Molly Melman

Executive Partner

Molly Melman is an executive partner and director of divisional training at Lettuce Entertain You.  She has opened more than two dozen Lettuce restaurants including RPM Italian, RPM Steak, RPM Seafood, Pizzeria Portofino, Ramen-san, Sushi-san, The Omakase Room, il Porcellino, Bub City, Three Dots and A Dash and more. 

Molly graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Psychology. After college, she moved to the East Coast to teach kindergarten in the South Bronx through the nonprofit organization Teach for America. After moving back to Chicago, she joined her brothers, R.J. and Jerrod, as they were opening Hub 51 in River North in June 2008. Molly began hosting and serving at the restaurant. She then moved into a management role to learn the ins and outs of the operational side of the industry.

From there, Molly was able to combine her teaching skills with her restaurant background and moved into the role of divisional training manager in 2011. In this position, she is responsible for interviewing and hiring candidates for all positions, overseeing the training and development for new restaurant openings, as well as working with a team of trainers who run hourly training and ongoing development. For the last decade, Molly and her partners also execute Windy City Smokeout, an award-winning country music, BBQ and beer festival in Chicago. 

Molly and her partners opened a multi-concept restaurant and private event space on the Chicago River, including Pizzeria Portofino, which opened in July 2019, RPM Events which opened in September 2019, and RPM Seafood which opened January 2020. In February 2022, Molly and the team opened The Omakase Room at Sushi-san, a ten-seat omakase restaurant from Master Sushi Chef Kaze Chan. Most recently, the RPM brand expanded to Las Vegas with  the opening of RPM Italian at The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace.  

Molly is a creator and founding member of the Rowe Club, a group created to empower women in the restaurant industry which launched in 2017. The Rowe Club was created around three main focuses: education, networking and philanthropy.