Business Spotlight: Burger Kings

After nine years at Missouri State University, Danny Schlink earned his bachelor’s in history and decided to go to graduate school on a full ride – sort of.

Majority owner of the downtown Springfield restaurant he dubbed Grad School, Schlink makes his living selling the arguably famous Full Ride burger – two beef patties joined by a melange of soft cheese, caramelized onions, bacon, lettuce and tomato.

 “I’d been in the restaurant industry all my life. I’d just read an article about how a history degree was one of the top five unemployable degrees. I went out on a limb and put up everything I had,” he says from the backroom of the 6-year-old restaurant. “I asked friends what they were doing after graduation, and the reply was always the same. I thought, ‘To hell with it, I’ll go to grad school, too.’”

The home of bygone restaurants such as Rasta Grill, Schlink rents the 434 S. Jefferson Ave. property from C. Arch Bay Co. Inside the unassuming white building, an open-air kitchen allows diners to watch from the lunch counter as their burger is pressed on to the flat-top grill. Music blares from the speakers as guests and employees get cozy in the 1,200-square-foot space adorned with hundreds of band stickers and pop-culture images.

“This is kind of like the island of misfit toys,” Schlink says. “It’s skate culture, it’s musicians, it was counterculture before it became mainstream, before it became fashionable.”

The first semester
Schlink’s post-graduation move didn’t meet his expectations out of the gate.

“It was painfully slow,” he says. “For the first six fiscal quarters, we had 100 percent growth, but that’s easy to do when you’re making nothing. To double $4, you only have to make $8.”

But about a year and a half in, the lunch crowd caught on.

“At first, we were scared we didn’t have any business. Then we were scared how well the business was doing and if we could keep up,” Schlink says of the Radical Willie LLC team, organized with business partners Josh Nail and Shane Rice.

With just 40 seats – 16 more outdoors during warm months – Grad School turns about 1,200 meals a week on average. Serving the fast-paced lunch crowd was key in serving up $450,000 in sales last year.

“We do a 60/40 split, lunch and dinner,” Schlink says. “Downtown is a unique crowd. We have businessmen, we have hipsters, and the Catholic school kids across the street love our fries.”

Mark Miller, director of communications and marketing for Ozarks Technical Community College, is a frequent guest.

“You can have a business meeting there and it’s not stuffy. It’s more relaxed,” he says, noting fish tacos are his go-to on the menu. “I like the vibe. It won’t break the bank, and it has great food. I’m sold.”

With a line frequently out the door of guests craving Grad School’s signature “new-school Americana” cuisine, staff members prepare menu items by hand from bread to Alfredo pasta and stuffed mushrooms to French fries. Those in the know also can order off the secret menu, which includes the Girls Just Want to Have Funnel Cake.

Getting a J.O.B.
Building on the work in his Grad School endeavor, Schlink decided to get a “job” in 2010. With help from longtime employees and friends, Nail and Rice, Schlink opened The J.O.B Public House around the corner at 319 E. Walnut St.

“We had the idea, but I wanted to let it find its own destination, its own identity,” Schlink says. “The time was right, and the location was great.”

Serving food with its own flair, J.O.B. offers “cubicles,” or small slider-style sandwiches, and more than 300 types of whiskey.

“We are one of the top 50 whiskey bars in the country,” Schlink says of the recognition by Bourbon Review Magazine the last two years, adding they recently uncorked their fourth whiskey barrel.

Opening on Halloween day, Schlink took the opportunity to share his success with friends, giving Nail and Rice each 10 percent ownership in J.O.B.’s Five-Hit LLC. Last year, J.O.B. brought in roughly $250,000 in revenue.

Supporting downtown and staying local are important to Schlink. The restaurants source the vast majority of supplies through Springfield Grocer Co., sans a couple of unique spices.

“I’ve worked with Danny for years, and I’ve known him since we were kids,” says Springfield Grocer sales representative Josh Keisker. “They are a high-volume place. We deliver to Grad School two or three times a week and about once a week to J.O.B.”

Keisker says the weekly food purchases are around $3,000 to $4,000.

Down the road
Search Google for Grad School and you’ll find only a handful of Yelp reviews parsing the Full Ride. Schlink says that’s intentional.

“We’re too small for online,” he says. “People who know about us, know. People who don’t, think we’re dangerous or something.”

Schlink says the partners have embraced the term “dive,” but don’t call the place a greasy spoon.

“That sounds dirty to me and we’re not dirty,” he says.

Co-owner Nail, who handles everything from scheduling to fill-in dishwasher at Grad School, says the friends have achieved their initial goals, and then some.

“We set out to make this place the way we wanted it to be and cut out all the rest of the BS that comes with the restaurant industry,” he says. “I’m here because I love it, because I’ve seen it grow from the beginning.

“What’s next for us? I don’t know. I think now, we just have to figure out how to keep doing what we love.”[[In-content Ad]]