“A good friend and mentor of mine is the founder of Cousin Vinny’s,” Nartker previously said. “I worked for him when I was in college at UD when he had just the one store on Patterson Road. I took a year off of college and ran that store for a (portion) of the profits. Eventually, I went back to school and off to industry, but always came back in between jobs.”

Credit: Natalie Jones

Credit: Natalie Jones

How Narco Burger started

Nartker recalled working as the senior operations manager at Cousin Vinny’s during Covid when ghost kitchens were becoming popular. He had added the virtual brand of Mariah Carey’s Cookies to Cousin Vinny’s locations in the Dayton area when he found out about MrBeast Burger, another virtual brand.

“Narco Burger was inspired essentially from the hole in the late night for burgers that MrBeast could fill, but wasn’t because they were closing at midnight,” he said.

MrBeast Burger was operating out of restaurants such as Bravo Italian Kitchen or Brio Italian Grille.

In December 2020, Nartker secured the spot for Narco Burger at 605 Spinning Road, the former location of Wei’s Pizza and Rick’s Pizza. Less than a year later, he and his wife, Kaitlynn, bought the laundromat located next door.

“Once I got the laundromat, it kind of took priority over this place,” Nartker said.

What to expect

Narco Burger officially opened its doors on Oct. 14 offering burgers, chicken, wraps, salads, sides such as seasoned fries, fried pickles and hot cheese bites, smoothies and desserts such as Mehaffies Pies.

Credit: Natalie Jones

Credit: Natalie Jones

Customer favorites include the King Burger, a triple smash burger with grilled onions and American cheese topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and Narco sauce on a toasted brioche bun. The Narco sauce is the restaurant’s homemade burger sauce that’s sweet with a little bite. It’s similar to Thousand Island dressing.

The restaurant also has lightly battered, crinkle cut fries seasoned with its signature Narco seasoning.

“Everything we have is fresh, good quality. It’s 100% Angus, unfrozen beef. All of our vegetables are fresh,” Nartker said. “We try to get everything local if we can, If not we like to know where it comes from.”

Two unique items on the menu include the Hamburgito, a deluxo burger that is chopped and wrapped in a burrito, and the Deluxo Fry Burger, a bed of seasoned fries covered with a chopped deluxo burger, shredded cheese and Narco sauce.

Credit: Natalie Jones

Credit: Natalie Jones

The future

“The reception from the community has been crazy,” Nartker said. “The people love the food.”

His goal is to turn Narco Burger into a franchise. Nartker, 42, hopes to have 1,000 locations by the time he turns 50. He’s currently looking at spots for his next location, which will be towards Kettering or Huber Heights. If all goes well with the Riverside location, the next spot could open as soon as next summer.

He also hopes to incorporate an arcade for kids into the next location. The Riverside location offers a free arcade game for kids.

“We care about the food we put out because people work hard for their money,” Nartker said. “I work hard for my money and I want good quality food, so that’s what we try to offer at the best price.”

MORE DETAILS

Narco Burger, a fast-casual, carryout only restaurant, is open 4 to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Nartker plans to expand hours next week by opening at 11 a.m. daily and eventually staying open until midnight during the week and 2 a.m. on weekends.

He has hired seven employees so far, with hopes to hire 10 to 20 people total.

For more information, visit the restaurant’s Facebook or Instagram (@narc0_burger) pages. To order online, visit order.toasttab.com/online/narcoburger. DoorDash will be available starting Nov. 2.