For Colorado restaurants opening at Denver International Airport, is the risk worth the reward?
When Justin Cucci would fly out of Denver Worldwide Airport greater than 10 years in the past, he’d normally pack his personal meals. “As a traveler, I used to be at all times let down by the meals and the shortage of Denver illustration,” he stated.
So when an airport concessionaire approached him about opening a department of Root Down — his eclectic, farm-to-table restaurant — as a part of a significant retail overhaul at DIA in 2013, he determined to take the chance. “I assumed it might be cool to make a press release about accessibility to craft meals that’s sustainably sourced from native farms within the airport,” he stated.
It paid off. Root Down, situated throughout from McDonald’s on the high-traffic entrance to Concourse C, rapidly turned a favourite of vacationers ready for his or her flights. Final 12 months, it was named one of many 10 finest grab-and-go airport eating places within the nation by USA Immediately.
It’s additionally among the many highest-earning eating places on the airport. Root Down did round $15.7 million in product sales final 12 months, in accordance with a Dec. 2023 gross sales report from DIA. That’s “significantly greater” than what the unique restaurant, at 1600 W. thirty third Ave., earns, Cucci stated.
Cucci wouldn’t reveal how a lot of that $15.7 million his firm will get to maintain, however restaurateurs at DIA usually earn 2 to 7%, in accordance with a number of individuals interviewed for this story. The airport takes round 15 to 18%, and the concessionaire will get the remaining.
“It was such an awesome alternative to get into the airport, greater than any of us knew,” Cucci stated. “That first 12 months, we thought our gross sales can be round $6 million, and in 12 months one, I feel we did over $10 million, so we very a lot undershot what that location was going to do financially.”
DIA is now originally of one other retail overhaul, one that’s much more regionally centered. Over the following 12 months, vacationers will see greater than ten acquainted companies open there, together with ChoLon Trendy Asian, Mister Oso, and Bar Dough in Concourse C; Mizu Izakaya, Aviano Espresso and El Chingon in Concourse B; and Uncle, The Bindery, and Maria Empanada in Concourse A.
They’ll be adopted in 2025 by Fats Sully’s Pizza, Osteria Marco, and Boulder’s Michelin-recommended Santo. That’s on high of newer native additions like Mercantile Eating & Provisions, Snooze, and Dazbog Espresso, in addition to longtimers like Root Down, Steve’s Snappin’ Canine, Denver Chophouse, Smashburger and Elway’s.
What most vacationers could not notice, nonetheless, is that not one of the cooks or homeowners behind these eating places run their airport areas. As a substitute, huge concessionaires bid for the prospect to function a number of shops at DIA. Generally they use their very own in-house manufacturers, however extra usually as of late, they license names from native scorching spots and serve the same menu.
Westminster-based Mission Yogurt, as an example, operates 10 eating places all through DIA, together with Root Down, Etai’s Bakery Cafe and Timberline Steaks & Grille, which was named in 2020 among the many the highest-grossing impartial eateries within the U.S. by Restaurant Enterprise journal. Not solely that, however the concessionaires make use of and prepare the restaurant employees, pay for the buildout of the area and fund the price of gear, meals and provides.
In return for permitting concessionaires to make use of their title and menus, the restaurateurs get a lower of restaurant gross sales with out having to spend money on the preliminary building of the enterprise or fear about each day operations and workers. To not point out the free advertising and marketing at what’s now the world’s third busiest airport, with 70 million passengers per 12 months.
They should mitigate the chance of high quality and popularity when handing over their title and recipes to concessionaires. However most say the lack of management is definitely worth the income and a focus they get because of this, and plenty of really feel like they’ll handle the maintenance of the airport restaurant if wanted so the shopper expertise doesn’t undergo.
“I’m amazed on the energy of Root Down and what we do there,” Cucci stated. “There are extra decisions than ever for vacationers, however I nonetheless see our gross sales going up, so I simply hope we’re doing one thing proper. I hope the expertise of consuming there doesn’t really feel like consuming at an airport, however at a restaurant that occurs to be in an airport. Identical with the meals. It’s twice as arduous if not more durable on the airport to take care of the meals high quality and consistency, however we’ve an awesome crew. The gross sales converse to some stage of success that I positively don’t take as a right.”
![Travelers make their way through Concourse C at Denver International Airport on Feb. 28, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)](https://i0.wp.com/www.denverpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/TDP-L-Denver-International-Airport-RJS-20883.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1)
DIA eating places taking off
Airports haven’t at all times been sturdy promoters of their native restaurant scenes, preferring previously to depend on probably the most well-known quick meals eating places or airport-specific manufacturers. However that has modified considerably previously decade as vacationers turned extra inquisitive about consuming regionally.
“Showcasing native companies and eating places supplies our passengers with a way of place and an genuine Denver expertise, permitting them to style and expertise the native flavors and tradition,” defined Pamela DeChant, senior vp of concessions at DIA.
“Moreover, it creates pathways and alternatives for deprived (minority and/or women-owned) small companies to have a seat on the desk with the foremost operators within the business,” she added, since most airports present particular dispensation for these companies.
Mission Yogurt, based by Rod Tafoya and his mom, Reyes, in 1995, is a family- and minority-owned firm with greater than 700 workers. Along with native spots like Root Down, Mission Yogurt operates a number of quick meals ideas at DIA, together with KFC, Pizza Hut and Einstein Bros. Bagels, in addition to ideas on the San Diego and Orange County, California airports.
![Travelers line up to get food and drinks at the to go counter at Mercantile in Concourse A at Denver International Airport in Denver on Feb. 28, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)](https://i0.wp.com/www.denverpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/TDP-L-Denver-International-Airport-RJS-20555.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1)
The concessionaire is behind 10 of the brand new or upcoming openings at DIA, leasing a further 21,000 sq. ft of area for spots like Williams & Graham, Tocabe, The Bagel Deli and D Bar. In response to its preliminary proposal to the airport, it pledged to pay hire of a minimum of $1.4 million a 12 months or 15% of product sales to DIA, whichever is greater, for these three eating places in Concourse C.
Altogether, DIA’s eating places did $596 million in product sales in 2023. With 17.76% of that (about $105 million) going to the town, which owns the airport, it’s not shocking that Denver Metropolis Auditor Tim O’Brien retains an in depth concept on how DIA manages its contracts with concessionaires.
In 2022, his workplace launched a report, exhibiting how DIA permits some concessionaires to bypass the aggressive bidding course of. The auditor adopted up by saying that DIA’s concessions wanted extra oversight after discovering that Etai’s Café, owned by Mission Yogurt, was self-reporting income, calculating its personal hire, and that its contract had not been reevaluated since 2012.
In February of this 12 months, O’Brien discovered extra issues, saying {that a} lack of oversight meant DIA — and due to this fact the town — could possibly be shedding cash. “One factor we beneficial is that the airport must have somebody auditing these revenues to make it possible for they’re correct,” he instructed The Denver Put up. And though “the concessionaires don’t prefer it, in addition to the individuals overseeing the concessionaires,” he was inspired that the airport is now hiring a agency to audit these revenues. “We’ll see if it really occurs sooner or later, nevertheless it was a breath of recent air,” he stated.
DIA’s DeChant acknowledged that the auditor’s reviews underscore “the need” of extra formal documentation, however that it “doesn’t change our basic planning ideas… we persist in prioritizing transparency, equity, and high quality in our concession choice course of.”
For Tafoya, his objective at DIA “is to replicate the group to which it serves,” which is why he focuses on Denver-specific names. “The largest problem working with impartial restaurateurs is convincing them that we’ve their finest curiosity at coronary heart,” Tafoya stated.
“The quantity of sheer quantity we do in a day in comparison with a restaurant on the road permits us to get the apply and consistency that’s wanted to ship the product,” he added.
Discovering the precise co-pilot
![Travelers eat at Root Down in Concourse C at Denver International Airport on Feb. 28, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)](https://i0.wp.com/www.denverpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/TDP-L-Denver-International-Airport-RJS-21046.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1)
Mercantile Eating & Provisions, owned by James Beard Award-winning chef and native restaurateur Alex Seidel, is following intently behind Root Down in gross sales at DIA regardless of having simply opened in Concourse A in 2022. Final 12 months, the sit-down restaurant, market and low bar did $14.5 million in gross sales, in accordance with DIA’s product sales report from December.
“Mercantile is likely one of the solely impartial eating places with three meal intervals a day within the nation,” Seidel stated. “It’s been recognized for its breakfast, lunch and dinner at Union Station for the final 10 years, so it’s clearly constructed for journey.”
![Mercantile is a popular spot for travelers to eat in Concourse A at Denver International Airport on Feb. 28, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)](https://i0.wp.com/www.denverpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/TDP-L-Denver-International-Airport-RJS-20509.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1)
Seidel was first approached by a DIA concessionaire 10 years in the past, not lengthy after he’d opened a special restaurant on the town, Fruition. However he didn’t really feel like he’d discovered the precise companion and walked away from the deal. “There’s lots of people telling you what you need to hear,” he stated.
Seidel was lastly offered by Tastes on the Fly, one other concessionaire that operates Trendy Market and Little Man Ice Cream amongst different ideas in DIA, together with 25 or so different eating places in 4 different airports, together with these in San Francisco, Boston and New York (JFK).
“Earlier than we opened Mercantile on the airport, the chief chef, the GM, the assistant GM and the sous cooks all frolicked down on the Mercantile in Union Station, coaching for a month and a half main as much as the opening,” Seidel stated. “Huy [Pham, Taste on The Fly’s minority partner] has turn into a good friend,” he added. “I used to be cooking in Mexico and he got here right down to assist me, and that’s an actual companion, not somebody simply seeking to make a buck off me.”
Tastes on the Fly works intently with Seidel, permitting him to create the menus, assist construct the restaurant crew and use his personal distributors. Seidel’s wholesale artisan pastry firm, Füdmill, supplies all of Mercantile’s pastries and burger buns at DIA. “Not everybody would try this, and I’m simply lucky they need to work with us to make sure meals high quality,” he stated.
The connection between the restaurant and the concessionaire is essential since eating places can dwell and die by their popularity and their picture.
That’s in the end why issues fell by means of for Joshua Pollack, whose Bridge & Tunnel Restaurant Group is liable for Denver favorites Rosenberg’s Bagels & Delicatessen, Lou’s Italian Specialties and Well-known Authentic J’s Pizza. Pollack had been planning to open a Rosenberg’s in Concourse B, however pulled out of the deal, saying that the concessionaire didn’t fulfill Pollack’s “solely requirement” for a commissary kitchen and on-site baking oven.
Pollack’s foremost concern was that the standard of his bagels can be upheld onsite, fairly than having to ship frozen items from one in all his shops. “You probably have methods to maintain your mannequin’s requirements and discover a good companion in a licensor, as soon as it’s arrange, in idea, it ought to run itself,” Pollack stated. On this case, he felt just like the concessionaire needed to take the straightforward method out.
“Warning: Don’t get brilliant eyes by the potential of passive earnings,” Pollack stated. “Deal with discovering the precise operator to companion with. There’s a Rosenberg’s Bagels sitting on Concourse B that may by no means be a Rosenberg’s Bagels.”
He’s now signed with a brand new concessionaire, nonetheless, Denver-based Excessive Flying Meals, and expects Rosenberg’s Bagels to open within the airport by 2026. “Excessive Flying Meals pays a decrease charge than different opponents, however they are going to do no matter it takes to provide our product with excessive integrity and high quality, which is why we’re doing this once more,” Pollack stated.
![Travelers walks past a coming soon sign for El Chingon, a Mexican bistro in Concourse A at in Denver International Airport on Feb. 28, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)](https://i0.wp.com/www.denverpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/TDP-L-Denver-International-Airport-RJS-20756.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1)
Different restaurateurs, like Uncle and Hop Alley founder Tommy Lee, have had higher experiences with their concessionaires.
Mission Yogurt contacted Lee in 2013, a 12 months after he opened Uncle’s first location in Denver, however Lee declined the provide. “I didn’t even have time to take a bathe at the moment, so opening within the airport was simply not on my radar,” he stated. However he modified his thoughts six years later when he felt extra “snug with handing my title and model over to another person to run.”
![A rendering of Uncle ramen shop, which Mission Yogurt plans to open in DIA's Concourse A in Aug. 2024. (Provided by ENV)](https://i0.wp.com/www.denverpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/TDP-Z-DIACONC-01.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1)
Uncle is slated to open in Concourse A this August, and as a part of his contract with Mission Yogurt, Lee stated he’ll get 3% to five% of gross sales (the sliding scale is predicated on gross sales quantity). “It’s virtually like franchising your restaurant,” Lee stated. “For what they’re placing as much as make an airport restaurant occur, I feel the share is in the precise place. The hire is astronomical; they’re coping with workers, so it’s a fairly nice deal for a small restaurateur.”
However he additionally needs to make sure his recipes are “dummy proof” and plans to maintain the ramen menu restricted to favorites, like spicy hen. To maintain issues constant, he’s contemplating utilizing a commissary kitchen for the prep work. “We’re not doing something tough, and fortuitously we’ve dialed in all of our recipes during the last 10 years to make this simple to cross off,” Lee stated.
Cucci additionally retains his restaurant menu easy compared to LoHi. So that you received’t discover the rockfish tom kha (Thai coconut soup) or kadhi pakora (a North Indian dish with candy potato fritters in a chickpea stew). However vacationers love the beet salad and traditional burger, and Cucci stated the DIA location is including new dishes, like a bison pastrami Reuben and inexperienced chili cornbread, for the primary time in a couple of years. An easier menu additionally helps preserve costs down, with foremost programs starting from $17 to $21 at DIA as in comparison with LoHi’s $29 to $35 vary.
“DIA is a good calling card for the LoHi location, which lots of people have discovered by means of the airport,” Cucci stated. “Fortunately, we’ve turn into a part of some type of material of Denver by means of our eating places. The suggestions we get is that individuals both come into the airport early to eat at Root Down or fly in and make time to eat there earlier than they go away the airport.”
Restaurateur Lon Symensma, who owns ChoLon Trendy Asian and YumCha, can even simplify his menu when an outlet of ChoLon opens in Concourse C by June 2024. It is going to concentrate on dumplings and different objects, which Symensma stated can be delivered each day from a commissary kitchen.
“There received’t be numerous entrees, however we’ve an entire wok arrange for fried rice, stir fry and noodle dishes,” he stated. The restaurant can even serve breakfast, together with a fried rice breakfast burrito or kaya French toast impressed by the kaya toast on the authentic restaurant.
What offered him on the airport — except for the worldwide recognition it might carry — was the truth that he didn’t should make a significant funding like he does when he opens a brand new location of his personal in Denver (just like the one that’s about to open close to Sloan’s Lake). “That’s the glory of it,” he stated. “You’re not taking up a monetary burden or paying again buyers for years and years.”
Staying rooted
To make sure that the standard of Root Down’s meals and repair at DIA is in keeping with LoHi, Cucci has an operations chef devoted to “checking the heartbeat on DIA as a lot as potential,” generally weekly. They audit the menu to see if any adjustments have occurred and assist Mission Yogurt choose the kitchen employees.
“After 10 years, it’s nonetheless numerous work to make that restaurant be what we would like it to be,” Cucci stated. “My stage of involvement was most likely a nuisance for Mission at first.”
However the income has modified issues for Root Down. It additionally helped Cucci create an Worker Inventory Possession Plan at his restaurant group, Edible Beats, in order that his workers may have an possession stake. “And now they’re the beneficiaries of the DIA income,” Cucci stated. Edible Beats additionally owns El 5, Linger, Important Root and Ophelia’s Electrical Soapbox in Denver.
“The monetary half isn’t what drives us there,” Cucci stated. “I by no means needed to really feel like I offered my soul on the market or stopped changing into a neighborhood impartial restaurateur by doing that. I nonetheless need to make it possible for, whatever the monetary piece, that the integrity of what we do continues to be intact.”
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