A fourth-generation restaurateur, Chef Christopher Collins has built a career around creating neighborhood restaurants that feel like home. After earning a degree in hospitality management from Boston University and refining his craft with Hillstone Restaurant Group, he returned to Arizona to found Common Ground Culinary, the company behind beloved Valley concepts like Grassroots Kitchen & Tap, Wally’s American Gastropub, The Collins Small Batch Kitchen, Neighborly Public House, and more. Each restaurant reflects his belief that genuine hospitality, thoughtful design, and great food have the power to bring people together.
What inspired you to create restaurants that feel like “home?”
I wasn’t inspired to create a business, but rather a space where people in my community could feel something beyond the typical restaurant experience. I grew up in my dad’s kitchen and have core memories surrounding large family dinners, and those feelings are what I want my restaurants to encompass.
As a fourth-generation restaurateur, what’s one lesson that’s stayed with you?
The greatest lesson my father taught me was “don’t get too high on the highs and too low on the lows.” Having grown up in the business, I watched firsthand how this industry can be feast or famine, and that the strongest operators keep an even keel and move forward every day.
How did your time with Hillstone shape your approach to hospitality?
At Hillstone, I learned uncompromising commitment to our operations, standards, and brands, but I have to credit my father in teaching me genuine hospitality. He always emphasized that cooking food for guests and them handing over their hard-earned money is a very intimate transaction and that should always be appreciated and respected.
What’s the heart behind Common Ground Culinary’s concepts?
The core principle behind Common Ground Culinary and our collection of restaurants is my pursuit to become the Valley’s premier hospitality group. I have no ambition to operate any concepts outside Arizona. I am committed to my community and hope that the community is proud to call Common Ground Culinary a cornerstone of the Arizona restaurant scene.
Do you have a favorite dish across your restaurants—or is that impossible to choose?
That’s like asking which one of my boys is my favorite son. On any given day, a different dish shines and brings a smile to my face. I am truly proud of all of our creations, and like anything worth pursuing, I am constantly revisiting and evolving our recipes.
What’s one thing guests might not know happens behind the scenes?
Most guests don’t understand that our day starts long before opening, and that while the restaurants close, there is a good chance that my team and I are still “at work.”
What keeps you inspired in the Valley’s dining scene today?
There are a few things that get me excited about what’s happening locally here in the Valley. The dining scene never sits still, and we have entered a time of constant reinvention and creativity. Greater Phoenix is on the map as a major dining destination, offering global influences with unique takes on fusion cuisines. At the end of the day, the greatest gift is that the community shows up and supports its local restaurants, allowing us to take chances and raise the bar.
If you weren’t a chef or restaurateur, what would you be doing?
Whenever I have a hard day, it’s common for me to come home and tell my wife, “I should have been the swim coach at Brophy.” I grew up at the swimming pool, received a full athletic scholarship to attend Boston University, and have fond memories of my peers and coaches. If I could do it again, I would spend my time motivating and molding a young generation to find value in hard work and commitment.
One thing we’d be surprised to learn about you?
My happiest place in life is in the kitchen cooking food for those whom I love, but a very close second is spending time underwater with fishies. I am an avid lover of the ocean and find peace while scuba diving and snorkeling with my family.
