“They catered to late-night pizza, but there wasn’t really a late-night burger,” Nartker said. “When I was looking online, you had places like Five Guys and Smashburger, but there wasn’t really a hometown burger place. To me, there was a hole, and I wanted to focus on making a good-quality burger for the area.”
When Nartker began developing Narco Burger, he was still working as the senior operations manager at Cousin Vinny’s.
“It took me a good three years to build out that first location because I was still working at Vinny’s at the time,” he said. “We finally opened in October 2024, and once we figured out what we wanted to do and how we wanted the place to run, we really hit the ground running.”
After opening, the restaurant quickly gained traction with the community.
“Since it took three years to build, people knew we were there, and they were wondering what it was,” Nartker said. “There was a lot of mystery around Narco Burger. Once we opened, Riverside was there for us from the beginning, and we still get people coming in all the time who are trying it for the first time.”
When asked about growth, Nartker said the new location is just the beginning.
“It was never meant to just be one store. The goal was always to grow,” he said. “I want to help as many people as I can. At our current store, we have about 20 people on payroll, with several full-time employees and a lot of high school kids working part-time.”
The new location in Kettering represents the next step in the restaurant’s expansion and brings Narco Burger closer to the southern Dayton suburbs.
“I had been driving around looking for places to expand, and when I drove by this spot, I thought it would be a great location for South Kettering and Centerville,” Nartker said. “That’s when the opportunity came up to buy the space.”
Expansion does not stop there. Nartker said plans are already in motion for a third restaurant off Wilmington Pike near the University of Dayton.
“I’ve had my eye on that Subway location by the university for years,” he said. “When the opportunity came up, we jumped on it. That one’s a complete rebuild — it has to be gutted — but my goal is to have it open before the summer.”
Nartker also said the company is working on a new concept called “Narcoritas.” While living in Louisiana, he said he saw drive-through margarita shops where customers could order frozen drinks to go if they were sealed.
“If we start manufacturing Narcoritas, I’m going all the way with it,” he said. “I’ll sell them to anyone who wants them and distribute them nationwide. It’ll be another division of the business.”
Looking ahead, Nartker said he hopes to eventually transition the business into a cooperative model so employees can share ownership.
“If everybody has the same buy-in and we’re all moving toward the same goal, we’ll be able to grow faster and help the community even more,” he said.
HOW TO GO:
What: Narco Burger
When: 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m.-midnight Friday and Saturday
Locations: 605 Spinning Road, Dayton and 5993 Bigger Road, Kettering
More info: narcoburger.com
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