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SALT LAKE CITY — Like many guys, Nick Watts has always wanted to open a burger shop.
Only, he did it.
For four months now, Chedda Burger has been serving ’em hot off 600 South by the Grand America Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City.
They also serve those who can't come here.
"For every two burgers that are bought, we give a burger to the homeless,” said Watts, the owner of Chedda Burger.
Instead of advertising, Watts is hoping word of mouth from his good food and good deeds are good enough.
"We actually take our truck down to the homeless shelter. We were there last Sunday and we fed 250 people,” said Watts.
So when Watts heard Donald Trump was speaking next door Friday night, he felt this was a big opportunity to impress new customers.
"We bought extra stuff for it,” said Watts. "I was expecting there's going to be 5,000 people out front, you know? It's a captive audience."
Things started out well. Business was busier than usual as people started lining up to get into the Trump rally.
However, as with so many other Trump rallies, there are also protests. Some of it got ugly.
"There was one point where they were tearing tents down, and I’m thinking this is a little out of hand,” said Watts.
At about 8 p.m., he decided to lock his doors.
"My job as a business owner is to make sure my staff and my customers are safe,” said Watts. “There were two Secret Service tents, those little pop-up tents, and people started tearing one of them apart.”
Watts says he has no problem with protesting. He feels it's as American as a hamburger. He just wishes it wouldn't get so nasty so fast.
"My building over here, like, all this got damaged,” said Watts, while taking broken decorative bricks out of the front of his business wall. “What sucks is (that) I have to pay for this. That’s money I have to take out of our nonprofit to fix that.”
Business was back to normal Saturday afternoon and, of course, Watts still wants new customers.
He just wishes those who can’t handle themselves stay away.
"A couple of clowns decided they wanted to force their point upon someone and my business suffered,” said Watts.
