Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc., the parent company of Pollo Tropical, has appointed Dirk Montgomery as its permanent president and CEO. Montgomery, who joined the brand in 2019 as CFO, had been serving as interim CEO since December 2022, when Rich Stockinger left the role.

"The Board and I are confident that Dirk is ideally suited to serve as our President and CEO," Stacey Rauch, who chairs the company's Board of Directors, said in a company press release. "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," Montgomery said in the release. "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."

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