Paul Damico originally made a name for himself as the president of Moe's Southwest Grill, scaling the fast-casual Mexican brand from 200 units to around 700 in his eight years with FOCUS Brands. But in 2017, Roark Capital Group—majority owner of FOCUS—asked Damico if he'd be interested in serving as CEO of one of the group's much smaller investments, Naf Naf Grill. Springing at the chance to build something nearly from the ground up, Damico moved to Chicago and took the helm at the fast-casual Middle Eastern concept.
In this conversation with QSR editor Sam Oches, Damico shares why he left FOCUS Brands to lead a startup, why he thinks Naf Naf has the potential to become a booming franchise, and how he thinks restaurant brands should navigate the explosion in off-premises business.

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