By Charlie Pogacar
When Chris Patel was in high school, he wasn’t dreaming of becoming an engineer or a doctor like many of his peers. He was captivated instead by the stories of local entrepreneurs who built restaurant empires—franchisees who went from operating a single Dunkin’ or Burger King to overseeing dozens of units.
“Those local success stories truly inspired me,” Patel told PMQ Pizza. “It felt like restaurants were an industry where I could scale quickly and build something meaningful.”
That inspiration carried through college and beyond. After saving diligently for a couple of years, Patel took the leap in his mid-20s, signing his first four-store deal with Papa Johns in Southern New Jersey. It wasn’t the portfolio he originally pursued—he and his mentor had lost out on a larger 15-unit acquisition—but the smaller opportunity became the foundation for what would soon become a sprawling franchise empire.
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“I had to be in the stores right away,” Patel said. “Two of our general managers quit as soon as we took over. I had to step in as a GM for a couple of weeks. That experience showed me what I had signed up for—it taught me the importance of understanding operations from the ground up.”
Scaling Fast and Learning Hard
From that initial four-unit deal, Patel’s growth accelerated at breakneck speed. Within two years, he owned more than 40 stores. By the five-year mark, his group had eclipsed 70 Papa Johns’ locations, alongside Dunkin’ and Baskin Robbins investments, with Buffalo Wild Wings now entering the mix.
But scaling wasn’t without challenges. Patel recalls one pivotal moment when his group jumped from 11 restaurants to 44 in a single year. “That transition taught us the importance of building infrastructure,” he said. “We had to quadruple our support system—marketing, training, accounting, operations. Growing from a small franchisee to a mid-size operator required mastering all facets of the business.”
But why Papa Johns in the first place? For one thing, Patel’s family had grown up loving the pizza chain’s food. He also believed the brand had more runway for opportunity than competitors like Domino’s and Pizza Hut—and, ultimately, he just believed the model was better at Papa Johns.
“The product is fresher, the food costs are stronger, and the upside potential is greater,” Patel said. “For us, Papa Johns checked every box.”
A New Direction
That upside has only grown more compelling with new leadership at the helm. When Todd Penegor—former CEO of Wendy’s—took over as Papa Johns’ chief executive in 2024, Patel said it immediately gave franchisees “a breath of fresh air.”
“He’s an industry veteran who knows how to run a massive brand,” Patel said. “And the first thing he did was bring in new talent, especially in tech and marketing, which had been stagnant for years.”
Patel believes the company’s renewed focus on technology has been transformative—something that has been backed up by recent results. “We’re all in a tech business that happens to sell food,” he said. “[Penegor] revitalized the tech department, brought in a new CMO and started working with partners like Google AI. The new POS systems, the digital innovations—these are changes I haven’t seen in my five years with Papa Johns, and longtime operators say they haven’t seen in decades.”
Operational streamlining has also been a hallmark of the Penegor era. Patel pointed to the brand’s decision to simplify its menu—removing low-performing items after successful tests during high-volume days like the Super Bowl. “It made operations smoother, helped our GMs and allowed us to focus on delivering the best pizza possible,” he said.
Looking Ahead
Still just 31 years old, Patel has already surpassed milestones he once thought would take much longer. He envisioned hitting 50 stores in eight or nine years; instead, he got there in three. Today, he’s setting his sights even higher. “We have a pipeline that will take us to 250 Papa Johns within three years,” he said. “And maybe 300 or 400 in five years. That would be a dream come true.”
But for Patel, success isn’t just about unit counts—it’s about people. “The best way I measure success is by the growth of my team,” he said. “Some of the directors I hired when we had just four Papa Johns are still with me today. Helping them grow into leaders, even partners in the company, means more to me than any store number.”
As Papa Johns charts a new course under Penegor, franchisees like Patel are bullish on what lies ahead. “We’re seeing real transformation,” Patel said. “The right leaders are in place, the right innovations are coming. I think the next generation of growth is just beginning.”
