Executive Team

Dave Pace has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Red Robin since April 2025 and has served on the Board of Directors since August 2019. Prior to his appointment to the role of President and Chief Executive Officer, he served as the Chair of the Board of Directors. Dave brings 35 years of leadership and turnaround experience in the food, beverage and retail industries, among others.

From 2020 to 2023, Dave served as Co-Chief Executive Officer and director of Tastemaker Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company focusing on the restaurant, hospitality, and related technology and service sectors. From 2016 to 2018, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Jamba Juice, where he led the brand through a highly successful repositioning and tripled profit performance and ultimately a strategic sale of the company. Prior to that, he served as President of Carrabba’s Italian Grill, from 2014 to 2016, where he oversaw broad operational changes, significant margin improvement and accelerated profit growth. From 2010 to 2014, Dave served as Executive Vice President and Chief Resource Officer at Bloomin’ Brands, where he was responsible for real estate development and human capital deployment across approximately 1,500 restaurants, 100,000 team members and five brands. Earlier in his career, Dave held various leadership positions at Starbucks, PepsiCo, and Yum! Brands, among others. Dave currently serves as the independent Chair of the board of directors of Farmer Bros. Co., a publicly traded company. He also serves as a director of Authentic Restaurant Brands, a restaurant portfolio company of Garnett Station Partners, since 2022, and as a member of the ownership advisory board for the NHL’s Dallas Stars since 2017. Mr. Pace earned his Bachelor of Science degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University.

Dave’s favorite Red Robin menu item is the Whiskey River BBQ Burger.

With more than a decade at Bloomin' Brands, Graff brings deep financial expertise and direct operational leadership to Red Robin. Most recently, he served as President of Bonefish Grill and Fine Dining, where he led a $900M business across more than 220 restaurants. Over the course of his tenure at Bloomin' Brands, Graff held senior leadership roles across finance, strategy and investor relations, as well as leading global business development, capital planning and merger & acquisition initiatives. Earlier in his career, he worked at Deloitte Consulting and at Raymond James in investment banking. He holds a bachelor's degree from The Pennsylvania State University.

Humera has served as Chief People Officer since September 2025. As CPO, Humera is responsible for overseeing Red Robin's organizational strategy and vision centered on the continued strengthening of Red Robin's culture and the advancement of its recently announced First Choice Plan.

With a distinguished career spanning more than 30 years, Kassem has demonstrated expertise in cultivating organizational culture and driving talent development across various industries. Most recently, Kassem served as Chief People Officer at Dave & Buster's. She is a veteran executive having held multiple senior human resource roles with iconic brands including Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, JCPenney and Jamba Juice. She holds a Master of Organization Management degree from Dallas Baptist University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of Southern California.

Humera’s favorite menu item is the Sautéed ‘Shroom Burger.

Jesse Griffith has served as Chief Operations Officer since November 2025. In this role, Jesse leads both strategic and day-to-day operations for the company’s nearly 500 restaurants, franchise relations and partnership with beloved pizza brand, Donatos. He is focused on Guest satisfaction, operational excellence, building strong teams, and profitable growth. Jesse joined Red Robin as Senior Vice President, Operations in March 2023.

Prior to joining Red Robin, Jesse served as Vice President of Operations with Austin, Texas-based Torchy’s Tacos, which doubled in restaurant unit growth during his tenure. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Operations for California Pizza Kitchen. During his career, Jesse also has held the role of Market Partner at Texas Roadhouse over an eight-year stint, where he developed the state of Virginia for the company, and was a multi-unit operator at Quaker Steak & Lube and Bennigan’s. He even worked for a brief period at the Pentagon! Jesse is proud to have served on the boards of both the California Pizza Kitchen and Torchy’s Tacos charitable foundations.

His favorite Red Robin menu item is the Bacon Cheeseburger.