Nothing Suspicious for Donatos GM on 'Undercover Boss'

For Donato’s general manager Buffy Broncato, it really seemed like just another day on the job.

Thinking she was helping train a local entrepreneur who was interested in opening her own business, Broncato had no qualms about giving the woman pointers on how to run a business smoothly and letting the woman help out around the restaurant.

The day was “not very stressful or weird for me at all,” Buffy said.

Friday night, Donatos Pizza, at 126 Branch Road SE in Vienna, hosted a party to show customers what was really happening: The woman Buffy was training back in July was none other than Jane Grote Abell, chairwoman of Donatos. 

Broncato unknowingly was a central figure in an episode of the CBS hit reality show “Undercover Boss.”

“I really thought I was training someone who was going to be running her own business,” Buffy said. “I couldn’t have been any more shocked when I found out.”

The show was taped in July, but it aired for the first time Friday night on CBS. 

Broncato said she’s now blessed to have a personal relationship with people at the top of the company. 

“I’m working for a company who really values the people who are here,” she said.

“Undercover Boss” has won two Emmy Awards.

Donatos is based in Columbus, Ohio and has more than 150 stores nationwide. In addition to the restaurant in Vienna, Donatos has a location in Fairfax at 10160 Fairfax Blvd.