Bob Merullo has spent Fifty years in food and beverage working through the ranks from cook, server, bartender to various management positions throughout his time in hospitality. Bob spent most of his career with Red Robin Restaurants where he started as a kitchen manager and eventually became the COO for the Snyder Group, Red Robin’s first Franchise group. Bob continued with Red Robin and later served as Senior VP and Chief concept officer for Red Robin International and President of Red Robin Canada / Mach Robin Restaurants.  

Kevin Embree is a principal in Merbree Holdings, LLC, which owns Best Pizza, LLC and JM Restaurants, LLC: MOD Pizza and Jersey Mikes Franchisee’s respectively. Both franchise groups were started in 2014 after successfully selling two Red Robin Restaurant companies operating in the US and Canada. Kevin is a founder of both Best Pizza and JM Restaurants and was instrumental in rapidly growing MOD Pizza and Jersey Mike’s restaurants to 33 locations in just over 8 years. Kevin has over 35 years in accounting, finance and management in database development, storage facilities, apartment projects, real estate development and in the retail space – from sporting goods to restaurants.

With over 30 years in the restaurant industry, Scott Schooler is currently the COO of our MOD Pizza & Jersey Mike’s businesses. Scott had a 26 year career with Red Robin International, based in Denver, Colorado, where he served as the Vice President of Food & Beverage for his last 13 years there.  Scott joined Red Robin when they were a $20 million dollar company. Scott played a key role in the growth of Red Robin over his 26 years, which today is a billion dollar company. Within 5 years of employment with Red Robin, at the age of 23, Scott became the Food & Beverage Director for the original Franchisee in Denver, Colorado and was a key contributor to driving year over year sales, guest counts, and profit.