Dillas Quesadillas Names Michael Mabry COO

A New Role, A Bigger Ambition

Dillas Quesadillas has never had a chief operating officer. As of Oct. 7, it does, and the timing says almost as much as the hire itself.

The North Texas-based quesadilla chain has tapped Michael Mabry to fill the newly created role, putting one executive in charge of day-to-day operations, marketing and franchise sales across its 11 restaurants in Texas and Louisiana. The brand isn't adding this layer of leadership for its own sake. Dillas has set a target of 50 locations by 2028, with six DFW franchises already in the pipeline and more growth underway in Louisiana. Consolidating three distinct functions under a single executive is a bet that accountability, not committee, is what keeps a fast-scaling brand from fraying at the edges.

A Familiar Face With Deep Industry Roots

Mabry isn't new to Dillas, and he isn't new to this kind of challenge. He joined the company in August 2025 as head of franchise development, but his relationship with co-founders Kyle and Maggie Gordon goes back more than a decade, long before he was on the payroll. That history pairs with more than 30 years in the restaurant industry, including stints as president and COO of MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes, chief development officer of Fuzzy's Taco Shop, and president of Famous Toastery. Kyle Gordon, co-founder and CEO of Dillas, framed the choice plainly: "Michael knows Dillas, knows us and understands what it takes to scale a restaurant brand."

Founders Step Back From The Day-To-Day

The structure underneath the title is where the real strategy shows up. By handing Mabry the operations, marketing and franchise sales portfolio, Kyle and Maggie Gordon are freeing themselves to focus on growth strategy and capital planning rather than the daily mechanics of running restaurants. Mabry becomes the person minding the machinery; the founders stay fixed on the horizon. Mabry describes his own job in terms of alignment rather than overhaul: "Dillas is at an exciting point in its growth. We've built a strong operational foundation, and my focus now is making sure our operations, marketing and franchise development stay aligned as we add restaurants. Growth only works if our teams and franchise partners have the systems and resources to support it."

Why The Role Exists Now

Gordon's comments make clear what was sitting behind the decision to create this role at all. "We have six restaurants in the DFW franchise pipeline and additional growth underway in Louisiana," he said. "Having someone with Michael's experience leading the day-to-day business gives us confidence that we can grow while continuing to support our teams, franchise partners and guests." Mabry's language points in the same direction, with a focus on systems and resources for franchise partners rather than new concepts or menu ideas. The appointment reads less like the start of something new and more like insurance on what's already been built.

A Slow Build Before The Sprint

That groundwork has been a few years in the making. Dillas spent close to two years deliberately slowing its unit growth to tighten internal operations, simplifying its menu, investing in technology and streamlining restaurant processes. The payoff is starting to show: the company recently opened its first nontraditional location inside Brookshire Grocery Arena in Bossier City, Louisiana, a format that breaks from its standalone restaurant model and hints at venue types the brand may chase as it scales. Founded in Plano in 2013 by Kyle and Maggie Gordon, Dillas has reached 11 locations across Texas and Louisiana and projects it will approach $20 million in systemwide sales in 2026, a number that hints at the scale ambition behind the 50-unit goal.

Foundation Meets Fast Growth

The sequencing here isn't accidental. Mabry's appointment lands close on the heels of both the operational investment period and the Bossier City opening, suggesting Dillas sees this as the hinge point where foundation-building gives way to faster unit growth. Six DFW franchises are already queued, and Louisiana expansion is already in motion, which means the systems Mabry is now responsible for aligning will be stress-tested almost immediately rather than eased into. Whether two years of menu simplification, tech investment and process tightening can hold up under the pace a 50-location target demands isn't something that can be settled on paper. That answer will come from execution, not from the announcement.

The Real Test Still Lies Ahead

Put the pieces together, the COO hire, the nontraditional Bossier City format, the $20 million sales projection, and the picture is of a brand shifting out of stabilization and into expansion mode. Mabry's decade-plus rapport with the Gordons, paired with his multi-brand franchise background at MOOYAH, Fuzzy's and Famous Toastery, makes him the natural candidate to turn the founders' ambitions into operational reality rather than a slide deck. Quintupling a footprint from 11 restaurants to 50 within a few years is no small lift, and the real measure of this hire won't be the title. It'll be whether the systems built during the slow years can flex under Mabry's watch without the franchise support that both he and Gordon keep circling back to as the thing that makes growth sustainable in the first place.