Rock N Roll Sushi Names Rick Gestring New CEO

A New Voice Takes the Mic

Rock N Roll Sushi has a new leader, and he's never run a sushi brand in his life. That's not an oversight. It might be the whole point.

The 80-unit chain has named restaurant and franchise executive Rick Gestring as its next Chief Executive Officer, tasking him with strengthening the brand, supporting franchisee success and carrying the concept into its next phase of growth. He steps into the role with a mandate that sounds less like reinvention and more like refinement, sharpening what already works rather than chasing a new identity.

A Résumé Built on Franchise Muscle

Gestring's résumé reads like a tour through the biggest names in franchising, and none of them serve sushi. He most recently held the title of Brand Officer for Tasty Restaurant Group, overseeing the KFC and Taco Bell portfolio. Before that, he served as Senior Vice President of franchise operations for Honey Baked Ham and as Chief Restaurant Officer at Blaze Pizza. His career also includes stops at Dunkin', Arby's, Starbucks, Peet's Coffee and Taco Bell. It's a background built on volume, consistency and franchisee relationships across wildly different categories, and Rock N Roll Sushi's board appears to be betting that those muscles matter more right now than deep expertise in Asian cuisine.

"Rock N Roll Sushi's unique American-style sushi brand positioning, coupled with an electrifying restaurant experience and creative menu offerings, have created a tremendously loyal fan following," Gestring said. "I look forward to leading the brand, in collaboration with our incredible franchisees and support teams, as together we turn up the volume on growth and expansion."

A Relay, Not a Reset

The handoff itself has been designed to feel more like a relay than a reset. Gestring succeeds Craig LeMieux, who has served as CEO since 2023 and is credited with steering the brand through a stretch of meaningful expansion. Rather than stepping away abruptly, LeMieux is working alongside Gestring through the transition, a structure that preserves institutional knowledge and franchisee trust while still making room for fresh thinking. Exact financial terms of the transition, along with a firm handoff date, haven't been disclosed. What has been made clear is the tone: this is being framed as continuity, not disruption.

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Voices Behind the Transition

That framing comes through clearly in how both men are talking about the moment. "When I joined Rock N Roll Sushi, I saw an opportunity to lead a truly distinctive brand," LeMieux said. "I'm proud of what our team and franchise partners have accomplished, and I know Rick understands what makes this brand and its franchise community special. I'm looking forward to seeing where he takes Rock N Roll Sushi next."

Board Chairman Sam Osborne offered his own endorsement, calling Gestring's mix of restaurant expertise, franchise knowledge and fresh perspective a strong fit. "The board is confident in his ability to build on the foundation that has been established while identifying new opportunities to strengthen the brand, support our franchise partners and position Rock N Roll Sushi for long-term growth," Osborne said. Coming directly from the board chairman, that statement reads less like routine PR language and more like a deliberate signal that this leadership change is strategy, not damage control.

Inheriting an Identity Worth Protecting

What Gestring inherits is a brand that has built genuine loyalty around a specific idea: sushi with an American, high-energy spin, delivered in restaurants designed to feel like an experience rather than a quick bite. Holding onto that identity while adding units will take more than enthusiasm. It will take the kind of operational discipline Gestring practiced managing multi-unit portfolios at KFC and Taco Bell, and the franchisee-relationship instincts he sharpened at Honey Baked Ham and Blaze Pizza. Those are the exact muscles a growing franchise system needs flexed as it scales past its current footprint, and they're precisely what LeMieux and Osborne keep pointing back to in their public remarks.

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The Questions Still Left Unanswered

There's plenty still left unsaid. No formal date has been given for when Gestring assumes full CEO responsibilities, and no compensation or contractual details have been shared for either his appointment or LeMieux's departure. There are no specific unit targets, revenue figures or expansion timelines attached to this "next chapter" language, which means the brand's momentum, real as it may be, remains more directional than measured for now. What comes next will say more than any press release could: whether Gestring's outside experience translates cleanly into Rock N Roll Sushi's particular culture, and whether the franchisee community that LeMieux built stays just as loyal to the sound of a new voice.