R.J. Melman Named CEO of Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants

Richard Melman, founder of Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants, is excited to announce that R.J. Melman will be stepping into the role of Chief Executive Officer at Lettuce. R.J. will continue his role as President with added responsibilities.

“When I look at R.J., it solidifies my belief in Lettuce’s future,” said Rich Melman. 

Kevin Brown, who has served with distinction as the CEO of Lettuce since 2003 and has played a pivotal role in the continued growth and success of the organization, will be transitioning to Executive Chairman of Lettuce. In his new position, Kevin will continue lending his leadership guidance and expertise, while also focusing on Lettuce Consulting. 

R.J. was named President of Lettuce in 2017 and under his leadership, Lettuce has successfully expanded to new markets, including Austin, Miami and Orlando, with Nashville and Dallas coming soon. R.J. and his partners are also the founders of the award-winning country music and BBQ festival, Windy City Smokeout. The four-day festival has brought together the best in BBQ, beer and country music for more than decade and continues to attract more than 90,000 guests each summer to the United Center in Chicago and will be expanding the Smokeout brand to AT&T Stadium in Dallas with Lone Star Smokeout this year.

R.J. is active within the Chicago philanthropic and business communities and is proud to be an Executive Committee Member of the YPO Chicago Chapter as well as Chapter Chair in 2020-2021. In 2023, R.J. was selected as one of EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 National winners. R.J. currently serves on the board of Northwestern Hospital and Choose Chicago, and he previously served on the Board of Directors for Del Taco Restaurants for seven years when it was a publicly traded company.