Franchising

10 Questions: Mountain Mike’s CEO Jim Metevier

In the debut of Pizza Marketplace’s 10 Questions series, Mountain Mike’s CEO Jim Metevier talks franchisee success, restaurant economics, leadership and the future of pizza, while explaining why sustainable expansion starts with profitable restaurants.

Photo: Mountain Mike's Pizza

September 16, 2026 by Valerie Gritton

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At Pizza Marketplace, we spend a lot of time covering what restaurant brands are doing. But sometimes the more interesting story is why their leaders are doing it and what they've learned along the way. That's the idea behind 10 Questions, a series that goes beyond the headlines to get inside the minds of the people shaping the pizza industry. In this series, each CEO answers the same set of questions, giving readers a chance to see how different leaders approach the challenges, opportunities and decisions shaping their brands — and the pizza industry as a whole.

For our first installment, we caught up with Jim Metevier, a 30-year veteran of the restaurant industry and CEO of Mountain Mike's Pizza, a nearly 50-year-old brand that is evolving from its Western roots into a growing national player. Metevier has been part of Mountain Mike's leadership team since 2018. During that time, the brand has surpassed 300 restaurants and continued expanding into new markets across the country. In the first half of 2026 alone, Mountain Mike's opened nine restaurants across six states and entered three new markets, with more than 100 restaurants in development across 17 states. Here's what he had to say:

1. What first drew you to the pizza business and what has kept you in it?

Metevier:I've always loved the restaurant business because it's about people. And pizza is special. It brings people together. Families, sports teams, coworkers, communities — pizza is usually at the center of some kind of shared experience. What has kept me in the business is the opportunity to help people build something meaningful. In franchising, our franchisees are investing their money, their time and, in many cases, their family's future in the brand. That matters to me. When a franchisee grows their sales, improves their profitability, opens another restaurant, creates jobs and becomes an even bigger part of their community — that's success for everyone.

2. What inspires you on a daily basis?

Metevier:Our franchisees and our restaurant teams. They are the ones opening the doors every day, taking care of guests, hiring people, coaching teams, supporting schools and investing in their communities. I never lose sight of the fact that our franchisees have their own money invested in this business. That creates a responsibility for all of us at the Franchise Support Center. We have to ask ourselves: Is what we're doing helping the restaurant?

I also love building teams and winning. I like setting a clear direction, creating urgency and watching people accomplish things they didn't think were possible. But in franchising, there is no such thing as the franchisor winning and the franchisee losing. We only win if we win together. We are one brand, one system, one family.

3. What has been the biggest lesson you've learned throughout your career in the pizza industry?

Metevier:The biggest lesson is that the restaurant always gets the final vote. You can build a great strategy, a great presentation or a great marketing program, but it has to work inside the four walls of a restaurant. It has to work for the guest. It has to work for the team member. And it has to make economic sense for the franchisee.

I've also learned to really value the voice of the franchisee. They are closest to the guest and closest to the business. That doesn't mean every decision is made by consensus. Leadership still has to lead. But I think great franchise organizations listen hard, communicate clearly, make decisions and then work shoulder-to-shoulder with their franchisees to execute.

4. What's one decision you've made in your career that didn't go as planned, but ultimately taught you something valuable?

Metevier: There have definitely been times in my career when I was probably moving faster than the organization was ready to move. I could see where we needed to go, and I wanted to get there quickly. What I learned is that being right about the destination isn't enough. You have to take people with you. You have to explain the "why's," listen to the people who are actually going to execute it and make sure they have the tools they need to be successful. That lesson is even more important in a franchise business.

You earn the right to lead franchisees. It does not come automatically with a title or a seat at the Franchise Support Center. You earn it through trust, transparency, consistency and results.

5. What do you think makes a great pizza brand? Is it the food, the people, the culture, the customer experience — or something else?

Metevier:You have to start with great pizza…"Pizza the Way It Oughta Be!" If the product isn't great, nothing else really matters. But the brands people truly love become about more than just the food. It's the team member who knows your name. It's the franchisee sponsoring the local baseball team. It's families watching a game together. It's the soccer team coming in after a big win. That's something I think Mountain Mike's has that is really special.

Our mission is to bring families, sports fans and communities together to dine, share and celebrate around "Pizza the Way It Oughta Be!" That's bigger than just selling pizza.

6. What's the one thing about the pizza industry that you think people outside the industry don't understand?

Metevier:Many people underestimate how challenging the economics can be. People see a busy pizza restaurant and assume the owner must be doing great.

That isn't necessarily true. Labor, food costs, occupancy, delivery costs, discounting, technology fees — there are a lot of things fighting for those restaurant-level dollars. That is why we spend so much time talking about both sales and profitability. Growing sales is important. Growing profitable sales is even more important. If our franchisees have healthy businesses, they reinvest in their restaurants, take better care of their teams, deliver a better guest experience and hopefully want to build more Mountain Mike's restaurants. Healthy franchisees create a healthy brand.

7. When you look five years ahead, what excites you most about the future of pizza?

Metevier: I think pizza is in a really good place. It has convenience. It has abundant value. It has indulgence. And, maybe most importantly, it has this incredible social component. Technology is going to continue changing the business. Ordering will get easier. Loyalty will get smarter. Personalization will get better. But I actually think the human side of the restaurant business is going to become more important, not less. You can get almost anything delivered to your house today. So having a place where people actually want to go, gather and spend time together becomes more valuable.

For Mountain Mike's, I think that is a big opportunity. We need to be great digitally, but we also need to lean into who we are — families, sports, communities, local relationships and great pizza. The winners are going to be good at both.

8. What's something you still want to accomplish that you haven't done yet?

Metevier: I want Mountain Mike's to become one of the most admired franchise systems in the restaurant industry. Of course, I want us to grow. I want more restaurants and more people experiencing the brand. But restaurant count isn't the ultimate scorecard for me. I'd love for our franchisees to say: "I'm proud to be part of Mountain Mike's. They listen to us. They support us. They challenge us. And my business is better because I'm part of this Mountain Mike's family."

If we can build a significantly bigger brand while helping franchisees build great businesses, create wealth for their families and leave something behind for the next generation, that would mean a lot to me.

9. What's the one thing you would never compromise on in your business?

Metevier:Trust. Everything starts there. Trust with our franchisees. Trust with our team members. Trust with our guests. We aren't always going to agree. And sometimes leadership requires making tough decisions. But people should always know where you stand. I want our franchisees to know that we will tell them the truth, we will listen to them, and every decision we make is intended to strengthen their restaurants and the long-term health of Mountain Mike's. Once you lose trust, everything gets harder. So I guard that pretty closely.

10. What's next for you and Mountain Mike's — and what should pizza operators be watching?

Metevier: We talk about it pretty simply at Mountain Mike's: Grow Sales. Grow Profits. Grow Restaurants. And the order matters: first grow sales, then grow profits, then grow restaurants.

First, we have to grow sales by driving more traffic and leaning into what makes Mountain Mike's different. That means getting more families back into our dining rooms. It means continuing to grow loyalty. It means going after business-to-business and catering. It means becoming even more involved in the communities we serve.

I'm a big believer in what I call boots-on-the-ground marketing. Go meet the businesses around your restaurant. Take them pizza. Visit the schools. Visit the churches. Support the sports teams. Introduce people to the product and build relationships. Technology can help us become better marketers and reduce friction in the guest experience, but restaurants are still local businesses. Second, we have to turn those sales into better franchisee profitability. Third, if we do those first two things well — growing sales and improving profitability — restaurant growth becomes the natural outcome. Existing franchisees want to build more restaurants, and great new franchisees want to join the system. That's how you build a strong franchise brand.

* Bonus Question: If you could change one thing about the way the pizza industry operates, what would it be?

Metevier: I'd probably get us a little less addicted to discounting. Value absolutely matters. Guests are paying attention to what things cost. But somewhere along the way, I think our industry started defining value almost exclusively as cheap. I don't think that's right. Value is getting a great pizza. It's getting a generous portion. It's great hospitality. It's convenience. It's being able to bring the whole family somewhere to have a great experience. And it can be walking into your local Mountain Mike's and knowing that restaurant supports your school, your sports team or your community. That is value too.I'd rather earn somebody's business by giving them a great product and a great experience than train them to only come see us when there's a coupon.

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Mountain Mike's Pizza

Pizza the Way It Oughta Be!

For over 45 years, Mountain Mike’s Pizza, a leading family-style pizza chain known for its legendary crispy, curly pepperonis and Mountain-sized pizzas, has been quietly building one of the largest regional pizza franchises in the West. Today we're developing coast-to-coast with 300+ restaurants, and we're primed for explosive growth nationwide

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