Headquarters: Boulder, CO

Annual Sales: $32 million

Units: 10

Key Personnel:
• Dave Query, chef/owner

SINGLE CONCEPTS:
• Centro Latin Kitchen & Refreshment Palace (straightforward Mexican in Boulder)
• Lola Mexican Fish House (coastal Mexican in Denver)
• The Post Brewing Company & GoodBird Kitchen (fried and rotisserie bird with all the fixins, in Lafayette, CO)
• The West End Tavern (28-year-old burger and bourbon joint in downtown Boulder)
• Zolo Grill (21-year-old Southwestern grill)

MULTIPLE CONCEPTS:
• Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar (five units; selected forTop 25 Seafood Restaurants in America by Travel and Leisure)

UPCOMING PROJECTS:
• More units of Goodbird Kitchen and Jax Fish House coming

WHY IT’S COOL:
There are business guys, there are chefs and then there are business guy chefs like Dave Query. For more than 20 years he’s opened a glorious array of restaurants that produce some of the most craveable food imaginable. He’s a CIA-trained chef who came out swinging with Zolo, which serves Southwestern cuisine and followed that with Jax, an expansion vehicle that got its start in a building where Jack Kerouac once lived and Tom Waits wrote a song about. He stretched his wings further with a Mexican restaurant, followed by a coastal Mexican concept and then a great barbecue, burgers and bourbon spot. He also opened a mixology place called Bitter Bar and followed that with a craft beer joint that serves killer fried chicken. His partner there is the former brewmaster of Dogfish Head. Query is a seasoned vet who’s got Denver wired and now he’s stretching his brand of love to other cities that will be better off with his arrival.

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