Name: Ahmed Awadallah
New title: Chief operating officer, Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bar
Previous title: Managing director and chief operating officer, Espresso House Group
Ahmed Awadallah is joining Buffalo Wild Wings as COO after just over a year leading operations at Espresso House Group, a 500-unit European coffee brand owned by JAB Holdings, according to a Tuesday press release.
Awadallah previously spent more than 14 years in a variety of posts at Yum Brands, per his LinkedIn profile, eventually rising to chief operations and customer officer for Pizza Hut Europe.
This extensive experience in international QSR operations may indicate a greater emphasis on international development for Buffalo Wild Wings.
Inspire Brands may be contemplating significant operational changes for the Sports Bar section of Buffalo Wild Wings. The casual dining chain has shrunk slightly in recent years, down 11 units from 2023 to the end of 2025, according to its franchised disclosure document, while its fast casual spin-off, Buffalo Wild Wings Go, has grown quite rapidly, reaching 219 units last year. BWW Go opened its first co-branded location with a Jimmy John’s during the summer.
Major turnarounds at casual dining in recent years have generally involved a combination of savvy marketing — like Chili’s price-competition with fast food — and operational simplification.
Bringing on an operations lead from the fast casual coffee sector could support operational improvements. Awadallah is the second C-suite executive to join BWW from the fast casual coffee space this summer, after the chain brought on Chief Marketing Officer Scott Nelson from Tatte in June.
According to the press release, Awadallah’s hiring signals Inspire’s “relentless focus on operational excellence, delivering differentiated brand experiences and technology-powered efficiency.”
While coffee chains tend to be limited-service, they also frequently function as a third place for consumers, and hiring executives with experience leading atmospheric brands could signal Buffalo Wild Wings is looking to improve or change its in-store consumer experience.
In the press release, Tristan Meline, Buffalo Wild Wings Sports Bars brand president, emphasized the sports bars brand’s guest experience and said it was “purpose-built for social connection.
