Our Story
I met an amazing chef while working at a dude ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He cooked the best food—and made everything the old-fashioned way—from scratch. On his birthday, I sent an order into the kitchen that read, “One Birthday Dinner, To-Go, With Me, Tonight.” The handsome chef hollered that my order was up, and the ticket read, “Yes.” Twenty-eight years later, we’re still together.
Let me fill in a few details. Steve started in the restaurant business when he was 12-years-old. He started by sweeping floors in a bar and got to keep any change that he found on the floor. Then he worked as a dishwasher, busboy, host, cook, assistant manager, and manager. Later, while working typical restaurant hours—60 or more per week, he also attended college to earn a chef’s degree. Steve worked for major restaurant chains like Bill Knapp’s in Ohio and Marie Callender’s in Colorado.
One day Steve came home from work and said, “I want to open my own restaurant.” I thought, “Oh no. Not the restaurant business!” Although I had waitressed through college while earning a journalism degree, I was nervous about the idea, given the fact that statistically, 90% of independent restaurants go out of business their first year.
Nonetheless, we spent the next three years planning, saving, and working toward this goal. After I was laid off my job, I attended many restaurant auctions. Steve would give me a list of items to buy and how much to pay for them, and then go off to work. One night I bid on some beautiful tables and got them for only $5 each. Even though it was a busy Friday night at his work, I just had to call and tell him about the deal I got. He was so busy, he really wasn’t listening, and told me, “$500 each, don’t worry honey, we’ll find the money somehow,” and then hung up.
We found a location in Aurora to rent in 1988. My brother who has an MBA told us we didn’t have enough money to open a restaurant, but helped us get the financing. My parents, who thought we were nuts, supported us. And my sisters worked for free, doing anything we needed—like cutting endless flats of strawberries for our strawberry shortcake.
Meanwhile, our son, Jason, who was three at the time, spent a lot of time curled up on a bench at the restaurant, sleeping. Now, he’s 21, and fills in whenever we need him.
While in our rented space in Aurora for 16 years, we developed a lot of regular customers and received some nice awards for our food. Food & Wine Magazine named us 16th in their “America’s 75 Best Food Buys” list for our fried chicken, turkey, and mashed potatoes. We were written up in the local papers for THE best corned beef and cabbage in town. (Steve and Larry made 2,000 pounds to get through three days of celebrating!) We’ve gotten titles of “Best Mashed Potatoes,” “Best Peach Cobbler,” “Top 50 Bangs For The Buck (12th),” and “Outstanding facility for food safety by the Tri-County Health Department (Steve’s favorite award). In 1992 we created “Canine Night.” A night to benefit the Aurora Police Department’s K-9 Unit. Officers waited tables and worked for their tips and we gave an additional 25% of our sales. We had a blast. We raised about $50,000 over the 10 years and purchased all their K-9 dogs.
When our lease was up in Aurora, it was time to take yet another risk—build our own restaurant. We found “angel” investors who believed in us, and our dream became a reality. We’re in our third year at this location.
As I write this it’s hard to believe that Jus Cookin’s Restaurant is almost entering its 20th year in business. During those many years, we’ve been so privileged to have some of the best customers and employees in the world. We’ve been so blessed to be a part of their lives.
If you’re a regular customer reading this, we say an appreciative thank you for your business. If you’re a prospective customer, we hope you’ll come in and see what we’re all about—we would love to meet you!
Steve & Char Modlich
Owners
