Restaurant entrepreneurs don’t always know if they will have the recipe for success, but two DU alums, ‘96 Adam Baker and ‘07 Alex Comisar, have proved their legitimacy within the fast-casual restaurant scene. Last week, the two alums coincidentally opened up neighboring restaurants Larkburger and The Slotted Spoon in the University Hills Shopping Plaza on Colorado Boulevard and Yale Street.

Baker’s restaurant Larkburger opened its twelfth location on Feb. 1 in the University Hills Shopping Center. Larkburger has won numerous awards for its burgers, including the Judges Choice Award at The Denver Burger Battle in 2012. Baker graduated from University of Massachusetts with a degree in economics and then got an MBA from Daniels College of Business in 1996 through its extension program in Vail Valley. While he was working on his masters, Baker was also working full time at the Bully Ranch Restaurant in Vail.

Baker later partnered with friends Thomas Salamunovich and Nancy Sweeney to open up Larkspur in 1999, a sophisticated fine-dining restaurant in the Vail Valley. After five years in business, and significant attention from their “Larkburger,” the partners decided to open up a more casual restaurant.

“We really wanted to make something that we could go to ourselves because there really weren’t that many options in Vail, and at the same time that we were having this revelation, our hamburger on the menu became very popular,” said Baker.

Starting in 2005, Baker and his partners spent a year and a half developing his plan and finally opened their first restaurant in 2006 in Edwards. Since then, Larkburger has opened up restaurants throughout Colorado. Their infamous “Larkburger” is still on the menu, along with the mouthwatering chicken, tuna, vegetarian and turkey burgers, not to mention their delicious truffle fries. They even offer a healthier option of soybeans with sea salt.

“We spend an obsessive amount of time on what we deliver and on the environment and the service,” said Baker.

“What takes up the most time is our food. We have a relatively simple menu but we try and deliver the best possible food we can.”

Since the beginning, Larkburger has always wanted to be environmentally responsible. The trays they use, the paper and cardboard containers that hold the fries, are all recycled products and the wood interior is reclaimed Monterey Cypress, according to Baker.

“Everyday we strive to get better at what we do with less impact and we started that way although when we started commercial compost wasn’t available.” said Baker. “But we did use packaging that was going to break down at the landfill. We have been doing compostable cups since the beginning.”

Larkburger not only is environmentally responsible, but their food is delicious. Baker has plans to expand more in Colorado and both south and west of Colorado.

Right next door to the new Larkburger location is Slotted Spoon, a startup restaurant that has a satisfactory spin on the fast-casual concept. With a modern interior and great music, there is no doubt customers will enjoy the tasty food and the atmosphere.

Owner Alex Comisar, a 2007 Hotel Restaurant and Tourism Management graduate, knows a thing or two about the restaurant business. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Comisar comes from a fourth generation restaurant family.
“This is in my blood,” said Comisar. “I knew when I was a little kid this is what I wanted to do. I never even thought about doing anything else.”

Being an HRTM student also helped Comisar get a job in the restaurant business. At one of DU’s career fairs, Comisar met a representative from The Palm Restaurant, where he would eventually go on to get an internship, which led to a job out of college.

“HRTM gave me a foot in the door in regards to people knowing that this is what you do,” said Comisar. “I think that my resume spoke for itself in the sense that I grew up in a family restaurant business, so I had lots of experience being in a kitchen.”

After graduating from DU, Comisar started working at Ocean, a restaurant that was in Cherry Creek and then worked his way up through the business. He became the assistant manager and then went on to open up TAG Restaurant in Larimer Square and was the assistant General Manager. Following this, he ran Suite 200 and opened Chloe, both bars in Downtown Denver. He’s been living in Denver for the past ten years.

“I’ve been well traveled, but Denver is my home now,” said Comisar.

After traveling to New York, Comisar got inspiration from The Meatball Shop, a traditional restaurant. He came back to Denver and partnered with friends Jensen Cummings and Johnny Coast, to start the process.

“I wanted to discover a singular-food item concept that I could bring back to Denver to tweak,” said Comisar.

The Slotted Spoon opened on Feb. 4 and has already seen great results in terms of customers. In the first two days there were around 700 customers, according to Comisar.

“We’re not trying to be a mom and pop place,” said Comisar. “We wanted to do a finished product, not a hodge-podge. You’ve seen a couple of those by the DU area and that’s not what I am trying to do. This is what we do for a living we’re not just a bunch of guys trying to open a restaurant.”

Comisar’s partner Jensen Cummings is the chef and mastermind behind the menu at The Slotted Spoon. The menu includes an option for everyone with a pork, chicken, beef, lamb, salmon and black bean meatball. The best part of the menu is that it is all choice-based. Customers choose what meatball they want, what “vessel” they want it in—bread or pasta, for instance—and then the sauce. Or, customers can choose from one of the unique ‘chef signature series’ items. Comisar recommends the Chicken Picnic Sandwich, a chicken meatball with honey jalapeño BBQ sauce, provolone and their so-cal slaw. It’s messy, but definitely worth it.

The Slotted Spoon is not just about the food. They are founded upon three main principals: flavorful, neighborly and charitable, according to Comisar. They use local products and also feature a monthly meatball where proceeds go to their philanthropy, Share Our Strength, an organization that ensures no child is left hungry.

Comisar and his partners are looking to open two or three more stores, some down south, in Boulder and Fort Collins and hopefully more around town.

As for being neighbors with fellow DU alum, Comisar believes Larkburger has a really cool concept.

“We think the synergy between the two products will really work well,” said Comisar.

Advice to future restaurant entrepreneurs: Both Baker and Comisar said to be cautious and realistic about goals.

“This is an emotional business and there is a reason people say 90 percent of businesses fail because they don’t understand the grind and they don’t know how to run a business,” said Comisar.

“What I would say to anyone graduating is set lofty goals but realistic expectations,” said Baker. “So, it always looks easy when you are on the outside looking in and any business will look better from the outside looking in but success is hard. Nothing happens overnight.”