Leadership Transition
Pacific Catch, the West Coast casual seafood chain backed by private equity firm Brentwood Associates, has named Sam Hallak as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Hallak succeeds co-founder Keith Cox, who moves to the company's board of directors following the transition.
The appointment comes as Pacific Catch accelerates its geographic push beyond its Northern California origins. The chain, which operates 16 restaurants across the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego, opened its most recent location in Brea, California in May 2026 — part of a deliberate southward expansion that Hallak is now charged with sustaining.
The Incoming CEO
Hallak brings more than 20 years of multi-unit, full-service restaurant experience to the role. Most recently, he served as Chief Operating Officer at Innovative Dining Group, overseeing a 16-restaurant portfolio that included Sushi Roku, BOA Steakhouse, and Katana. Before that, he spent six years at The Kitchen Restaurant Group, advancing from Director of Operations to Chief Operating Officer, and held senior roles at Tavistock Restaurant Collection and The Palm Restaurant Group — a career arc that spans both upscale casual and fine-dining segments.
His mandate at Pacific Catch is threefold: raise hospitality standards across all locations, tighten operational discipline, and build the internal systems and leadership bench needed to support further unit growth. "My focus is on the fundamentals: exceptional hospitality in every restaurant, tighter operational execution, and making sure the menu keeps evolving with our guests," Hallak said, framing his priorities around execution rather than concept reinvention.
Investor Framing
Rahul Aggarwal, Partner at Brentwood Associates, the lead equity investor, cited Hallak's blend of operational rigor and hospitality instincts as the deciding factors in the selection. The Los Angeles-based firm, which has invested in more than 50 portfolio companies representing over $7 billion in aggregate transaction value, has positioned Pacific Catch as a growth-stage brand with meaningful white space remaining on the West Coast.
The choice of a COO-turned-CEO reflects a common private equity playbook in the restaurant sector: install operationally oriented leadership to standardize unit economics before scaling the store count. For Pacific Catch, which has spent 23 years building a Pacific Rim-inflected seafood identity, the immediate priority appears to be proving the Southern California market before committing to a broader footprint.
The seafood casual-dining segment has seen renewed investor interest as consumers continue to trade toward perceived health-forward dining occasions. Multi-unit operators with differentiated cuisine platforms — particularly those with sustainable sourcing narratives — have attracted capital at a moment when undifferentiated casual dining faces ongoing traffic pressure. Pacific Catch's Pacific Rim positioning and its emphasis on fresh, sustainable seafood give it a category story that operators in more commoditized segments lack.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
