Polished casual Mexican restaurant brand further accelerates growth with expansion of executive team and new locations across the U.S.
Uncle Julio’s Mexican from Scratch, a leading polished casual Mexican restaurant, today announced that it has appointed David Ellis as chief brand officer. In this newly created role, Ellis will report directly to CEO Tom Vogel and join the executive team. He will be responsible for setting the vision for strategic branding and overseeing marketing, consumer insights, public relations and product innovation.
Ellis brings more than 20 years of experience successfully building brands in the restaurant and food industry. Most recently, Ellis served as vice president of marketing and culinary for O’Charley’s. Prior to that, he held leadership positions at KFC and Darden Restaurants, for both Olive Garden and Red Lobster, including positions in brand management, national promotions and menu strategy. Ellis received an undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and an MBA in marketing from Vanderbilt University.
“We are excited to welcome David to the Uncle Julio’s family as we expand our leadership team during this period of growth and open new restaurants across the United States,” said Tom Vogel, president and CEO of Uncle Julio’s. “David brings an extensive background in building strong restaurant brands to this position, which will help us to continue to deliver made-from-scratch tableside memories every day.”
Uncle Julio’s was acquired by L Catterton, the largest and most global consumer-focused private equity firm in the world, in October 2017. With the support of L Catterton, Uncle Julio’s has been able to further accelerate brand expansion and growth in both existing and new markets. Today, Uncle Julio’s operates 31 restaurants in seven states, with new restaurants expected to open in Oklahoma City and Columbia, Maryland in the first half of 2018.
Headquartered in Dallas, Uncle Julio’s Mexican from Scratch is a leading polished casual Mexican restaurant that uses a scratch kitchen to serve only the freshest and highest quality Mexican food and fresh, handcrafted margaritas.
The first Uncle Julio’s opened in Dallas, Texas, in November 1986, and is known for highly unique menu items such as the signature “only found here” Chocolate Piñata, Tableside Guacamole, and The Swirl – a frozen margarita layered with house-made sangria. For more information, please visit www.unclejulios.com.
With over $14 billion of equity capital across six fund strategies in 17 offices globally, L Catterton is the largest and most global consumer-focused private equity firm in the world. L Catterton’s team of more than 160 investment and operating professionals partners with management teams around the world to implement strategic plans to foster growth, leveraging deep category insight, operational excellence, and a broad thought partnership network. Since 1989, the firm has made over 200 investments in leading consumer brands. L Catterton was formed through the partnership of Catterton, LVMH and Groupe Arnault. For more information about L Catterton, please visit lcatterton.com.
