Chris Artinian, a well established Chief Executive Officer with over 30 years of restaurant and retail experience. Artinian has led, been a Board Advisor, or C-Suite consultant in every aspect of the restaurant industry from QSR to Fine Dining including franchisor, franchisee, and company owned concepts. He recently served as President of BIBIBOP Asian Grill, where he lead strategic planning, operational efficiencies, and redesigned and successfully led the largest revamp and deployment of new offerings in company history. Further, charted growth while opening 18 new restaurants in 2024 on a path to open 20-25 per year over the next 5 years. Prior to that, he served as President & CEO at Condado Tacos and Tequila, an emerging NextGen growth brand that specializes in tacos, margs and tequilas. During Mr. Artinian’s tenure, Condado quadrupled in size, growing to over 50 restaurants and well over $150M in sales and growth in conjunction with industry leading restaurant level economics.
Prior to his recent roles with BIBIBOP Asian Grill and Condado Tacos, he led TooJay’s Gourmet Deli, Bakery & Restaurant, serving as the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to that, he served as President and CEO of Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill, and previously, was President and CEO of Morton’s The Steakhouse, the largest fine dining brand in the world. Mr. Artinian was the quintessential success story at Morton’s, starting in a back of the house kitchen position and rising through the ranks to eventually become the CEO of this leading NYSE publicly traded and internationally recognized steakhouse. Artinian and his team were instrumental in leading Morton’s Restaurant Group out of the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, laying the groundwork for a successful run as CEO and encapsulating Morton’s growth story as the world leader in fine-dining steak.
Throughout his career Mr. Artinian has been recognized for leveraging his deep operational experience in developing winning strategies and exceptional teams. Passionate about the restaurant business, Mr. Artinian has provided key insight and commentary on the industry to numerous media outlets including CNBC, Fox Business and Bloomberg News, and is a sought-after guest speaker and panelist for industry conferences, roundtable podcasts and keynote events. Artinian has also served on various boards including; Morton’s Restaurant Group, Smokey Bones Bar and Fire Grill, Toojay’s Deli, PCR Restaurant Group (Jersey Mike’s & Wing Stop Franchisee), Condado Tacos, Another Broken Egg, Ted’s Café Escondidio and BIBIBOP Asian Grill.