How P.F. Chang's new CEO is bringing 'theatrics' back to its dining rooms

NEW YORK — When P.F. Chang's CEO Jim Mazany took the job last year, he was confronted with a big problem: People were mostly ordering the chain's Chinese food for takeout instead of dining in.

"Not only were we competing with other restaurant brands, we were competing with people's couches," Mazany told CNN. "People were not leaving their homes to want to come to a P.F. Chang's."

Mazany is P.F. Chang's fourth leader in roughly two years. The restaurant veteran, who has held leadership roles at Applebee's, Joe's Crab Shack and other major chain, was tasked with bringing stability back to P.F. Chang's after years of declining sales and traffic.

So, he decided to put on a show. Cue a $49 sushi platter served in a wooden boat with dry ice that creates plumes of fog; dumplings delivered on a sizzling dish and doused in sauce by the server; a bourbon cocktail that smokes when the lid is taken off.

Mazany is tapping into "theatrical dining," a trend that's grown in recent years, appealing to younger diners and amplified by social media. Nearly 40% of millennials and Gen Z prefer to have a dish served table side, data from OpenTable reveals.

"People are very happy to pay for (theatrical dining) because that's the stuff you can't get or make at home," according to Robert Byrne, senior director of consumer research for Technomic. "Consumers are looking for more for their money – not just to spend less money."

Mazany added the eye-catching entrées and cocktails to break the chain out from the "sea of sameness" that he saw among its competitors. Plus, the spectacles help create a "very bespoke experience that's unique to P.F. Chang's," he said.

Doubling down on those dishes is working: Sushi boats generated $2 million in sales since the dish launched in June, and are expected to earn $13 million in profit over the next year.

Massive makeover

P.F. Chang's is privately held and doesn't regularly disclose numbers.

Under CEO Damola Adamolekun, who led the chain from 2019 to 2023, sales rebounded strongly after a pandemic slump. However, momentum stalled after he left to run Red Lobster. P.F. Chang's closed some restaurants, mirroring the struggles at other casual-dining chains as people cut back spending because of inflation.

The chain also suffered from leadership turnover and dialed back plans for its takeout concept, P.F. Chang's To Go.

When Mazany took over in November 2025, the chain "didn't have clarity and purpose of where it was going," he said, but he knew the storied brand had the potential for a comeback.

P.F. Chang's, founded in 1993 in Scottsdale, Arizona, was named after its two cofounders — P.F. from the initials of famed restaurateur Paul Fleming, plus a shortened version of Philip Chiang's last name.

Philip's mother, Cecilia Chiang, was a celebrity chef before celebrity chefs were popularized. She's widely credited with bringing real Chinese food to America at her renowned San Francisco restaurant, The Mandarin.

"I didn't need to reinvent the P.F. Chang's brand," Mazany said. "I needed to have P.F. Chang's believe in itself again and create a very clear purpose for everyone in the organization."

As part of his changes, Mazany zeroed in on quality. He retrained employees to improve service and closely tracked online reviews to fix irritants affecting customers' experience. He also cut back on premade ingredients, returning to what he calls a "scratch kitchen" that's built on the chain's original recipes, fresh ingredients and wok-fired cooking.

Then came a revamped menu, centered around a "barbell" approach that offers price points at either end. There are lunch and dinner deals starting at $13.99, as well as indulgent dishes like a $30 lobster and prawn fried rice or a $43 Wagyu steak.

"We know there's a K-shaped economy in the United States, so for the consumer that is feeling the pressure of gas prices and inflation rising, we offer everyday affordable options," he said. "We needed to not price our way to increases in revenue."

Sparked sales

The changes have ushered in a turnaround.

Traffic has risen more than 5% year over year, and same-restaurant sales climbed by nearly 10% in the third quarter. That marks the third consecutive quarter of increases for both metrics, as well as the first time the chain's sales have grown since 2023.

P.F. Chang's is on track to record another positive quarter of sales. That success is in line with other resurgent chains, like The Cheesecake Factory and Chili's.

Mazany noted that that P.F. Chang's has risen from 22nd to third among a group of casual-dining chains in same-store sales growth over the past year.

The chain, which is owned by private equity firms TriArtisan Capital Advisors and Paulson & Company since 2019, has long flirted with going public. Mazany said that public markets are "shrewd and disciplined," but the chain's recent growth has accelerated plans to possibly IPO next year, ahead of a previous 2028 target.

Technomic's Byrne said P.F. Chang's turnaround is "brilliant." Leadership has fixed its value offerings by introducing bundle deals and a revamped happy hour.

P.F. Chang's also hasn't had to close many of its 200 US locations or drastically increase prices to improve profits. Rather, the growth is organic, aided by the menu changes and new deals.

Byrne doesn't see that trajectory changing, barring "some sort of economic surprise." However, it still has room to grow because its average sales per restaurant trail some casual-dining rivals, like dumpling chain Din Tai Fung.

Mazany is equally optimistic for the future, revealing that there are plans for an additional 40 U.S. locations in the next five years.

"For a brand that's in the early stages of a turnaround, I'm very proud of that result," he said.