So You Want to Open a Restaurant?

Jeff Hurlburt has heard it a thousand times. Someone walks into Clancy’s Irish Pub, orders a beer, surveys their surroundings, and says something like: “Man, I’d love to own a place like this.”

There’s a certain romanticism to the idea of owning a restaurant. You may picture yourself welcoming regulars by name, sharing wisecracks with the staff, raking in a profit night after night.

But Hurlburt, who’s been in the restaurant industry for 28 years and has owned Clancy’s for 16, has news for you: the reality of owning a restaurant is more like coordinating a rotating cast of part-timers, watching your expenses rise along with your revenue, and working 90-plus-hour weeks just to keep the doors open.

Founded in 1973 by Bob Murray (nicknamed “Clancy”), Clancy’s Irish Pub has served generations of Wheat Ridge locals. That legacy almost ended in 2014, when Hurlburt and his team lost their lease to a large-scale redevelopment project. After a year-long search, Hurlburt partnered with Joe DeMott, Tony Facinelli, Aron Martinez, and Steve Zielinski to resurrect Clancy’s at 7000 West 38th Avenue.

Clancy’s has been a popular spot among Wheat Ridge locals, but even a successful restaurant can have trouble keeping up with costs. “Being busy is almost as hard as being slow,” Hurlburt explains. “The busier you are, the more staff you have to hire, the higher your labor costs, the more product you have to buy. Your expenses almost increase at an identical amount to the revenue.”

Current industry standards put food costs at 30-35% and labor at 28-35% of revenue. With some Wheat Ridge restaurants paying as much as $14,000 per month in rent, the margins get tight quickly. “I caBy no means say it’s getting easier, and I caBy no means say I’m in a better economic position than I was 16 years ago,” Hurlburt says. 

With Denver experiencing one of the sharpest drop-offs in restaurant spending in recent years, local businesses are struggling. “I honestly think you’re going to see a lot of really good places go out of business, even though they’re not necessarily doing anything wrong,” Hurlburt says. 

Staffing has also become more of a challenge, with many service workers needing to supplement their income with multiple jobs. “Nobody can work full-time for us anymore,” Hurlburt says, “and it’s not that we don’t want them full time.” 

According to Hurlburt, who spent 12 years in corporate food and beverage management for Marriott International before buying Clancy’s in late 2009, you have to be absolutely sure that you love the restaurant business before taking the leap of ownership.

“In the long run, I’m not so sure you can fake hospitality,” he says. “If you’re having a bad day, you still have to show up authentically for the customers.”

“You have to flip the script in your head and say, ‘What do I get out of this that isn’t monetary that makes me want to do this every day?’” he adds. “I legitimately still enjoy the process. I like the restaurant industry.”

But that’s not all that’s kept Hurlburt in the restaurant industry. “It’s Clancy’s legacy,” he says. “It turns 53 next year. It’s one of those places that’s bigger than me and there’s this really deep historical piece to it.” This is an even bigger factor because Hurlburt grew up in Wheat Ridge. Bob Murray’s daughters and grandkids still stop by, happy to see their family legacy still going strong.

Hurlburt credits Clancy’s success to the restaurant’s connection with the Wheat Ridge community. “I don’t think Clancy’s could have lasted 53 years in any community other than Wheat Ridge,” he says. “If you’re good to people, and you work hard, and they see that, they’ll always support it.” That’s why, for Hurlburt, the 90-hour weeks aren’t a burden.

If you still have dreams of restaurant ownership, now you know what you’re getting into – just don’t say Jeff didn’t warn you.