BJ’s Restaurants names Monika Saxena first brand president

BJ’s Restaurants has put Monika Saxena in a new kind of power seat: the chain’s first brand president. The move gives one executive oversight of brand marketing, culinary and beverage development, consumer insights, guest relations, and media and communications as BJ’s tries to sharpen traffic and stand out in casual dining.

Saxena arrived from LongHorn Steakhouse, where she served as executive vice president of brand marketing from 2018 to 2026. Before that, she spent 16 years at Darden Restaurants overall, including time at Bahama Breeze. Darden said her work helped drive a LongHorn run that produced 20 straight quarters of positive same-store sales, a track record BJ’s is clearly betting can translate to its own dining rooms.

The hire also fits the direction set by BJ’s chief executive, Lyle Tick, who became CEO and president effective June 5, 2025. Tick has framed his focus around the team member experience, handcrafted food and beverages, delivering WOW hospitality, and keeping the atmosphere fresh. Installing a first-ever brand president suggests BJ’s sees brand leadership as central to those goals, not separate from them.

For restaurant workers, that matters because brand decisions show up on the floor fast. Promotions can change check averages for servers, volume for bartenders, and pacing across the dining room. Menu shifts can affect prep lists, expo pressure, and how smoothly a kitchen handles a dinner rush. A stronger brand playbook can mean clearer expectations and more consistent service, but it can also add pressure if the company leans harder on metrics without matching training and staffing.

BJ’s is making the change from a position of improving momentum. In fiscal first quarter 2026, the company reported revenue of $358.1 million and comparable restaurant sales growth of 2.4 percent, its seventh consecutive quarter of sales and traffic growth. The company said it had about $85.6 million available under its share repurchase authorization as of May 5, 2026, and it kept its 2026 outlook at comparable sales growth of 1 percent to 3 percent and restaurant-level operating profit of $221 million to $233 million.

BJ’s said it owns and operates more than 215 restaurants in 31 states. For a chain of that size, naming a first brand president is more than an internal shuffle. It is a signal that BJ’s thinks sharper brand stewardship may be one of the tools it needs to keep sales moving and make the operating floor run more predictably.