US-based Mexican food restaurant QDOBA has hired former KFC legal head Cathy Tang as its first chief legal officer since 2021.
Tang was most recently CLO at hospitality business Pursuit Collection. At QDOBA she will be responsible for leading its legal, compliance, risk management and corporate governance functions, while also playing a key role in franchise strategy and transactions. She brings more than three decades of legal experience, much of them in the restaurant sector.
QDOBA is a ‘fast-casual’ Mexican restaurant with 840 locations in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Japan and South Korea.
John Cywinski, CEO at QDOBA, said: “We are very fortunate to have an executive of Cathy’s calibre join our leadership team. I had the privilege of experiencing her partnership and capability first-hand when she reported to me as chief legal officer while I was president of KFC Corporation, and I’m thrilled to be reunited.”
He added that Tang’s blend of strategic insights, team collaboration, growth mindset and deep restaurant franchise experience will help the brand achieve its full potential.
Tang had a brief spell at Pursuit Collection, having previously spent four years as CLO at Krispy Kreme. Before that she spent almost 20 years with Yum! Brands and its associated businesses, including six years as KFC’s CLO and three and a half years as associate GC of Yum! Brands, having originally joined Pizza Hut in 2002 as senior counsel.
Prior that she spent four years as senior counsel at tech giant Dell and just under four years as counsel at Pepsi. She started her legal career in private practice at Stites & Harbison.
She said: “It’s a privilege to be working alongside CEO John Cywinski again and to partner with the QDOBA team and our franchisees to build on the strong foundation that makes this brand so special.”
Tang fills the seat previously occupied by Charles ‘Chip’ Seigel, who left QDOBA in 2021 to take up the CLO role at US ice hockey team Vegas Golden Knights.
In other recent food and beverage related moves, back in December US food supply chain business GrubMarket hired Jorge deNeve from O’Melvey & Myers as its first CLO. While in October, Starbucks ended its hunt for its new legal chief, hiring Pilar Ramos from Televisa-Univision after previous CLO Brad Lerman announced plans to retire earlier in the year.
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