If you know Old Colorado City, you know the red umbrellas of Jives. And if you’ve ever been to Jives, you’ve almost certainly been greeted as a friend by Dored Najjar.
“I must know a hundred thousand people in Colorado Springs!” he said.
You may not know, however, that Dored’s incredible journey to Colorado involves “kissing maps,” Ricky Martin, an airplane-themed restaurant and a Finnish literary prize for a book about Santa.
Born in the 1970s, when Croatia was part of Yugoslavia, Dored is steeped in the café culture of the Mediterranean.
“It’s not about drive-thru coffee there – people sit for hours together on the patios watching the world go by. There’s even a word for being lazy and having a coffee with friends: ‘fijaka.'” (It’s pronounced fi-ak-a).
His love of people started early, too. Dored’s mother was a fashion designer.
“She was totally glamorous and knew everybody,” he said.
His father worked with talented students from the Middle East and Africa, helping them to secure scholarships to study in Europe.
“One day there would be a science genius from Egypt in the house, the next an Iranian poet. He took me everywhere with him, too; I must have visited 30 different countries with my father,” he said.
Dored also had a sister with whom he was very close. She sadly passed away recently.
Dored studied graphic design at university but when he graduated, it was wartime and there were no opportunities for designers.
“What was I going to design? Bombs?!” he posed rhetorically. “It was tough. We were all afraid of getting drafted.”
Luckily, while he was still studying, a friend got him a job at a famous coffee house in Zagreb.
“Famous people used to visit all the time, including the boss of a record company. He used to joke that he would hire me as a manager,” Dored said.
When Dored bought his first house, he had no idea that the record company boss lived right next door.
“We became friends and the joke became a reality. He hired me to modernize the company,” Dored said. “We went from making vinyl records and cassettes to CDs. I made their first website. Suddenly, I was managing the bands and singers that I had idolized as a child. I could tell them ‘Go here, go there.’ It was great!”
This included working with Croatian rock band Parni Valjak (or Steamroller in English). Dored became friends with their founding member, Hus.
Dored was so successful in his 18 months with the company he used a fat bonus to take a break from work.
“I had a house, a condo, a car, even a boat. I was living my American Dream in Croatia. I was like a kid jumping in new shoes,” he said, adding, “More than anything, I traveled. That’s my favorite thing – I’ve been almost everywhere except Australia and New Zealand!”
An offer from a wealthy investor brought Dored back to business. The investor’s bars were struggling, including a bar named Tin.
I was born for beautiful squares. – Dored Najjar
“When I walked into Tin there was a huge picture of the band Steamroller,” he said.
The bartender explained that the previous owner had been a huge fan of the band and had named it Tin after Hus’ newborn son (Hus lived in the apartment opposite the bar).
For Dored, it felt like fate.
“I said I would turn his franchise around if the investor gave me the bar, Tin, as a reward. He agreed, and after four months the bar was mine,” he said.
It was in this bar that Dored met his future wife, Lana, who arrived every day on her motorbike for a coffee.
“Not many women rode motorbikes in Croatia at the time, so that really impressed me,” he said.
Dored’s bar was so successful that he caught the eye of another establishment – the Croatian Movie Association. They approached him to run their restaurant on one of the most prominent and beautiful squares in Zagreb, the British Square. Dored noticed that the Square, despite hosting a farmer’s market, was empty in the afternoon. This led to a flash of inspiration that changed his life forever.
“I applied to the city for permission to run restaurants and events in the square. Amazingly, it was granted,” he said.
Soon, Dored was the king of the British Square.
“I had three restaurants all in my own ‘Kava Tava’ brand. One sold thousands of American pancakes daily,” he said. “I had three guys who just made pancakes for 12 hours a day!”
Another hosted a new famous chef from around the world every three months to create fusion food. The third restaurant had an airplane-themed room where guests could be served breakfast in airplane seats by flight attendants, while watching a movie all about Croatia. The Kava Tava restaurants became a real local institution.
“If you went to Croatia between 2006 and 2017 and you didn’t visit Kava Tava, you couldn’t say that you had been to Zagreb,” he said.
Despite all that he had built, Dored kept going. “I had a design agency on the same square. We made ‘Kissing Spots’ maps for different cities. We used to ask hundreds of local people in each area about the best places to kiss and designed a beautiful map to sell for tourists. We’ve sold hundreds of thousands of Kissing Spots maps – and the kissing map of Colorado Springs is coming soon!”
When he wasn’t packing the British Square with diners eating under red umbrellas, he packed it with events.
“We hosted concerts for over 70,000 people – Ricky Martin came to play!” he said.
And Dored bought the Christmas spirit to Zagreb, too.
“We started the first Christmas market in Croatia,” he said. “It won the award for the Best Christmas Market in Europe three times in a row and there are now more than 25 Christmas Markets in Zagreb.”
Not one to rest on his laurels, Dored added a Christmas village and a Christmas book to his entertainment empire. The book won a literary prize – and a hefty cheque – from the Finnish government.
“The book is called ‘Toy Keepers’ and it’s about why children stop visiting Santa when they reach a certain age. I want to make it into a movie, but I haven’t finished the script yet!” he said.
Soon, everything from a hotel to a cookie factory was added to his business empire.
When asked if he felt exhausted by all these businesses, Dored just laughed.
“I never worked that hard because I just love people and when you love being around people it doesn’t feel like work,” he said. “I also hired the best of the best – people who I could really trust to do fantastic work.”
By 2017, Dored had set his sights on moving to the USA for the next stage of his business expansion. But when an investor approached him asking to buy all his properties and businesses, Dored thought he was joking.
“He looked too young,” Dored said.
The investor was totally serious.
“Tap a number into the screen, however much you want, hit the button, and the money’s yours,” Dored recalled the investor saying.
Dored hit the button.
He chose Colorado Springs because it felt like home to him.
“There’s something about the people here that I just love. And if you’re going to build something, it has to feel like home,” he said.
But why did he choose to take over Jives?
“It’s a café on a beautiful square with a farmer’s market, of course! I was born for beautiful squares, and I can make them even more beautiful.”
Randy Fair, Jives’ founder, was ready to hand over the reins of the café that he says was “born of my weird personality.” Randy was looking to spend more time with his 10 kids, seven grandchildren and “the most beautiful woman in the world – my wife.”
Jives was remodeled and the menu changed in 2019 and Dored adds a personal touch, too. “Dored was the missing piece of the puzzle at Jives,” Randy said. “He is a great friend and his wisdom is proven when it comes to the service industry.”
“People don’t want to be served by a robot; They want the human element,” said Dored. “I want people to come here to build a community, to connect, to slow down and enjoy life the way we do in Croatia,” Dored said.
So, what’s next for Dored?
“The next establishment is coming very soon – perhaps even before this goes to press,” he said, mysteriously.
“My wife Lana and I have been scouring the Caribbean for the most talented chefs to bring here to Colorado Springs,” he said. “We have the contracts; Lana is doing the graphic design – it’s all in motion.
“Of course, when we open, the Pikes Peak Bulletin will be the first press to know!”
Jives has a special offer for our readers. The first 20 people to tell Dored the secret password “Pikes Peak Bulletin” will get a free coffee of their choice.
IF YOU GO
Jives Coffee Lounge
18 Colbrunn Ct.
7 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday-Tuesday
7 a.m.-10 p.m. Wednesday
719-725-4193
jivescoffeelounge.com