Restaurateur bringing national Mediterranean chain to RiNo

Regina Bryant discovered Spitz 10 years ago on one of her regular trips to Salt Lake City, Utah, as a member of the U.S. Army Reserve.

Now, the customer-turned-franchisee is opening her second Colorado outpost of the fast-casual Mediterranean eatery at 2615 Walnut St. in RiNo, formerly home to Park Burger.

Patrons walk up to a counter to order their doner wraps — a handheld pita stuffed with french fries, vegetables, sauces and a choice of chicken, beef, lamb or falafel — and get it delivered to their table.

The spot will also feature bowls, salads, gyros and fries alongside a bar serving local beer.

“If you’re getting your first taste of Spitz, I would suggest the street cart wrap and pita fries,” Bryant said. “That’s your initiation, and then you’ll get hooked.”

Construction is just about to start, and Bryant said the build-out is mostly cosmetic for the space since Park Burger was a full-running restaurant before closing in 2024. The 2,500-square-foot building also has a 1,700-square-foot patio, and the bar toggles between the inside and outside space, she said.

Her goal is to get it up and running by the Rockies’ home opener in early April, but more realistically, it’ll be later that month or May, she said. She signed a 10-year lease.

“The vibe is very hip,” she said. “Good music, good food, craft beer. It’s very laid-back but at the same time you know you’re in a cool spot.”

After nearly two decades in the private banking world, Bryant became a franchisee for Amazon’s last-mile delivery services — “the blue vans,” she noted — in mid-2020. But after one of her fellow franchisees had a contract abruptly canceled, she said she needed to diversify her holdings.

By that point, she had already been a devout customer of Spitz after discovering the spot in 2016 during a visit to Salt Lake City for an Army drill. Bryant would make those trips monthly, and stopping in to the shop became a ritual.

“I remember the first time I went to lunch there, it was so darn good and I said that this was ridiculous it wasn’t in Denver,” she recalled. “So I would make sure I would fly out and get Spitz and go home happy every time.”

Bryce Rademan and Robert Wicklund opened the first Spitz in 2006 in Los Angeles, California, and have grown the business to 30 locations across 10 states. Bryant is from the same neighborhood and went to the same college as the two founders, so when she was looking to diversify her budding franchise empire, Spitz was a natural fit.

She moved to Colorado Springs in 2004 when she was a paralegal in the Army and decided to move an hour north to Denver when her active duty ended in 2008.