cott Slater has grilling in his blood. At the age of 27, he founded Slater's 50/50 in Anaheim Hills, California, and has been steadily growing the company since his first restaurant, built on the concept of a burger made with 50 percent beef and 50 percent ground bacon, opened in 2009. "I sold hot dogs outside of a Home Depot before that," he points out. That's a modest way of explaining that he owned several dozen hot dog carts in Southern California that served as a springboard to Slater's, which debuts this week in Denver thanks to franchisee Charlie Murray. Slater says that all but one of the thirteen current Slater's 50/50 burger joints (with three or four more under construction) have opened thanks to passionate franchise owners like Murray. For his part, Murray fell in love with the brand while traveling for work as an investment specialist before he got the itch to open one himself. "I love Slater's; I wanted their menu," he explains of his decision. "What I love about Slater's is that they didn't just hand me a box. From an infrastructure standpoint, I was happy to do most of the work myself. And with training, that's where I really value the operational support from the company."