the same time, as I say that,we want to get the words across.
It's easier when you have a lotof corporate store for corporate
owned brand.
I think if you launch a menu,you will see that everywhere.
For consumers, it's hard todecipher, right?
What is corporate owned and whatis franchisee owned?
In our case it's almost allfranchisee owned right now,
(16:18):
except for the sister brand wehave in Tampa, Florida.
So at the end of the day, it'sbetter to give your franchisee
some flexibility, but at thesame time, do marketing, do the
testing.
I'm not giving up on thetesting.
I'm not giving up on menuinnovation.
My whole approach is I'm goingto keep on doing menu innovation
(16:39):
and offer the items, maybe.
Some franchisee decide not toparticipate on Q1 and they may
have a change of mind and decideon Q2 because their financial
situation will allow them.
I think from my perspective, I'mgoing to keep on doing the menu
innovation and as for myfranchise 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 stuffdown and the franchisees bucket,
and then they don't trustcorporate to give them what they
need to be successful.
So the flexibility, I think, isgreat.
How do you consider, how do youeven think about creating
experiences?
Because to me, casual dining isoftentimes about.
(17:20):
Experiences.
It's where you're celebrating,it's where you're going out on a
date.
It's where you're going out tocelebrate a wedding.
It's where you're going out tocelebrate a, some event,
graduation.
how do you think about it at theCEO level to create experiences
within the store?
Because it starts before youever hit the store.
It starts with even thinkingabout the name of Tony Romos all
(17:40):
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Mohaimina Haque (18:24):
nowadays, going to a restaurant is about an
experience.
It's no longer about just foodalone, like people want to have
an experience, right?
Which is why even like from mypersonal experience, I can
share.
I like going to a restaurantthat offers like a hot pot
because you get to, Choose yourown ingredients.
(18:45):
Go with your family.
You like that shared experience.
For Tony Roma's, we aredefinitely looking into what
type of experience we canprovide.
In terms of, and that'ssomething 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.
(19:05):
there's some things in the backthat we tried and it's still
like a work in progress.
For example, having, thosevirtual eyeglasses, for
customers to participate inmetaverse things like that.
but these are like all work inprogress, but this whole idea of
creating an experience issomething that's very important
(19:26):
to us.
And we do understand that wewill have to do that in order to
stay competitive In the market,it's just no longer about the
food, it's also about creatingthat wholesome customer
experience.
Jeremy Julian (19:38):
And I call it the experience halo.
Cause that, we talk about thefact that you're going to
continue to tell your friendswhat a great experience you've
had when you've been to TonyRomo's.
last line of questioning beforewe talk about where the brand is
going, talk to me a little bitabout how you guys are using.
Social media and marketing ingeneral, because again, we know
that's where a lot of these newdemographic that you're looking
(19:59):
for are finding their ways torestaurants.
some people, some brands areusing influencers, some brands
are doing their own things.
Talk to me a little bit abouthow you guys even consider that
the social media experience inacquiring 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 inherentpart 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 thisthing.
And I'm teasing you because Ithink all too often brands go,
Oh, we'll hire some college kidthat knows how to use TikTok and
make them go do their thingversus it truly being part of
the brand strategy.
So I apologize for cutting youoff, but I think it's important.
The people that are listening,it's not just an afterthought.
It truly has to be part of yourstrategy going forward.
So I'll let you finish this tohow Tony Romans is implementing
(20:44):
it.
Mohaimina Haque (20:45):
You are absolutely right, Jeremy.
it's not an afterthoughtanymore.
It's no longer.
Okay, let's just hire an internand they can handle social media
because you need to understandwhere are your customers are.
Your customers are spending mostof the time.
And social media acrossplatforms, whether it's for my,
legal services or it's for TonyRoma's.
(21:05):
I basically build my legalservices, by being a virtual law
firm.
So I understand the power ofsocial 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 onInstagram, on Facebook, on
LinkedIn, on Tik TOK, acrossvarious platforms.
(21:25):
and it's just not enough thatyou're on social media, you're
posting, you have to beinteractive.
There has to be giveaways.
There has to be influencerevents, which is something we do
in Tampa.
For Tony Romo's Bones andBurgers.
We bring influencers to Tampaand our sister concept.
We have our, PR team with whomwe work with in New York and
(21:47):
they get us influencers that weoffer to our franchise partners
across various location becausethis is something that shouldn't
be taken lightly.
It is very much embedded in thebrand strategy.
And the other thing about socialmedia is sometimes you will feel
okay, I'm just Posting, butnothing is happening.
It's not gonna work overnight.
(22:07):
There's something consistency,just like everything else.
You need to have a veryconsistent presence on social
media.
Jeremy Julian (22:14):
I love that.
and again, the whole influencerthing, I was just, with my
family at a brand, partiallybecause I saw it this weekend,
it was, Hey, where are we goingout to dinner?
And I saw, a, engagement withthat brand.
and quite frankly, it made mestart to crave the product that
I saw there, and I ended upgoing 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.
(22:35):
And I guarantee you, had I notbeen continued to get connected
to that brand on social, itwouldn't have happened.
And all too often, a lot ofpeople in your seat, think of it
as an afterthought because theydon't engage in it.
They don't get to the place thatyou're at sitting there.
scrolling TikTok all day long,but unfortunately, the consumers
that you do, especially at thatyounger demographic are spending
(22:56):
more time on these platforms.
So ensuring that you can, bewhere they are and have that
conversation with them so thatyou are relevant.
is a huge piece.
where is the brand going?
you talked about a new storeopening in a couple of months.
Where are you guys going?
Are you guys looking to continueto expand in the U.
S.?
Are you guys looking to stayinternational?
Help me understand, are youlooking to grow the sister
(23:16):
concept?
Talk to me a little bit aboutwhat for the future for Tony
Roma's because it's a brandthat, that, the world will be a
worse place if it's not here.
I can promise you that.
Because it's an amazing brandthat'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 togrowing and expanding and
continuing to be the place thatpeople want to go.
Mohaimina Haque (23:34):
this is the year where we are.
I think this is the year of TonyRoma's growth.
Tony Ramos is here to stay andgrow and both in the United
States and internationally.
I personally believe that thisis an American brand.
It has a lot of brand awareness,brand equity, and sometimes, as
I told you, our marketing budgetmay not be as much as our
(23:56):
competitors, but we stillreceive a lot of love, a lot of
praise from our customers.
This is a brand that has immensepotential.
to do very well in the UnitedStates.
people are always telling uslike, bring Tony Romo's back in
every location we were in.
So I see Tony Romo's will dovery well in the U S if we can
(24:17):
again, go back to a couplehundred unit count that we used
to have once upon a time.
What I like to say is reclaimour glory.
So in the United States, it'sreclaim our glory project, Try
to go back to those 200 unitsall across the U.
S.
Internationally, we would liketo spread our wings.
Like we're already there, butit'd be nice to have additional
(24:38):
units.
Especially in geographic areaswhere there is a lot of brand
awareness.
And Tony Roma's internationalentry 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 havebuilt, where the company right
now, how I am seeing it, it haspotential to grow both
(25:00):
domestically andinternationally.
There is no reason to scaleback, one or the other.
because you have the presence.
We have everything that we need.
We have the relationship.
We know how to support franchisepartner.
The main thing of a franchise orfranchisee relationship is to
have confidence of potentialfranchisees because they're
(25:20):
always asking, will thefranchise or be helpful?
And that is where we havemastered at, to support our
franchise partner.
When people are viewingfranchise options, one of the
main question comes up, Okay, Iwill be the operator.
I'll be running this brand.
How much support will I get?
And what I have designed isbasically bespoke support.
(25:41):
It's customized.
It's not cookie cutter.
It's not just, franchiseescoming to the headquarter,
taking training and then thereis no contact.
It's a relationship building andit's a continuous one.
So I think there is a lot ofpotential both in the U.
S.
and globally, especially in theMiddle East and in Europe.
And of course, Asia Pacific.
So I see a lot of potential inthose three regions globally.
(26:04):
And in terms of our sisterbrand, I think people who are
interested in Tony Roma's shouldlook into the sister brand
because the build up cost is alot lower for potential
franchisees.
And the sister brand will dovery well Tony Roma's Bones and
Burgers in like movie theater,or college campuses, and service
centers, and malls, and otherestablishments.
(26:25):
Where they need like a foodquarter, quick service, even
standalone.
We do have prototype forstandalone, like a drive through
standalone Tony Romas bones andburgers, and the build out cost
is a lot lower than the actualTony Romas.
So it'll make anyone who'sinterested in the brand, their
entry, into this space a lotquicker.
Jeremy Julian (26:44):
and I would say that there's a lot of weight
space, ironically, for this typeof brand.
It's experiential.
It's fantastic product.
It has brand equity.
And there's not a whole lot ofpeople, 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, butit's not at the center, at the
core of who they are and whatthey do.
And so I think you guys have alot of opportunity to continue
(27:06):
to grow, not just here, butobviously internationally.
How do people learn more ifthey're interested, if they're
sitting here on this calllistening, listening to the
podcast, or driving down theroad, and they're at a place
where they're a masterfranchisor for a different
brand, or they're looking to getinto, put another logo, or
they're brand new, what can theydo to engage with your team to
learn more about where they cantake Tony Roma's, to places that
(27:28):
it currently isn't?
Mohaimina Haque (27:29):
Yeah, absolutely.
We do have a site.
It's Tony Roma's franchise dotcom.
So please visit that.
Please visit our homepage aswell.
And, if anyone wants to reachout to me, please connect with
me on LinkedIn.
I'll be happy to speak with youand put you in touch with our
sales and development team.
Jeremy Julian (27:48):
wonderful.
and I think rumor has it you arespeaking on a panel at a
conference in the next couple ofweeks, 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 storyof the brand, Shane.
Thank you for continuing toinvest in it.
I love to hear these stories ofbrands that, again, have a lot
of nostalgic components thatpeople just love it.
And, I know for those units thatare still out there, they're
doing really well for theircommunities.
Something is lost when we lose arestaurant that, that, that does
(28:17):
this.
So I'm glad that you guys are onthe path towards, towards
continued growth.
so Amina, thank you for sharingyour story.
Thank you for sharing.
I think you're the first lawyerthat I've had on the show turned
CEO.
So that is also a first for me.
So I'm excited about that aswell.
so thank you for that, to ourlisteners, guys.
Thank you guys for hanging outwith us this week and make it a
great day.
Mohaimina Haque (28:34):
Thank you so much, Jeremy.
Thanks for listening to theRestaurant Technology Guys
podcast.
Visit www.
RestaurantTechnologyGuys.
com for tips, industry insights,and more to help you run your
restaurant better.
This is the RestaurantTechnology Guys podcast, helping
you run your restaurant better.
Jeremy Julian (00:14):
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 placesthat they really enjoyed going
to, but haven't been in a while.
And, uh, the CEO is on to reallyReintroduce the concept to the
world and to share all of thegreat things that they continue
to do Mina and I Talk about herjourney from being on the board
(00:39):
to now being the CEO as well ashow they're gonna continue to
grow the brand domestically aswell as Internationally, if you
don't know me, my name is JeremyJulian.
I am the chief Revenue officerfor CBS Northstar.
We sell the Northstar point ofsale solution for multi units.
Please check us out atcbsnorthstar.
com and now onto our episode.
(01:01):
Welcome back to the RestaurantTechnology Guys podcast.
I thank everyone out there forjoining us.
As I say each and every time Iknow you guys have got lots of
choices.
So thanks for hanging with usthis week today.
I am really excited and I wastalking to our guest prior to
hitting the record buttonbecause I grew up going to this
brand and, our guest is going totalk a lot about where it's at,
where it's been and where it'sgoing.
And so I'm excited to introduceyou to.
(01:23):
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 (01:29):
it's going to be two years
Jeremy Julian (01:31):
Oh my goodness.
I can't believe that.
I, I thought it was, I thoughtit was in the last, 12 months or
so.
So that's crazy.
So why don't you tell us alittle bit, tell our audience a
little bit about who you arefirst before we jump in, because
Your accomplishments and eventhe 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 prettyimportant people.
So why don't you tell everybodya little bit about your
(01:52):
backstory and then we can talkabout the, the beloved brand
that you get to, get theprivilege of running.
Mohaimina Haque (01:56):
Yeah, firstly, Jeremy, thank you so much for
having me here today.
I'd be happy to share about mybackground, which is a little
bit non-traditional.
Then you would back for a CEO ofour restaurant brand.
So Tony Roma's has been aroundfor 53 years.
And those of and love our ribs,I'm sure you have a lot of
wonderful memories.
(02:17):
I first came across Tony Roma'sin the year, 2020 in the middle
of the pandemic.
And my role at that time was Iwas the lawyer who was
conducting the due diligence foran acquisition.
So I did the due diligence forthe buyer who ended up buying
Tony Romo's in the middle of thepandemic, the entire company.
(02:38):
So as an attorney, we providelike the risk, the potentials
and I think I probably wentabove and beyond this case seems
so interesting.
I started advising about theoperation, how to improve it.
And I think the client startedto see that I got very
passionate about this brand.
(02:59):
as a result, I was placed as anoutside general counsel in the
company in 2021.
So from 21 to 23, I served as anoutside general counsel leading
the legal department.
the restaurant industry wasfacing a lot of challenges
coming out of the pandemic.
One of the challenges was tocollect unpaid royalties.
At the same time, maintain avery cordial relationship and
(03:23):
understand what the franchiseesare also going through.
So I was tasked with that, and Iwas able to recover a lot of
unpaid royalties without muchcost to the company.
and I gained a lot ofconfidence, I think, of the
shareholders and the boardmembers.
and then in 2023 summer, I wasasked to be the interim CEO of
(03:45):
the company.
One of my condition was.
Okay, I can lead this company,but I'm a practicing lawyer.
I have a very active andbustling law practice in
Washington, D.
C.
And I didn't see myself givingup legal practice because I
wasn't in a position where, Idon't like law.
That's why I was coming intoanother industry.
(04:06):
I love law and I still do.
And I practice law actively.
fortunately, the board agreed tothat, so I'm in a position where
I'm running both my law firm andTony Robbis.
After serving as an interim CEOfor a year, the board then
decided that I should be namedthe permanent CEO, and that
happened in the summer of 2024.
And now, I'm trying to turn thebrand around, trying to make it
(04:29):
appealing for Gen Zs andMillennials.
There are people who have a lotof great memories about Tony
Robbis.
I always say, there are people.
We're filled with nostalgia, andI love it.
Wherever I go, I hear about allthese memories and special
moments they had in differentrestaurants of Tony Roma's
around the world.
And now my task is to make sureto create the same type of
(04:52):
memories and experience for GenZ's and millennials.
So leading the turnaroundeffort, trying to make the brand
modern yet adhere to our coreidentity that we're famous for,
which are our ribs.
Jeremy Julian (05:06):
I love that.
And, again, like I said, I wasteasing you earlier just about
how privileged I feel becauseyou've got a law practice and
you're running a restaurantbrand and you still hang out
with, with me and our audience.
But what made you fall in lovewith the brand as you were going
through due diligence?
it's not an easy job running arestaurant brand, especially
running a restaurant brand, butthere was something in it that
(05:26):
you said, you know what, becauseyou've got plenty to do on the
law side, but you said, you knowwhat, I feel like I can make a
difference.
And so what made you get to aplace where you fell in love
with the brand as you were goingthrough that due diligence?
Because as you told that story,I'm sure there's some place
sometime that you said, ah, Ilove this.
I love what they're doing.
I love these stories.
Is it really going back to that?
Creating the hospitablememories.
(05:47):
Is that where it's at?
Mohaimina Haque (05:49):
No, that is such a wonderful question.
I don't think, anyone ever askedme, what made me fall in love
with the brand at the duediligence stage?
Because as an attorney, we doour legal review, but this brand
was special, despite ofeverything that we found out,
and we ultimately advised forthe acquisition, What was
special about this brand wasfirstly, if you look at Tony
(06:11):
Roma's, it's spread across fivecontinents.
You will find Tony Romas inplaces like Guam, or in the
Dutch Caribbean island ofCuraçao, in Germany, in
Australia.
We're dispersed.
although our geographicalfootprint has reduced, in the
United States, but I always jokelike running Tony Romas is like
running the United Nationbecause you're like everywhere,
(06:34):
that international diversitypresence that was extremely
attractive.
And also like how much peopleactually love the brand.
if you looked at the marketingbudget, when I was doing the due
diligence that Tony Romans has,as opposed to the competitors,
it's not as much, it's verymodest, but what we have is
(06:55):
brand awareness and equity.
I was in Davos in January and Ihad a phenomenal conversation
with the board chair, the globalboard chair of Deloitte.
we were talking and she came andshe told me how she had a very
lovely experience in TonyRobbins about one of her dates,
(07:15):
and I thought that is amazing.
And she gave me a wonderfulidea.
She said, you guys should dolike a social media series,
bringing people in and havingthem share about their nostalgic
memories about the brand.
Those type of brand equity thatare built over time, that's
precious.
I think that's not somethingthat all brands have and carry
(07:35):
through.
The other thing about TonyRomans that we really liked is
it's a resilient brand.
It went through a lot.
It had its highs, it had itslows, but it always came back,
and that nature shows that howthe brand can actually stand the
test of time.
So that was another veryattractive feature.
Jeremy Julian (07:54):
I love that.
for those that are listening tothe show that may not have been
to a Tony Ramos, cause they'rein 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 topeople that haven't been there?
Because.
I said to you at the onset, Igot a chance to go to one of
your stores and you used tofrequent there and it was always
one of those places that quitefrankly, as a younger, you know,
(08:17):
person, it was like, this was aspecial event when I was going
to Tony Roma's type of thing.
And, I could give you some ofthose same stories of, date
nights with my mom kind ofthing.
she loved Tony Roma's and wewould go, but, for those that
haven't been, if it'd been tothe brand, if you could explain
what is it.
I know, but I'm sure some of ourlisteners are gonna be like,
Tony Ramos, I've never heard ofthat.
Help me understand a little bitbetter.
Mohaimina Haque (08:37):
Yeah, absolutely.
So Tony Roma's, I would like tocall it as a barbecue ribs
capital, the original barbecueribs capital.
If you love ribs, you need totry out Tony Roma's ribs.
That's what we're known for.
And there is a reason why peoplehave this memories.
It's unmatched.
of course, I'm biased, so excusemy bias, everyone.
(08:58):
But the ribs we have, it'sunmatched.
If anyone who doesn't know TonyRoma's, I would like you to,
think about it as the RibsCapital.
It's the ultimate destination totry out ribs.
We do have locations in theUnited States, not as many rib
disperse, but I would say makeit your ribs destination.
Look out, where is Tony Roma's?
We have one in Las Vegas.
(09:19):
And it's very popular.
People go there and they standin lines for almost two hours
just to try out our ribs.
we have Tony Roma's in NorthCarolina.
We have, we still have twolocations in California, one
near Disneyland.
We have Tony Roma's in Iowa.
we have Tony Romo's in Montana.
We're gonna open one inTennessee in the next two
(09:40):
months.
So we're dispersed.
We're all across the country.
We're in both the coast andselect location and in the
middle of the country.
But I would say Tony Romo's isyour ultimate ribs destination.
Jeremy Julian (09:51):
and yeah, the product itself is amazing.
Casual Dining, Fast Casual, Iknow you guys had been playing
prior to your arrival.
With some different formats, butfor again, for those primarily
still table service around theworld, 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 fastcasual sister brand as well.
It's called Tony Roma's Bonesand Burgers.
We opened that in Tampa inDecember 2022.
So it's like almost about, overtwo 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'lltry that because that ultimately
is a different, differentbusiness model and you can use
some of the brand equity todrive some customers in and try
the product and then when theysee a casual dining they'll flip
over.
I know Hooters was doing it fora while, I know Buffalo Wild
Wings had done it, type ofthing.
Mohaimina Haque (10:46):
Yep.
And for bones and burgers, wehave a huge differentiator,
which is when people think aboutribs, they think, okay, I need
to go sit down in a table and,have the ribs.
We have a proprietary grill inour fast casual concept where we
can make the ribs under sixminutes.
So it's basically ribs on thego.
Jeremy Julian (11:05):
Oh my goodness, that's incredible.
That's awesome.
and to your point, oftentimeswhen you go to get ribs, it's
like it's an experience.
You've got to be there for abit.
And I love that you guys havefound a way to do that.
Talk to me a little bit abouthow you think about the brand.
You talked about the fact thatyou guys are growing here in the
States.
How do you think aboutreintroducing that, in your
story earlier, you're talking tothe Deloitte, people, there's a
(11:26):
way that some have been verysuccessful and others have
struggled.
So talk me through what you guysare thinking about because
reintroducing the brand andensuring that they hold a place
in people's hearts is importantfor you guys to continue to grow
it.
So how have you guys thoughtabout growing?
Cause it's a, it's a.
It's a tough world out thereright now, as you very well are
aware, especially in casualdining.
Mohaimina Haque (11:47):
absolutely.
it's a landscape that's verysaturated and consumers, taste
buds keeps on evolving.
And the key is that, you to keepup with that.
So although we have our coreoffering our ribs, our onion
loaf that we're known for at thesame time, it's imperative that
we try out items that arepopular with Gen Z's and
(12:10):
millennials.
So what we have done, we'rerolling out this limited time
offer menu through which we'redoing like consistent, menu
innovation each quarter, andwe're trying out different
mocktails or Trying to, appealto a very diverse, palette, in
terms of offering somepescatarian options or,
(12:31):
cauliflower ribs.
We're trying to test andexperiment what works.
Part of the reason, and it's acontinuous process.
This is a process I feel like ifyou need to keep a brand
relevant, menu innovation, it'sa continuous process.
There is no end to it.
You need to keep up with, theconsumer demands, and we are
liking what we are seeing interms of what we are offering.
(12:53):
I know our location in Edmonton,they got a very positive
feedback, and Tony Romo's inEdmonton for our, Q1 winter
menu.
We have variety, various type ofmocktails.
And, we also have, lamb.
Ribs.
So we are trying to diversify toappeal to different taste.
And as I said, it's a continuousprocess.
(13:15):
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 onmy soapbox here for just a
second because I've been doingthis for a long time, is as
these brands will find somelevel of success, as you and
then they sit on their laurelsand don't continue to innovate
and don't continue to berelevant to the next group, and
then service suffers and peoplego, Ah, I don't really feel like
Tony Romo's because I don't wantthis one menu item, which is the
(13:38):
only thing I've ever gotten.
And, and to your point, it alsodoes go back to marketing to
ensure that they know thatyou're trying these different
things.
And how do you balance theinnovation and the franchising?
Because, I think the majority ofyour guys group is franchise
based, if not all of it.
That's hard because they're ina, challenging spot.
And so I know a lot of timesit's hard sitting in your seat
(14:00):
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 ouraudience 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 spreadout,
Jeremy Julian (14:23):
Yeah,
Mohaimina Haque (14:27):
ordering the products, and each franchisee is
basically left with taking theirown decision.
So the way, it works, in orderto be flexible, because you have
to strike that fine balance,while we want to, launch these
new items.
But it's hard to enforce acrossall your franchisees, to have
them offer these items becausesome of them may, some items may
(14:50):
be popular in Canada.
They may not be popular inMalaysia, and we are so
dispersed when it comes tofranchisees.
I always say that we have avery, Freestyle democratic type
principle where it's take it orleave it and part of the reason
is in post pandemic world Youhave to give them that
flexibility for the existingfranchises It will be easier for
(15:13):
me for the new franchises forour new corporate store to offer
these menu items and then peopleand there will be more
awareness.
So right now what we are havingis like a patchwork, even if the
reception that we want to get,okay, these menu items are
great.
We are seeing that in some areasthey're offering it in other
(15:33):
areas.
Some franchisees are notoffering it at all and you don't
want to push too hard becauseyou have to be mindful of what
they went through.
How did they recover?
Cause each franchisee hasdifferent story.
some are just trying to survive.
So you need to provide thatsupport.
As a franchisor, I think we havethat obligation towards them.
(15:55):
at the same time, as I say that,we want to get the words across.
It's easier when you have a lotof corporate store for corporate
owned brand.
I think if you launch a menu,you will see that everywhere.
For consumers, it's hard todecipher, right?
What is corporate owned and whatis franchisee owned?
In our case it's almost allfranchisee owned right now,
(16:18):
except for the sister brand wehave in Tampa, Florida.
So at the end of the day, it'sbetter to give your franchisee
some flexibility, but at thesame time, do marketing, do the
testing.
I'm not giving up on thetesting.
I'm not giving up on menuinnovation.
My whole approach is I'm goingto keep on doing menu innovation
(16:39):
and offer the items, maybe.
Some franchisee decide not toparticipate on Q1 and they may
have a change of mind and decideon Q2 because their financial
situation will allow them.
I think from my perspective, I'mgoing to keep on doing the menu
innovation and as for myfranchise 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 stuffdown and the franchisees bucket,
and then they don't trustcorporate to give them what they
need to be successful.
So the flexibility, I think, isgreat.
How do you consider, how do youeven think about creating
experiences?
Because to me, casual dining isoftentimes about.
(17:20):
Experiences.
It's where you're celebrating,it's where you're going out on a
date.
It's where you're going out tocelebrate a wedding.
It's where you're going out tocelebrate a, some event,
graduation.
how do you think about it at theCEO level to create experiences
within the store?
Because it starts before youever hit the store.
It starts with even thinkingabout the name of Tony Romos all
(17:40):
the way through until you get,and pick up, Pick up your car at
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Mohaimina Haque (18:24):
nowadays, going to a restaurant is about an
experience.
It's no longer about just foodalone, like people want to have
an experience, right?
Which is why even like from mypersonal experience, I can
share.
I like going to a restaurantthat offers like a hot pot
because you get to, Choose yourown ingredients.
(18:45):
Go with your family.
You like that shared experience.
For Tony Roma's, we aredefinitely looking into what
type of experience we canprovide.
In terms of, and that'ssomething 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.
(19:05):
there's some things in the backthat we tried and it's still
like a work in progress.
For example, having, thosevirtual eyeglasses, for
customers to participate inmetaverse things like that.
but these are like all work inprogress, but this whole idea of
creating an experience issomething that's very important
(19:26):
to us.
And we do understand that wewill have to do that in order to
stay competitive In the market,it's just no longer about the
food, it's also about creatingthat wholesome customer
experience.
Jeremy Julian (19:38):
And I call it the experience halo.
Cause that, we talk about thefact that you're going to
continue to tell your friendswhat a great experience you've
had when you've been to TonyRomo's.
last line of questioning beforewe talk about where the brand is
going, talk to me a little bitabout how you guys are using.
Social media and marketing ingeneral, because again, we know
that's where a lot of these newdemographic that you're looking
(19:59):
for are finding their ways torestaurants.
some people, some brands areusing influencers, some brands
are doing their own things.
Talk to me a little bit abouthow you guys even consider that
the social media experience inacquiring 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 inherentpart 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 thisthing.
And I'm teasing you because Ithink all too often brands go,
Oh, we'll hire some college kidthat knows how to use TikTok and
make them go do their thingversus it truly being part of
the brand strategy.
So I apologize for cutting youoff, but I think it's important.
The people that are listening,it's not just an afterthought.
It truly has to be part of yourstrategy going forward.
So I'll let you finish this tohow Tony Romans is implementing
(20:44):
it.
Mohaimina Haque (20:45):
You are absolutely right, Jeremy.
it's not an afterthoughtanymore.
It's no longer.
Okay, let's just hire an internand they can handle social media
because you need to understandwhere are your customers are.
Your customers are spending mostof the time.
And social media acrossplatforms, whether it's for my,
legal services or it's for TonyRoma's.
(21:05):
I basically build my legalservices, by being a virtual law
firm.
So I understand the power ofsocial 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 onInstagram, on Facebook, on
LinkedIn, on Tik TOK, acrossvarious platforms.
(21:25):
and it's just not enough thatyou're on social media, you're
posting, you have to beinteractive.
There has to be giveaways.
There has to be influencerevents, which is something we do
in Tampa.
For Tony Romo's Bones andBurgers.
We bring influencers to Tampaand our sister concept.
We have our, PR team with whomwe work with in New York and
(21:47):
they get us influencers that weoffer to our franchise partners
across various location becausethis is something that shouldn't
be taken lightly.
It is very much embedded in thebrand strategy.
And the other thing about socialmedia is sometimes you will feel
okay, I'm just Posting, butnothing is happening.
It's not gonna work overnight.
(22:07):
There's something consistency,just like everything else.
You need to have a veryconsistent presence on social
media.
Jeremy Julian (22:14):
I love that.
and again, the whole influencerthing, I was just, with my
family at a brand, partiallybecause I saw it this weekend,
it was, Hey, where are we goingout to dinner?
And I saw, a, engagement withthat brand.
and quite frankly, it made mestart to crave the product that
I saw there, and I ended upgoing 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.
(22:35):
And I guarantee you, had I notbeen continued to get connected
to that brand on social, itwouldn't have happened.
And all too often, a lot ofpeople in your seat, think of it
as an afterthought because theydon't engage in it.
They don't get to the place thatyou're at sitting there.
scrolling TikTok all day long,but unfortunately, the consumers
that you do, especially at thatyounger demographic are spending
(22:56):
more time on these platforms.
So ensuring that you can, bewhere they are and have that
conversation with them so thatyou are relevant.
is a huge piece.
where is the brand going?
you talked about a new storeopening in a couple of months.
Where are you guys going?
Are you guys looking to continueto expand in the U.
S.?
Are you guys looking to stayinternational?
Help me understand, are youlooking to grow the sister
(23:16):
concept?
Talk to me a little bit aboutwhat for the future for Tony
Roma's because it's a brandthat, that, the world will be a
worse place if it's not here.
I can promise you that.
Because it's an amazing brandthat'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 togrowing and expanding and
continuing to be the place thatpeople want to go.
Mohaimina Haque (23:34):
this is the year where we are.
I think this is the year of TonyRoma's growth.
Tony Ramos is here to stay andgrow and both in the United
States and internationally.
I personally believe that thisis an American brand.
It has a lot of brand awareness,brand equity, and sometimes, as
I told you, our marketing budgetmay not be as much as our
(23:56):
competitors, but we stillreceive a lot of love, a lot of
praise from our customers.
This is a brand that has immensepotential.
to do very well in the UnitedStates.
people are always telling uslike, bring Tony Romo's back in
every location we were in.
So I see Tony Romo's will dovery well in the U S if we can
(24:17):
again, go back to a couplehundred unit count that we used
to have once upon a time.
What I like to say is reclaimour glory.
So in the United States, it'sreclaim our glory project, Try
to go back to those 200 unitsall across the U.
S.
Internationally, we would liketo spread our wings.
Like we're already there, butit'd be nice to have additional
(24:38):
units.
Especially in geographic areaswhere there is a lot of brand
awareness.
And Tony Roma's internationalentry 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 havebuilt, where the company right
now, how I am seeing it, it haspotential to grow both
(25:00):
domestically andinternationally.
There is no reason to scaleback, one or the other.
because you have the presence.
We have everything that we need.
We have the relationship.
We know how to support franchisepartner.
The main thing of a franchise orfranchisee relationship is to
have confidence of potentialfranchisees because they're
(25:20):
always asking, will thefranchise or be helpful?
And that is where we havemastered at, to support our
franchise partner.
When people are viewingfranchise options, one of the
main question comes up, Okay, Iwill be the operator.
I'll be running this brand.
How much support will I get?
And what I have designed isbasically bespoke support.
(25:41):
It's customized.
It's not cookie cutter.
It's not just, franchiseescoming to the headquarter,
taking training and then thereis no contact.
It's a relationship building andit's a continuous one.
So I think there is a lot ofpotential both in the U.
S.
and globally, especially in theMiddle East and in Europe.
And of course, Asia Pacific.
So I see a lot of potential inthose three regions globally.
(26:04):
And in terms of our sisterbrand, I think people who are
interested in Tony Roma's shouldlook into the sister brand
because the build up cost is alot lower for potential
franchisees.
And the sister brand will dovery well Tony Roma's Bones and
Burgers in like movie theater,or college campuses, and service
centers, and malls, and otherestablishments.
(26:25):
Where they need like a foodquarter, quick service, even
standalone.
We do have prototype forstandalone, like a drive through
standalone Tony Romas bones andburgers, and the build out cost
is a lot lower than the actualTony Romas.
So it'll make anyone who'sinterested in the brand, their
entry, into this space a lotquicker.
Jeremy Julian (26:44):
and I would say that there's a lot of weight
space, ironically, for this typeof brand.
It's experiential.
It's fantastic product.
It has brand equity.
And there's not a whole lot ofpeople, 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, butit's not at the center, at the
core of who they are and whatthey do.
And so I think you guys have alot of opportunity to continue
(27:06):
to grow, not just here, butobviously internationally.
How do people learn more ifthey're interested, if they're
sitting here on this calllistening, listening to the
podcast, or driving down theroad, and they're at a place
where they're a masterfranchisor for a different
brand, or they're looking to getinto, put another logo, or
they're brand new, what can theydo to engage with your team to
learn more about where they cantake Tony Roma's, to places that
(27:28):
it currently isn't?
Mohaimina Haque (27:29):
Yeah, absolutely.
We do have a site.
It's Tony Roma's franchise dotcom.
So please visit that.
Please visit our homepage aswell.
And, if anyone wants to reachout to me, please connect with
me on LinkedIn.
I'll be happy to speak with youand put you in touch with our
sales and development team.
Jeremy Julian (27:48):
wonderful.
and I think rumor has it you arespeaking on a panel at a
conference in the next couple ofweeks, 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 storyof the brand, Shane.
Thank you for continuing toinvest in it.
I love to hear these stories ofbrands that, again, have a lot
of nostalgic components thatpeople just love it.
And, I know for those units thatare still out there, they're
doing really well for theircommunities.
Something is lost when we lose arestaurant that, that, that does
(28:17):
this.
So I'm glad that you guys are onthe path towards, towards
continued growth.
so Amina, thank you for sharingyour story.
Thank you for sharing.
I think you're the first lawyerthat I've had on the show turned
CEO.
So that is also a first for me.
So I'm excited about that aswell.
so thank you for that, to ourlisteners, guys.
Thank you guys for hanging outwith us this week and make it a
great day.
Mohaimina Haque (28:34):
Thank you so much, Jeremy.
Thanks for listening to theRestaurant Technology Guys
podcast.
Visit www.
RestaurantTechnologyGuys.
com for tips, industry insights,and more to help you run your
restaurant better.
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