A pair of seasoned foodservice professionals have joined the management team for Einstein Noah Restaurant Group.

Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BAGL - News) appointed Brian Unger as executive vice president of operations and Mike Ellis as executive vice president of franchise and restaurant development.

As previously announced by the company, Dan Dominguez, chief operating officer, will retire at the end of June 2011 and will transition his responsibilities to Unger. As part of his retirement Dominguez has agreed to continue to provide services to Einstein Noah on a consulting basis for a two-year period.

Unger's restaurant industry background includes 25 years at McDonald's Corporation, where he held various positions of increasing responsibility domestically and internationally. Most recently Unger served as vice president of McDonald's Canada.

Ellis' background includes franchising, real estate development, construction and design, in addition to working with several restaurant companies. He most recently served as served as chief development officer at O'Charley's, Inc. Previously, Ellis served as senior vice president of development at Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, and before that, as chief development officer at Burger King Corporation. Ellis also held various positions of increasing responsibility at Darden Restaurants Inc.