About 13 years ago, Mary Nguyen was the chef-owner of two restaurants in Denver. And she began developing health issues because she just wasn’t eating that well.
“In the hospitality industry, we’re making great food. But we’re not necessarily eating the great food,” she said. “At the end of the night, the last thing you want to do is make a great meal.”
Nguyen also found that it was really difficult to find a chef-driven, scratch-made meal in Denver that was affordable and quick. There were plenty of full-service restaurants offering that, she said. But they required a commitment in time and money.
“Who has hours to go out and eat?” she said.
So Nguyen decided to create the experience she was looking for. And, in 2013, she opened Olive & Finch, a breakfast, lunch and dinner all-day concept, open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., with a scratch kitchen and counter-service ordering—what now might be described as premium fast-casual.
And everything on the menu is priced at $20 or less.
Everything is scratch made at Olive & Finch, with some items prepared in a central kitchen. | Photo courtesy of Olive & Finch.
Nguyen clearly struck a chord.
“We opened in 2013 to a line out the door,” she said. “Now we have multiple locations and there’s still a line out the door. It’s interesting the way we created something because we were passionate about it, but people really wanted something different that was accessible and affordable.”
Now Olive & Finch has four locations, with a fifth scheduled to open this year, and No. 6 planned for 2026.
The brand serves as the anchor for a growing hospitality company, Olive & Finch Collective, that now includes the “little sister” brand Little Finch, which is more of a café serving a menu prepared at a central kitchen along with coffee and juice and the full bar. There’s also Finch On the Fly, a grab-and-go outlet at Denver airport.
The group also sells its pastries and other products wholesale to other businesses. And the collective includes a hospitality management company that helps develop, create and manage other concepts.
Olive & Finch Collective also sells its pastries wholesale. | Photo courtesy of Payton Perani.
Next year, Nguyen is is adding to the stable of brands by launching a new restaurant concept in Denver that she doesn’t want to reveal just yet. And she’s looking at bringing the Olive & Finch brand to other cities.
It’s a concept that translates well to various settings, including hotels, airports and hospitals, she said. This year, for example, Olive & Finch opened in Denver’s lovely Union Station downtown, and the concept opened in late May at the Denver Performing Arts Complex.
“Our secret sauce is that when you come in, you don’t feel like you’re walking into a quick-service restaurant. You feel like you’re in a community space,” said Nguyen. “It’s warm. There are social cues, so you know to order at the counter, but we don’t dictate the experience for the typical guest.”
As a result, Olive & Finch has become a setting where you might see someone stopping in for a quick coffee and signature “crognet” (a croissant/beignet hybrid), as well as families gathered for a meal, ladies lunching, or men grabbing an after-work drink. (The Performing Arts location has a full bar that guests can “pony up to,” she said.)
Olive & Finch at the Performing Arts Complex. | Photo courtesy of Olive & Finch.
The menu is eclectic. Dinner favorites might include Chile Braised Beef with Brussels sprouts, farro risotto, cotija cheese, pickled onion and chile jus for $20; or Dan Dan Noodles with spicy pork and mushrooms for $18. Cold sandwiches include the Woody Wood ($16) with house-roasted turkey, bacon, avocado, cranberry relish and tarragon aioli (a Thanksgiving favorite); or the hot Full of Seoul ($15.50) with gochujang-glazed crispy chicken and Asian slaw.
Breakfast is everything from blintzes to shakshuka, and lunch is all about tartines. Juices are cold-pressed and the company is exploring the launch of a cold canned coffee.
Mary Nguyen | Photo courtesy of Olive & Finch.
Nguyen had a career in finance before she ditched it all to do what she really loved: cook for people. In the beginning, she worked three restaurant jobs—at the same time—to learn the business. She became one of the country’s first female executive sushi chefs.
She closed her earlier restaurants to focus on Olive & Finch, which has been largely self-funded with some bank financing.
Building the business with four compatible verticals and a central kitchen has created efficiencies that allow Nguyen to keep prices within reach.
Consumers aren’t just looking for cheap food. They’re looking for variety in the way they can experience a brand, she said.
“Everything is just more expensive, sometimes unreasonably so,” she said. “For us, we really want to stay true to being a community asset.”