Community Highlights: Meet Goran Dimic of Naked Burger

Today we’d like to introduce you to Goran Dimic.

Hi Goran, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been in the restaurant industry since the age of 14. Cooking has been my passion ever since I was little watching Food Network, some of my favorites being “Good Eats” and “Iron Chef”. I would always try to create dishes even though I barely knew what I was doing. I had to get a job that young to help pay the bills at home. My mother was taking care of my sisters and I, we tried to chip in and do whatever we could to help. I learned all of my work ethic and willpower from my mother, if it wasn’t for her I would definitely not be the man I am today. When I was 20 I decided to leave the restaurant industry to pursue a financial career that I felt would be more stable for me. I became a mortgage banker for almost five years. Within those five years, I entertained opening a restaurant a few times, it just wasn’t the right moment. I truly believe that opportunities shouldn’t be passed up but you also should always follow your gut. I left the banking industry because I felt it wasn’t what made me happy. It was a great career and very rewarding but in my eyes, it held me back.

I woke up one day and the idea of “Naked Burger” was in my head. I wrote it down so I won’t forget it. A clean gourmet burger place, was the thought and the name was what came to me first. I was in Quebec for New Year when I called my now partner/best friend Brandon and said “you want to do this with me?”. After a year of searching, I finally found a location close to where I lived and said this could be a good start, something small. After 9 months of building out the place with some buddies of ours and putting every ounce of energy into opening, at 26 years old we became official restaurant owners and opened Naked Burger. Covid hit, a week and a half later we had to shut down. With hard work and perseverance, we made it through two shutdowns and now have opened a second location in Rochester Hills.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Covid definitely presented a lot of troubles. The restaurant industry had to definitely adapt. For us, it was adapting to being a brand new restaurant and switching to 100% carryout business the first 2 weeks. Then figuring out how to keep our amazing staff working and making money, everyone has bills to pay. We still have struggles, as of right now it’s staffing issues which I’m sure everyone in the world can’t wait for that to end.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are an upscale gourmet burger restaurant. We also have a craft bar. What sets us apart from other places is the time and effort we put into something as small as the type of glass we use for a certain cocktail to the type of salt we use for our burgers to making sure we grind fresh black pepper every single day. Attention to detail and caring. Our burgers are made with Grass-fed Piedmontese beef that has been dry-aged. Our chicken is hormone and antibiotic-free, our pork comes from Heritage Farms. We try to use the best ingredients that we can. All of our sauces and menu items are made in-house. From smoking the meats, to making the soups, to making all of our desserts including our ice cream. We take pride in the final product. We only use kennebec potatoes for our fries that we hand cut daily, we use peanut oil to fry them for the best flavor and quality. We only use sea salt and we only use European butter to baste our burgers. Our cocktails are made with daily fresh squeezed juices and syrups that we make in-house. As a brand, we are proud of what we put out and hope everyone that dines with us can taste the difference and appreciate it as well. When I set out to do this I didn’t want to be like everyone else.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I think the industry will definitely keep growing but there will be changes. More adaptations will occur based on the workforce and how the industry attacks that problem. But I have high hopes for the future of this industry. I think it’ll only get better, I hope we continue on the path of real cooking and not getting everything frozen out of a bag and still paying a high price for it. I hope restaurants like ours will be more respected for what we do in an industry that’s run by corporations.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: nakedburgerdetroit.com
• Instagram: @nakedburgerdetroit