Alan Jantzen and Steve Taylor spentweeks eating all of the fried chicken they could find.
The quest led the Hot Corner Concepts executives to Chicago; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Austin, Texas; Fargo, North Dakota; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and all along Colorado’s Front Range.
“It was fried chicken all over the U.S.,” Jantzen said. “A grand tour.”
The restaurateurs — who also run The Moot House, Big Al’s Burgers & Dogs and two Austin’s American Grill restaurants in Fort Collins — used that researchto openComet Chicken, 126 W. Mountain Ave., in September.
Their travels resulted in the restaurant's house fried chicken tender dredging — a mix between lightly floured Korean-style fried chicken and more traditional Kentucky-style fried chicken.
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Andwhile Hot Corner Concepts has received plenty of interest to franchise its other concepts in other towns, the restaurant operator with about 230 total employees continues to gamble solely on Fort Collins instead.
“I have never been comfortable going too far away from home,” said Taylor, co-founder of Hot Corner Concepts.
Taylor said he wouldn’t rule out expanding the restaurant empire out of Northern Colorado someday — but he also has more eatery ideas that couldsuit Fort Collins.
“Right now we probably have threeto fourmore concepts rattling around the office,” Taylor said.
How it started
Taylor grew up near Detroit. Skiing enticed him to Denver after college, where he found work with a restaurant chain called Steak and Ale.
He met his wife, Leslie, at the Denver location. They eventually left the area to pursue new management positions at other Steak and Ale stores, which led them to livein seven states in five years.
Boulder native Scott McCarthy was on a similar career route for Steak and Ale and had crossed paths with Taylorin Dallas in 1986. McCarthy grew up two houses down from The Moot House founder Dave Campbell. McCarthy worked at each of The Moot House's three original locations in Boulder, Greeley and Fort Collins while attending college.
After six months, Taylor and McCarthy each went their own way, but the duo stayed in touch and reconnected in 1988.
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Taylor had grown exhausted in his Steak and Ale position based out of New Orleans. He oversaw restaurants in three states and was traveling 22 days a month. He called McCarthy to see if he was interested in opening a restaurant together in either Colorado or Michigan.
“We had a feeling that together we could do it,” McCarthy said. “We each have different strengths that complementeach other ... And I knew just the place.”
The Moot House's restaurantsin Boulder and Greeley had closed, and the Fort Collins location at 2626 S. College Ave. was up for sale.
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McCarthy and Taylor bought and renovated the once-popular but then-slumping English-style pub. The owners shared a three-level home near Colorado State University to get started.
They helped revive the Midtown Fort Collins eatery still known for its weekend prime rib specials.
Creating new concepts
Taylor and McCarthy took on a number of side projects while first running The Moot House, includinga catering company, a restaurant management service for other owners, andfood services for a Loveland water park and the employee cafeteria at Advanced Energy.
By 1993, the duo had saved enough money to buy another restaurant. They opened Sullivan’s at 820 City Park Ave., which now housesMo Jeaux's Bar and Grill.
The idea was to create a burger bar in the vein of Boulder’s The Sink, but the identity of the Campus West bar morphed quickly.
“It evolved into a crazy thrasher bar,” Taylor said. “A great college bar. It was really fun in a lot of ways, but it wasn’t our lifestyle.”
In 1997, restaurant space at 100 W. Mountain Ave. in Old Town, which previously housed failed restaurant concepts Saltillo Grill and Pour La France, became available.
“It was a perfect location,” Taylor said. “This was the beginning of downtown Fort Collins becoming really popular again.”
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Taylor and McCarthy purchased the spot and prepared a menu of about a dozen items, includingbarbecue, steak, seafood and rotisserie chicken.
The duo was proud of their creation but were struggling to namethe new restaurant.
“Coming up with names has always been the hardest thing for us,” McCarthy said.
Inspiration for the naming of Austin’s American Grill finally came when a Sysco food distributor commented that the menu was like that of an Austin, Texas, restaurant.
Austin’s was a hit right away, and Hot Cornersold Sullivan’s in 2001 to open a second Austin’s at 2815 E. Harmony Road.
Southeast Fort Collins was largely uninhabited at the time. Construction of surrounding hotel developments, which were expected to bring a number of guests to the restaurant, stalledafter the 9/11 attacks.
Butpatience paid off—the Harmony Road Austin’s is now Hot Corner Concept’s top restaurant in annual sales.
“It looks like I’m brilliant now, but it was a long, tough road to get us hopping there,” Taylor said. “There were many lean years.”
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After Taylor visited Italy on a vacation, Hot Corner Concepts launchedEnzio’s Italian Kitchen in 2004 at the current Comet Chicken location.
Then came the fast-casual Big Al’s Burgers and Dogs at 140 W Mountain Ave. in 2010— they had toyed around with a fast-casual burger and hot dog restaurant for years.
The space has since become a popular lunch spot known for a 60/40 beef and bacon burger, a variety of topped hot dogs and five flavors offries.
Big Al’s is named after Jantzen, who started as a Moot House line cook but now runs the day-to-day atall the restaurantsas Hot Corner’s director of operations. He's long been known affectionately as "Big Al."
“I thought they were kidding at first, but it’s an honor to have a restaurant named after me,” Jantzen said. “(Taylor and McCarthy) are like my big brothers.”
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Also in 2010, Hot CornerConcepts hired executive chef Jeff Blackwell, whohad worked in nearly 20 different kitchens throughout the country in mostly fine dining establishments.
Blackwell oversees the kitchen operations at each of the group's restaurants, sometimes visiting all five in one day.
“The menus were already very set as staples of the community,” Blackwell said. “I have just tried to make things better but not really change things.”
McCarthy retired and sold his shares of Hot Corner at the end of 2015. He stays in touch with Taylor regularly and still dines at the restaurants when he can.
More:Popular Fort Collins Chinese restaurant Sally's Kitchen runs out of gas station
Enzio’s— Taylor and McCarthy's favorite concept —closed in October 2016. It had nearly closed multiple times prior because of declining sales.
“Enzios was tough,” Taylor said. “It was a hard decision.”
So staff met weekly in the Hot Corner offices above the Old Town Austin’s for nearly a year to hash out all of the Comet Chicken details. Blackwell went through various test recipes to create the menu.
And the company that runs several popular restaurants in town hopes it created another Fort Collins staple.
"When we first got here, Fort Collinswasn't a big restaurant town yet," Taylor said. "It has been fun to watch and be part of that evolution. People now eat out all the time."
Follow Jacob Laxen on Twitter and Instagram @jacoblaxen.
Hot Corner Concepts history
The Moot House, 1988 to present
Sullivan’s, 1993-2001
Austin’s American Grill Old Town, 1997 to present
Austin’s American Grill Harmony, 2001 to present
Enzio’s Italian Kitchen, 2004-2016
Big Al’s Burgers & Dogs, 2010 to present
Comet Chicken, 2017 to present
