Meet Alan Jantzen | Owner Silver Grill Cafe and Vern’s Place

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alan Jantzen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alan, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My thoughts behind becoming a business owner were brought about by a change in my work circumstances. The company that I had been working at for 30 years was no longer a viable option to purchase. I had stayed with that business in hopes that I would own it. I worked hard to build a company that I was very proud of and built very much in my image and culture. When things changed it was a difficult decision to start to map my future. After a lot of thought and reflection with my wife it was clear that I had been operating as an ‘owner’ without owning anything. I approached each day as if I owned the business I had been running. So, why not give it a go on my own? It was the plan all along anyhow. Now I just needed to find a place that fit for me. Once I found Silver Grill the rest is history!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Silver Grill Cafe and Vern’s Place are both long term iconic restaurants in northern Colorado. Silver Grill turned 90 years old this year and is still one of the oldest continuous restaurants in the area. Vern’s Place celebrates 78 years in 2024, which is another of the oldest restaurants. Combining these two restaurants in the same ownership group is a tremendous honor. We believe in having a positive culture, having fun, creating great experiences for our guests and reaping the rewards of our hard work along with a job well done. It took time for us to cultivate the culture we wanted in our business. We have the greatest team I can imagine working with to help us create amazing experiences. I did make some mistakes along the way hiring the wrong people. Which set us back, however our great people held strong and believed in us and our vision. I’m so grateful they stuck with us and kept us moving in the right direction even if we did hit some speed bumps along the way. We learned how detrimental and cancerous the wrong people can be to an organization. I learned that even though it can be painful, it’s better to move on quickly from those people so the good ones will stay and keep moving forward. It’s hard for people to really change who they are at the core, most times we can’t change them. I had to learn that waiting for people to change and ‘hoping’ people will change isn’t a good way to allow our business to run. Even with the coaching and tough talks, people need to want to change as much as you want them to change. If they aren’t willing to come halfway it is never going to happen to the degree which it needs to happen to help build and grow. I always acted like an owner when I ran other people’s businesses, it isn’t fair for me to expect that our leaders will do the same for us. We need to build a good culture around our leadership and continue to teach and coach every day. We are so fortunate now to have great leaders in place that see the business as we do. They not only bring a sense of service to our guests but to our staff’s as well.
At the end of the day, it is all about creating great experiences for people who are willing to come dine with us. I think that is what separates us from other places. My wife and I are present and active in our business. We love serving people and bringing joy to their day. Being servant hearted is a trait that we seek in our hiring, and it really pays off when you come visit our restaurants. We hope you experience something unique and different in our places when you visit. A happy engaged team of amazing people who truly love to create an experience for though great service and food.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Of course, we would start our day at Silver Grill or Vern’s for a cinnamon roll and great breakfast! We love taking our friends and family for a walk around the beautiful downtown Fort Collins. There are so many great shops and unique places to visit. There truly is something for everyone! We love showing off the great shops downtown – The Cupboard, the Perennial Gardener and our downtown Ace Hardware along with Wadoo and Kansas City Kitty. For our friends who have pets we always stop at Wagz for some shopping. We need to snack along the way so a stop at Walrus is always on the list. I have a big sweet tooth, so I make sure we get to Mary’s Mountain Cookies and Kilwin’s to load up on the sugar! A few more stops at some shops then we like to enjoy some people watching on the patio at Coopersmith’s. Then we like to do something very different – I always like to stop at Nuance chocolate for a chocolate flight. A great time for us who love chocolate! Then a drive out of town through Laporte to the Poudre canyon, hiking Greyrock or any of the other great trails to wear off some of the calories! We love to show off where we live. Back down the canyon to Vern’s for some amazing fried chicken on the deck and watch the sunset. The next day we always like to show off more of our town and some of the unique places we have. Odell’s patio for a great beer, the Welsh rabbit for some charcuterie, a cocktail at Elliot’s, the list is very long for things and places we love to visit. We always encourage our friends to book at room downtown at the Armstrong hotel or the Elizabeth so they can really enjoy the great energy of our downtown.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My wife has always been my biggest supporter and friend, now I add business partner to that list. I can’t imagine doing anything without her. Her belief in me and my vision for our business is what drives me to be better everyday! My mother and father. They are my hero’s! Watching them build their lives while managing 3 children, having full time jobs and also farming is a testament to the rewards that hard work and clear vision can bring you.
John Arnolfo along with Nick and Val Lanteri. They entrusted us to take their legacy projects and gave us the support to be successful doing it.
There are so many others, I could fill the page!

Website: silvergrill.com, vernsplace.com