Maggiano’s Little Italy has a new president and a new turnaround plan. But neither are entirely unfamiliar.
Kevin Hochman, the CEO of Maggiano’s owner Brinker International, is stepping in to lead the Italian casual-dining chain on an interim basis. Maggiano’s also installed Rich Kissel, VP of operations for Chili’s Florida region, as its new COO.
The new regime plans to apply some of the same strategies at Maggiano's that have worked for Chili’s, Brinker’s other concept, which has been enjoying a renaissance since Hochman took over in 2022.
The seeds for Maggiano’s own turnaround were planted in 2023, when Brinker hired fine-dining veteran Dominique Bertolone as president of the chain. Bertolone oversaw changes to the brand’s menu and service that were intended to provide a more upscale experience while maintaining affordable prices.
Maggiano's added Wagyu beef to the menu, for instance, and developed unique cocktails, such as an Old Fashioned presented in a smoke box. China, glassware and even tablecloths were changed for a more elevated feel. A new restaurant design featured an upgraded bar and more booths and made wine a focal point.
But Bertolone has left Maggiano’s, the company announced Wednesday. And Hochman is rethinking Brinker’s approach to the brand, where same-store sales are up just 1.5% over the past year, including a 0.4% decline in the most recent quarter.
“I think that part of the challenges that we've had in the past year is that we fell in love a little too much with this idea of elevating the experience,” Hochman said during an earnings call Wednesday. He noted, for instance, a new process for busing tables that was less noisy, but took longer.
Things like that aren’t really what Maggiano’s regular customers care about, he said. They value the food, the abundant portions, and the connections they make at the restaurant. And they don’t want to wait while tables are quietly bussed.
“Maggiano's guests just want to be seated when the reservation comes, or if they walk in, they don't want to be told 40 minutes, they want to be told 10 minutes,” Hochman said.
He did not go into detail about what exactly the new plan will entail. But he suggested that it will be fairly similar to what’s been done at Chili’s, where basic improvements to food and operations, backed by marketing, have helped generate double-digit sales and traffic growth.
“The more I've gotten into the business the last couple of months, the more I see it is very, very similar challenges to Chili's,” Hochman said. “I think we were treating it a little bit differently, and I don't think it needs to be treated that much differently.”
Maggiano’s was founded in 1991 by Chicago-based restaurant group Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. Brinker acquired it four years later and took it national. It now has 52 locations in more than 20 states.
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