Ken Brendemihl was appointed president of Smokey Bones. The move comes as parent company Twin Hospitality Group continues to review the chain’s performance and make some significant changes.

Brendemihl’s background in the restaurant industry spans more than 25 years and he most recently served as chief operating officer for Alamo Drafthouse. Prior to that, he held leadership roles at Velvet Taco, California Pizza Kitchen, Texas Roadhouse, and On the Border.

Smokey Bones was acquired as a 60-unit concept by FAT Brands Inc. in 2023 and was subsequently spun off into Twin Hospitality in January 2025. Twin Hospitality has prioritized optimizing Smokey Bones’ footprint, identifying 19 restaurants for conversion into better-performing Twin Peaks lodges, per a release announcing Brendemihl’s hiring. Two such conversions are already complete and Twin Hospitality reports these locations generate annual unit volumes of $7.8 million operating as Twin Peaks, compared to approximately $3.5 million as Smokey Bones. A franchisee is completing a third conversion.

In addition, Twin Hospitality has identified what it describes as “15 underperforming Smokey Bones locations,” of which ten have been closed and five will be closed before the end of the fiscal third quarter.

The company reports the remaining portfolio of 26 Smokey Bones locations “are generating positive cash flow” and have AUVs ranging from $1.3 million to $7.1 million and “healthy unit-level margins.” Looking ahead, the company will leverage FAT Brands’ proven franchise model to begin franchising a portion of the remaining Smokey Bones locations.