Ronnie Taylor, COO

Ronnie Taylor is a restaurant operations executive known for building brands, opening markets, developing high-performing teams, and driving profitable multi-unit operations. Throughout his career, he has helped launch more than 60 restaurants and led operations across multiple states for some of the restaurant industry’s most recognized brands.

Ronnie spent nearly 15 years with Pei Wei Asian Diner during one of the brand’s most significant growth periods. Joining Pei Wei while it was still an emerging concept, he became a Market Partner and Regional Director of Operations, helping scale the brand into a national fast-casual presence of approximately 200 restaurants often referred to as the "Platinum Standard of Fast Casual Restaurants". During his tenure, Ronnie personally led more than 40 new restaurant openings, overseeing site selection, real estate, budgeting, market development, training, and operational execution. He also built multi-unit leadership teams while operating some of the brand’s highest-volume and most profitable restaurants.

After Pei Wei, Ronnie continued to lead multi-unit operations and expansion for major restaurant organizations, including Hooters of America, Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ, Panera Bread, McDonald’s franchise operator Archfellow, and Zalat Pizza. His experience spans opening new markets and restaurants, leading high-volume operations, managing multimillion-dollar budgets and P&Ls, improving profitability, developing management talent, and guiding teams through periods of significant operational change.

Throughout his career, Ronnie has developed hundreds of restaurant leaders and built a reputation for blending disciplined operations with a people-first leadership style. His approach focuses on developing strong managers, creating accountable teams, protecting the guest experience, and building operating systems that allow restaurant concepts to scale without sacrificing quality or culture.

Today, Ronnie serves as Chief Operating Officer of CIG Concepts, where he brings that experience to a growing portfolio of hospitality brands, including Taste Italian Kitchen, Heritage Chophouse, Pronto Gusto, and Sunnyside Social. As CIG expands its restaurant concepts beyond its Mississippi roots and throughout the Southeast, Ronnie is helping build the teams, operational infrastructure, and standards needed to support the company’s next stage of growth.