Quality, Quickly

A few days after Nick Reader took a sizable career risk he headed to Publix. Not to grab something from the beer and wine aisle to calm his nerves. Instead he drove from Tampa to the Publix headquarters in Lakeland to meet with the grocery giant's top executives.

Reader, in 2008, had just left a high-profile job, CFO of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His new gig: leading the development and growth of a new restaurant business launched by Outback Steakhouse co-founder Bob Basham.

At the front of the lineup was PDQ, which technically stands for people dedicated to quality though many say pretty darn quick. The concept is a hybrid of fast casual, with fresh and daily made food and sauces and no walk-in freezers, and fast food — but without burgers. The menu focuses on fried and grilled chicken tenders and sandwiches, fries and hand-spun milkshakes. (Restaurant Business magazine, which ranked PDQ No. 1 on its 2014 Future 50 list of up-and-coming chains, says “if Chick-fil-A and In-N-Out Burger had a love child, it might look like PDQ.”)