• July 3, 2009

Real Mex Restaurants, Inc. has appointed Lowell Petrie senior vice president/chief marketing officer, effective July 20. Petrie will report to RMR CEO and Chairman Richard E. Rivera.

As CMO, Petrie will oversee brand positioning and marketing for each of the company's restaurant concepts, which include El Torito, Chevys Fresh Mex and Acapulco restaurants. Lowell has more than 30 years of experience in a variety of full-service and quick-casual restaurant concepts, including Denny's, where he was senior director of brand marketing.

Headquartered in Cypress, Calif., Real Mex Restaurants is the largest full-service, casual dining Mexican restaurant chain operator in the United States with 189 company owned restaurants, 155 in California and an additional 34 in 12 other states. They include 70 El Torito Restaurants, 68 company-owned Chevys Fresh Mex Restaurants, 32 Acapulco Mexican Restaurants, 9 El Torito Grill Restaurants, 2 Sinigual Restaurants, the Las Brisas Restaurant in Laguna Beach, and several regional restaurant concepts such as Who-Song and Larry's, Casa Gallardo and El Paso Cantina. --Tanya Irwin