Fiesta Restaurant Group, Inc., parent company of the Pollo Tropical brand, today announced that the Board of Directors has appointed Dirk Montgomery as its permanent President and Chief Executive Officer, effective April 13, 2023. Mr. Montgomery has served as Interim Chief Executive Officer since December 8, 2022 and previously served as Chief Financial Officer since September 9, 2019.

“The Board and I are confident that Dirk is ideally suited to serve as our President and CEO,” says Stacey Rauch, who chairs the Company’s Board of Directors. “We believe that his deep knowledge of the Pollo Tropical brand and its operations from having served as our CFO, together with his vast industry experience and disciplined business style, provide him with the right background and attributes to lead Fiesta and Pollo Tropical. As the interim CEO, Dirk moved quickly to maintain momentum and sharpen the focus of the leadership team on key opportunities.”

“Since transitioning to the interim CEO role, I have been working with our talented team to prioritize and accelerate the key strategic initiatives that we believe will have the most significant impact on transaction growth and margin expansion,” says Montgomery. “Consistent with this approach, we have placed tremendous focus on building operations excellence and creating a great guest experience, all while continuing to enhance our brand presence and developing the teams necessary to support these initiatives. I am very excited to have the opportunity to continue working with the leadership team and our Board to unlock the significant growth potential of this special brand.”