Church’s Texas Chicken Seats New CEO

Roland Gonzalez, chief operations officer of Church’s Texas Chicken since 2023, is stepping up to serve as CEO of the brand. He succeeds Joe Guith, CEO since 2022.

Gonzalez is credited with having driven “operational excellence through global business strategies and process improvement, strengthening franchisee partnerships, enhancing guest experiences and expanding brand reach in highly competitive categories and geographic markets.” Before Church’s, Gonzalez held senior leadership roles with Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes. He also was executive vice president for operations at Virtual Dining Concepts and head of global operations standards and strategy at Restaurant Brands Int’l.

“We thank Joe for being an important part of the first major phase of our transformation as he moves on to his next chapter,” says High Bluff Capital Partners founder Anand Gowda. “Our priority now is to build on this progress and significantly accelerate our momentum and expansion as we strive to reach $2 billion in system sales within the next few years while maximizing franchisee profitability. … His deep understanding of the QSR industry, commitment to growth-focused operational excellence and dedication to driving franchisee profitability make him the ideal leader to guide Church’s through its next major evolution.”

Other recent chain leadership appointments include Joe Christina (who was most recently the CEO of Tijuana Flats) as president and COO of Noodles & Co. and Paul Macaluso (former president and CEO of Another Broken Egg Cafe) as CEO of Torchy’s Tacos.