Four-decade restaurant industry veteran ready for her next portion

An entry-level job at Taco Bell 40 years ago when Kelia Bazile was in high school — she made $3.35 an hour, if her memory serves — turned out to be a career-affirming gig. 

Now a hospitality lifer, Bazile has hit a career milestone: she was named president of casual Italian dining brand Carrabba’s in February. Overseeing 190 locations , Bazile was appointed to the post after over a decade with the brand's parent company, Tampa-based publicly traded Bloomin' Brands. With $3.95 billion in annual revenue, holdings under the Bloomin' umbrella include Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar.

Bazile takes on the new role during a challenging time for the casual dining sector. Annual revenue at Bloomin' Brands, for example, dipped under $4 billion in 2024 for the first time in three years. And on a global scale, sales in casual dining fell -0.9% in 2024, according to Black Box Intelligence. 

Challenges at Carrabba’s persist, too. Restaurant traffic at the brand fell 3.2% in 2024 over 2023, according to Bloomin' public filings. In addition, average revenue per restaurant at Carrabba’s dropped slightly in 2024, from $3.63 million per restaurant in 2023 to $3.59 million last year, filings show.

Yo quiero Taco Bell

Bazile meanwhile credits the culture of both the specific Taco Bell where she worked and the industry in general for what’s kept her in the business — and how she plans to lead Carrabba’s moving forward. 

“It literally was just going to be a part time job before my 12th grade year, my senior year,” Bazile recalls of that Louisiana Taco Bell. 

“There was always something new, always something very different,” she says. “We had a lot of fun with it — the culture in that restaurant. I still can remember the folks that I worked with, and that was in 1984 and I still have a relationship with many of them today.” 

Although she finished high school and spent a year studying criminal justice at LSU, she felt called back to what would eventually become Yum! Brands. She worked every position in the restaurant before trekking her way up the management ladder, all while earning a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business. 

“No one [in my life at the time] could understand how I could leave Louisiana State University with the opportunity to obtain a promising degree in law to become a taco stuffer,” Bazile wrote in her 2013 self published memoir “My Secrets to Success." “Sometimes it would bother me to think that leaving LSU was the biggest mistake I ever made. I was going to school, working long hours for very little pay and not knowing what tomorrow would bring. But, determination helped me to keep pushing forward.” 

Culture club

In her memoir, Bazile recalls the early days of her tenure at Taco Bell, where, to cite one example, she observed everyone wearing the same uniforms in clean condition. And then here was the requirement of the job to walk through the door with a smile on your face. She brought these standards with her as she transitioned into management roles and began flipping problematic restaurants. 

Some cultural issues stemming from badly performing restaurants were poor customer service by rude employees; employee appearance; bad attitudes; personality conflicts; and disrespect toward management — just to name a few. 

Bazile was able to turn things around in one of her markets in less than six months. “We were able to turn things around so fast because we put the necessary systems in place and followed strict guidelines for recruiting and training. We had a low tolerance for anyone that violated the company policies and procedures. The employees respected the high expectations from management, because everyone was on the same page.” she writes. 

As word spread of her leadership prowess, others in similar positions around the country were turning to her for answers. “My secret was simply people. Having the vision and the ability to communicate the vision, having a clear strategy and leading the execution to move forward makes all the difference in the world. I can’t stress enough that people are the key to my success. If you treat them right, they will treat you right.”

Matthew Parry, who is currently the chief people officer for K-MAC Enterprises, a Taco Bell franchisee with over 340 restaurants in 10 states, remembers Bazile fondly from their days at Taco Bell corporate starting in 1998. 

“She’s always there for people, she has high expectations and she holds her people accountable, but she does it in the right way,” he says, “She does it in a positive, proactive, productive way where people actually want to do better. They want to do better for themselves, which in turn, they want to translate better performance for the company or the position.”

People pleasing

When Bazile left the company after nearly 28 years in 2012, she was a region leader responsible for 500 Taco Bell and KFC locations on the Texas side of the Gulf Coast. 

At that point she and her husband, who hired her at the first Taco Bell gig, were empty nesters, having raised three children. They were thinking it might be time for something new. 

Photo by Mark Wemple

“I wanted to learn more about what is casual dining like, and so that was my introduction into Bloomin’ Brands, to get into the casual dining industry, where it's just a little bit different,” Bazile says, citing the length of time guests are dining in and the ability to develop stronger relationships with them as what piqued her interest.

It was something of a step down, career-ladder wise, to go from Yum! Region Leader to Carrabba’s Joint Venture Partner. 

But that did not slow her down. 

Proof? Her recent promotion to president is her fourth since joining the company. At the top, she is using lessons from her past to project Carrabba’s into the future, with an eye on both people and food.

“You've got to stay on top of staffing. Never get behind on people, because it is very hard when you're trying to catch up,” she says. 

Her secret to recruiting and retaining staff in an industry rife with turnover goes back to her early days, “It’s about the culture.” Bazile notes that much of talent recruitment comes from word of mouth. If employees enjoy their jobs, they’re likely to tell their friends. She is also a big believer in food and beverage as a legitimate career — going back to her Taco Bell days — and not just a stepping stone job. 

“I didn't think that this was going to be a career for me, but I knew that I loved what I was doing and I wanted to do it every day. I was excited to wake up and go to work, and those are the individuals who we want on our team,” she says.

Food fight 

It seems intuitive that the core obligation of any restaurant is the food, but Bazile drives home the importance of how it tastes and how it's served — operational excellence — needs to be exceptional each time. 

“Thinking about those competitors that are out there,” Bazile says, “they're trying to do the very same thing too. So in order to steal (marketshare), we can't miss. And in an environment the way that we're in right now, it's tough.”

Another challenge? Keeping up with and adapting to changes in restaurant industry trends. That includes staying on top of delivery options in a post-Covid world, for example.

Carrabba's is a delivery leader among all Bloomin' Brands units, with a 66% to 34% breakdown between in-restaurant sales and off-premises sales in 2024, according to its public filings. The in-restaurant/off-premises breakdown is 75-25 at Outback, 83-17 at Bonefish and 96-4 at Fleming's, the company reports.

In addition to where people eat, what people eat — ranging from health-based dietary restrictions to a sense of moral obligation — is also evolving and something Bazile monitors. If a family of four walks in with different allergies and preferences, the restaurant is compelled to accommodate everyone.

“Being able to keep up with the consumer needs, that's exciting because it keeps us sharp, it keeps us on our toes,” Bazile says. 

To her, there will always be challenges but it once again goes back to the beginning. A core tenant of her early career she carries with her today is “Being able to adapt. The adaptability piece [is] something that will forever carry throughout my career, building strong and empowering teams.”

Ultimately the goal is to meet customers where they are, both literally and figuratively. Johnny Carrabba, the restaurant’s founder who still manages the first two locations in Houston, leans on a customer service motto Bazile also ascribes to her ethos. “The answer is yes. What is the question?”