Over the last ten years, Paul Sullivan has found the recipe for success at Esters, the community-oriented bar and restaurant chain he co-owns with his wife, Emily Brown. Last month, Sullivan shared his perspective and advice on opening a restaurant with the Neighborhood Gazette.
Sullivan, who moved to Denver in 2000, spent 14 years in and out of restaurants as a beer distributor and salesperson before opening the first Esters location in Denver’s Virginia Village neighborhood. Becoming familiar with various restaurants’ operations made him feel confident in his ability to open and run a restaurant himself.
“…but then you do it, and it’s way harder than you think it’d be,” he admits. “To invest the money to buy all the equipment, lease the space, get it all ready to go, hire the staff and train them – it’s pretty expensive.” Sullivan mentions that you can plan on spending every dollar you have budgeted – and quite possibly more.
Once operations are off the ground, the workload doesn’t ease up.
“We have to really do our best to make sure every piece of food we put out is perfect – it’s a big orchestration every day, seven days a week.” Sullivan says. “And, I’ve gotten to know about wireless internet, refrigeration, why roofs leak, why toilets don’t work. There’s just so many different moving parts, but over time you develop a great group of people to work with and keep learning as you go.”
A self-described “terrible cook,” Sullivan does not boast any kind of culinary background. But he and his wife were confident enough in their vision of Esters to move forward anyway, and were resourceful enough to track down Chef Robby Hyre in their first year of operation. Hyre is still part of the Esters family 10 years later, working as executive chef for all three locations.
Sullivan notes that, in his experience, restaurants and bars with thorough and thoughtful business plans are often easier to launch, and are more likely to thrive.
“Presenting a really clear plan makes it easier. I noticed over time that the people who are in charge of giving out licenses and permissions are fair and good to work with, but if you’re wishy-washy, or think you know everything already, you could get jammed up.”
Location should also be an important consideration for anybody planning to open a bar or restaurant, Sullivan says. Wheat Ridge and Gold’s Marketplace were the perfect fit for Esters family-friendly and community-oriented operation.
Sullivan has plenty of restaurant wisdom to share, but he conveys a work ethic and mentality which surely have been instrumental in Esters’ ongoing success. His title is owner and founder, yet he refers to all of his employees as his “coworkers” without fail. When asked if he ever felt he crossed a threshold into success, he says no, on the grounds that “…we can always get better tomorrow.” He doesn’t miss an opportunity to mention his gratitude for the “incredible people” he gets to work with.
Whatever his secret, we at the Neighborhood Gazette are thankful for Sullivan’s business acumen, as it’s brought some damn good pizza, wings and beer to Wheat Ridge.
