<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2f6w71_138FwlXn00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2f6w71_138FwlXn00" width="1200" height="700" ></figure>Neel Patel remembers the local Quiznos in his hometown—and the many Black Angus Steakhouse sandwiches he devoured as a kid.Now, years later, he’s at the helm of the sandwich chain, tasked with reigniting growth and guiding the brand into its next chapter.“I really need to love the product and believe in the product to feel comfortable while growing it,” Patel says. “Quiznos pioneered the hot sub and the toasted sub throughout the 80s and the 90s and popularized it in the early 2000s. To this day, I believe the offerings are extremely unique. We have high-quality meats and cheeses that are sliced in-house daily, a great set of bread offerings, and an industry-leading and pioneering set of sauces that come together to underpin really incredible recipes. So, when it comes to a craveable hot sub, we’re really hard to beat.”Rego Restaurant Group named Patel CEO in late March, tapping him to lead both Quiznos and Taco Del Mar. Before, he served as senior vice president of strategy and growth at Church’s Texas Chicken, where he led commercial strategy, revenue management, and global expansion. He played a key role in the brand’s transformation and recent growth—experience he plans to carry into his new role at Rego.He joins at a time when Quiznos is showing early signs of momentum.Last fall, it opened a new drive-thru in Tucson, Arizona, that broke the brand’s all-time opening day sales record. Earlier in the year, it signed a deal with c-store chain Pump &amp; Pantry to open another half-dozen locations—a continuation of development efforts that have included nontraditional sites and new franchise commitments in markets across Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, and more.More recently, the chain kicked off 2025 with a string of successful openings that, as Patel puts it, “show flexibility and unique real estate footprints—not just our typical inlines.”One of those openings is especially notable: In early May, Quiznos debuted its first Qube concept restaurant in Alpena, Michigan.Developed by BCubed Manufacturing in partnership with Rego Restaurant Group, the Qube is a modular restaurant model designed to speed up development, streamline operations, and cater to off-premises customers. At about 650 square feet, each unit includes both drive-thru and walk-up windows and is designed to fit on smaller parcels of land. The concept supports a lower-cost structure and is built for operational efficiency, with features like kiosk ordering and self-serve lockers slated for future testing. The prefabricated units are manufactured off-site and shipped fully equipped and ready to install—cutting down timelines and construction complexity.“The launch of our latest modular concept really pushes the envelope by making a low cost, freestanding drive-thru unit that’s optimized for digital and optimized for efficiency,” Patel says. “I think it lays the groundwork for very attractive ways for new partners and current franchisees to invest in the brand.”The Qube opening brought Quiznos’ total unit count to 233, including 144 in the U.S. and 89 in Canada. At its peak the brand had nearly 5,000 locations. But that was before a dramatic decline marked one of the industry’s most high-profile collapses.Quiznos’ downfall was largely tied to a franchise model that prioritized corporate profits over operator success. Franchisees were forced to buy overpriced food and supplies from a company-owned distributor, which slashed their margins. A leveraged buyout added unsustainable debt, and when the 2008 recession hit, closures accelerated. The brand filed for bankruptcy in 2014, having lost most of its footprint.“It’s hard to escape that the peak of Quiznos and the height of the brand was quite incredible,” Patel says. “That was a long time ago. We’re definitely a smaller portfolio than we were. What I think is fascinating and exciting about the opportunity now is how that scale has laid the groundwork for having the awareness that we have today. It continues to be broadly known, even if our footprint is a lot smaller than what it once was. So, as we continue to expand and grow, we’re not going to be unfamiliar to the other markets that we enter.”Quiznos was acquired by High Bluff Capital Partners in 2018 and folded into its Rego Restaurant Group alongside Taco Del Mar. In the years that followed, the brand rolled out a comprehensive refresh and invested in improvements in nearly every aspect of the business—from an updated store design and re-branding initiative to a revamped menu and new kitchen equipment like flat top grills and deep fryers. Around the same time, it also began signing multi-unit development deals to reignite unit growth, including one with a former franchisee who returned to the system after a 10-year absence.Patel says many franchisees are seeing fresh opportunity in Quiznos, and his top order of business is making sure that optimism continues.“The No. 1 priority for me is franchisee profitability—growing unit-level margins and ensuring that franchisees can continue to invest in the system, and also attract new franchisees who want to invest in the brand,” he says. “That’s a core focus of mine. It will continue to be at the center of the overall brand transformation going forward.”At the same time, he adds, the broader value proposition needs to go beyond just good unit economics.“Everything happens at the unit level,” Patel says. “To have a great, healthy, thriving franchise system, our units have to be profitable. They have to deliver for guests every single day. Making sure that mentality is pervasive throughout the organizations I work with is a huge priority of mine. It’s something that I feel extremely strongly about. I think it provides a stable foundation to be able to drive same-store sales growth and all of the other metrics you want to see. But what it also does is allow a system to truly, truly flourish.”</div></body>

Block Source: QSR magazine

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Neel Patel remembers the local Quiznos in his hometown—and the many Black Angus Steakhouse sandwiches he devoured as a kid. Now, years later, he’s at the helm of the sandwich chain, tasked with reigniting growth and guiding the brand into its next chapter. “I really need to love...

Quiznos Seeks a Revival with New CEO

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Neel Patel remembers the local Quiznos in his hometown—and the many Black Angus Steakhouse sandwiches he devoured as a kid. Now, years later, he’s at the h

Quiznos Seeks a Revival with New CEO

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