Overview and Perspective
Dave Morrone uses every lesson learned from his 25 years of robust restaurant experience to bring superior leadership, hard earned knowledge, and consistent operational effectiveness to his executive role in charge of 11 Red Robins across our Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and surrounding markets.
With a focus on team members and a knack for recognizing and matching their strengths and skill sets to make the optimal people mix, Dave continually creates the right people recipes for maximized success. He knows when to jump in and when to empower. “I never forget what it was like to walk in their shoes and how it felt to be managed. I use this awareness to create a supportive environment to foster best in class team members who love working and achieving.”
With numerous team members promoted to higher level positions and a General Manager as a Presidents Club winner, Dave is most proud of what his people accomplish. “We are in the people business and my primary goal is to develop and empower executive GMs and GM’s to think on their own and make the right decisions.”
History
Dave grew up in snowy Syracuse in upstate New York. “There was a New York style pizza place up the street from my house and I saw how much fun they were having back there and wanted to be a hand tossed pizza maker more than anything.” While in high school, at the age of 15 he got hired there as dishwasher, then started tossing pizzas, and upon high school graduation became manager, working 60 hours a week at age 19. Dave saved his money, and two years later moved to Grand Island NY, near Buffalo and opened his own full-service Italian restaurant and pizzeria. “I was too inexperienced, but I learned a lot, especially what not to do.” Dave was then hired by Darden Restaurants’ Smoky Bones in Wilkes-Barre, PA, a chain barbeque restaurant where he moved to PA, grew from a kitchen team member, to Kitchen Manager and then General Manager. There he enjoyed working with standardized processes and learned the wisdom of prioritizing team members first, guests second and shareholders third. In 2006, at age 29 with persistent recruitment by a growing LVRG, Dave decided to take the leap to join us. Judging from his 11 years of subsequent success, everyone agrees it was the perfect move.
Specialties
- Restaurant Operations
- Multi-Unit Operations
- Restaurant Turnarounds
- People Development
- Health and Safety
- New Restaurant Operations
- Kitchen Operations
- Instilling Culture
- Team Engineering
Lehigh Valley Restaurant Group Ascension
In March 2007, Dave moved his family to Harrisburg and opened our Chambersburg Red Robin. In Sept, 2008 he was at it again, successfully opening our Selinsgrove Red Robin. In June 2011, Dave was promoted to Executive GM overseeing our Paxton Town Center and Silver Springs restaurants. From 2011 to 2013 Dave took on and succeeded in turning around our most challenging operations. In July 2013 he was promoted to Regional Operations Director first in charge or 4 restaurants, then 5, then 6, then 8 and in Sept 2016, 11 Red Robins and was promoted to Senior Regional Operations Director. In Dec, 2017, he became Regional Vice President. “I love our business for many reasons. One of the most awesome facets of our industry is it provides opportunities for passionate and hardworking people like me to reach management and even executive levels without the need of secondary education
Dave’s Scope and Focus
- Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and surrounding markets
- Manages 4 Executive GMs
- Manages 11 GM’s
- Oversees 1100 Team Members
- Develops Team Members
- Sets and implements Strategic Operational Goals
- Ensures Compliance with Standard Operating Procedures
- Ensures Food and Restaurant Health and Safety
- Leads quarterly GM meetings
- Protects Brand thru adherence to laws and corporate standards.
- Interfaces with Franchise Operations Director from Red Robin Corporate
- Led restaurants to win numerous awards for excellence in food safety and restaurant sanitation
- Played major roles in the roll out and implementation of Catering, KDS and Ziosk Programs
Charity/Non-Profit Initiatives
- Helped LVRG raise over $0.6M for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) since 2010
- Helped LVRG raise over $220K for Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) since 2012
- PA Restaurant & Lodging Assoc. Central Chapter Board Member