Starting up a Vietnamese Restaurant/Chinese Bar BBQ (Denver, Vail: ski resort, rent)

[HTT706]

I'm trying to start up my own Restaurant after experience in the field for a while. I would love to be able to settle down in a ski/mountain town but I honestly don't know how the market is with my type of Restaurant in this area. Signature roasted duck and Pork BBQ. Mabe even Denver perhaps? It is popular in the Texas, Pacific South East communities. I just have not had any experience with the Midwest.

[CAVA1990]

If the menu includes pho (Vietnamese soup) along with the Chinese 'cue I thought of a perfect name for it but am afraid I'd get zinged by the mods for posting it.

[Fuzz]

I live in Summit County, which is a mountain area containing/serving 5 ski areas. There are several Asian restaurants in the area (~4 Chinese, 3 Japanese, 1 Thai, and 3 Indian; the Chinese/Japanese places also serve Thai). Spring, summer, and fall are the slow seasons. But the Chinese and Japanese places are almost always busy, even on summer weeknights. A Vietnamese place would be awesome to have up here. We often lament the lack of good Vietnamese and Thai food up here.

Some tips:

- It is better to be located in town rather than at the ski resort itself. Towns get more traffic during the off-season, and ski area villages tend to die down completely once winter is gone. Nozawa, the Japanese place in Silverthorne, just off I-70, is always hopping. Most of the action is south of I-70, either in Silverthorne/Dillon, Frisco, or Breckenridge (the town, not the ski village).

- You need to balance prices. While visiting tourists might be okay with paying high prices, locals often can't afford that. One way around this is to offer discounted pricing in the off-season/weeknights. Big groups of us often end up going to Nozawa to take advantage of half-off entrees/rolls on summer weeknights. JJ's Chinese gets lots of locals (office and construction workers, skiers) by offering a cheap and extensive lunch buffet (although not the best quality, which is not unexpected for a buffet).

- The key is surviving the summer. Even if you have a great winter season (and most restaurants up here do), the long-time restaurants are the ones that manage to attract locals during the off-season.

[sunsprit]

I'll second the nod to Nozawa as a savvy & quality restaurant. They do the half off evening special at their West Vail location, too ... and the place gets pretty well packed; best to arrive when they first open or be prepared to wait to get in.

If you're looking to open up a place in the tourist marketplace, this would be one restaurant to follow in their business model with your Vietnamese cuisine. I know that I'd be a customer if your pricing was reasonable and the food matched the quality one might find along South Federal Blvd's restaurant row in Denver. You don't need to be located in the high rent core Vail Village area, you can be very successful drawing in clientele in the outlying areas because of the area's transit system.

There's a couple of (alleged) Chinese restaurants in Vail that don't even rate as horrible ... they're simply terrible. When I mentioned that I'd had a really poor meal this summer at two of them, one of my tenants (who is a sous chef at a high end Vail restaurant) remarked that the places were known for poor quality food among the locals as well as the food industry pro's. The food is so bad it doesn't even compare favorably to the slop served in my old college dorm which didn't create fond memories of asian cuisine. So even the Chinese food market segment is needing a quality restaurant in the area; IMO, you could do very well in the area with your restaurant.

[blacksmith76]

There is a lot of competition in Denver. All the great pho places is one of the main things I miss about Denver. How about you open it down here in West Palm Beach, Florida? All the Vietnamese restaurants are terrible but the weather is just like Vietnam. Come on, help us out!

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by blacksmith76

There is a lot of competition in Denver. All the great pho places is one of the main things I miss about Denver.

The OP mentioned that they would like to open a restaurant in the mountains, so Denver wouldn't be an option anyway. But I agree that Denver has lots of Vietnamese places (my favorite being New Saigon on Federal).

[blacksmith76]

Oh, I guess I see what you are saying about Denver. Might be "in the mountains" enough for a Texan. Anyway, New Saigon is okay. My wife is Vietnamese so I'm picky.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by blacksmith76

Anyway, New Saigon is okay. My wife is Vietnamese so I'm picky.

I'm sure we all have our picky cuisines (mine is Indian). What would you (or your wife) suggest as good Vietnamese in Denver?

[HTT706]

Wow thank you for all the replies, keep coming with feedback! I'm a season pass holder at all the summit county resorts so I know a thing or two about Summit County and I really like the community alot!

The reason I am wanting to start my restaurant in a mountain community is because wherever I go next is where I want to spend the next majority of my life, so might as well start a business surrounded by the activities I love. Mountain Biking and Snow Sports.

I will be flying to Colorado in 2 weeks to tour around for a viable location, so the more input I get from you guys the better.

Im glad I joined this forum.

I would like to try to build my restaurant off my fresh Pho, along with my slow roasted duck and the bbq and roasted pork.

[Fuzz]

Some thoughts on locations in Summit County...

Breckenridge has the most restaurants + it gets a ton of tourist traffic, even in the summer. So on the plus side, you can get a lot of patrons, but on the down side, you'll have a lot of competition (including at least 1 Chinese, 1 Japanese, 1 Thai) and rent is probably sky high. I know most locals from elsewhere around the county avoid going to Breck for meals -- too crowded, parking is often a hassle, and it is a relatively longer drive compared to other options. But you'll get the Breck locals.

Frisco Main Street is Breck-lite. Not as many restaurants as Breck, but a good selection (1 Japanese). Doesn't see as much traffic as Breck, but it's steady. Because of its central location and easy access/parking, you will get more locals. The area around Walmart/Safeway also has a few restaurants (Food Hedz being one of the best in the county), but sitting in a strip mall set a bit back from the street may hurt visibility. Food Hedz for instance is popular with locals but not many tourists know about it; consequently, they have very limited hours in the off-season.

Dillon has a small but thriving restaurant scene, mainly located by the City Market complex (Nozawa is located there). The new Walgreens complex (across from Borders) also contains some sit-down fast food, like Smashburger, Noodles & Company, and Qdoba. These are almost always busy. Proximity to the grocery store helps since both tourists and locals see the restaurants on their way. Across the street are the ever-popular Dillon Dam Brewery and Red Mountain Grill. Dillon has a Main Street as well that they've been trying to revive, but it doesn't get much traffic.

Silverthorne straddles I-70, and there are some restaurants on the portion that is on the southern side (right next to the Dillon restaurants). JJ's Chinese, Bamboo Garden, and several others do pretty well, even though they are in a strip mall. If you go more than 1 or 2 blocks north of I-70, you'll be relying mostly on local traffic.

I'd avoid Keystone - pretty much dead in the off-season.

I'd say look at Frisco and Dillon/Silverthorne (south of I-70). For purely selfish reasons, I'd say avoid Breck!

These are obviously my views as a consumer; as a restaurateur, you may find otherwise.