Ric Guererro, a homegrown product of Mexican, Greek and Chinese ancestry, looks slightly manic in his red rimmed plastic specs and ski parka, as he places an order of Sweet Potato S’mores in front of me.
“You’re one of the first customers ever to eat our S’mores Sunday,” pointing to the large scoop of vanilla ice cream perched on top of the melty marshmallows and fudge sauce, crowing.

Guerrero is living proof the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Vegas, in spite of the doomsayers. He bought Slidin’ Thru using money borrowed from his mother. When he started, he had two employees he found on Craigslist. Now, he employs sixty.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Slidin’ Thru is a food truck and now a restaurant, both specializing in fusion style sliders, mostly made with ground Angus beef, but also in pork, chicken and vegetable forms.

Roy Choi, the L.A. based food truck king who started Kogi, the seminal Korean-American fusion truck, was Guerrero’s “inspiration.” Kogi has a restaurant in Downtown L.A. these days, so Guerrero figured, why not?
It helps that he’s in his mid-twenties. That means innovations in his new place like a live Twitter feed, frequent Facebook messages, and a menu that appeals to Gen Y’er and younger.

I’m sitting across a table from him, nibbling on an order of Captain’s Fries, one of the menu’s so called “Super Fries”, topped with bacon, sautéed onion, Feta cheese and balsamic vinegar. Accompanying it is a Mystery Slider, which turns out to be a porky taco with fried onions, sautéed onions and Heaven’s knows what else.

The new location, at 6410 N. Durango Blvd., is not a truck, of course, but a sit down restaurant decorated simply, with PopArt signage and designer furniture. When I visit, just after lunch, the tables are totally occupied. Guerrero’s COO, Keith McCoy, the business end here, told me that on their opening day, Friday, Dec. 9th, they did 600 covers in the six hours they were open, from 5-11 p.m.

“The response has been amazing,” said McCoy, a thirtysomething guy with Eames inspired tattooed arms. A yellow neon sign on one wall is prophetic. It reads, “The Future of Fast Food.” Indeed.

The company has come a long way since they started in March, 2010. Here, bewildered customers wince when the cooks start bleating their palms on the counter, shouting “first timer, first timer”, in unison. They won’t be calling this chant out for long. According to the boys, they do a big repeat business.

Sliders, for the record, are $2.50, $3 and $3.50, getting increasingly more complicated with ingredients as you go up the price ladder. I’m a fan of Chicky Boom for $2.50, chicken salad with lemon, garlic, tomato and lettuce, and I also like the Captain’s for $3.50, loaded up with Feta and bacon, among other things.

For his part, Guerrero is always playing around with his food. When Steve Jobs died, he told me, he created the Crazy One, applesauce braised pork tenderloin with apple Cole slaw, bacon and onions. He’s going to add to his menu here soon. Just give him time.

At the moment, the Drive Thru isn’t as busy as it might be, but McCoy says it accounts for around 30% of the store’s revenue. Just remember that Slidin’ Thru is a true Vegas pheenom, like Guerrero, home grown.
Let’s face it, the prognosis isn’t bad for Guerrero, a culinary school dropout who didn’t even have a job two years ago. I’d bet he’ll be a millionaire before he’s thirty. He’s sure to sell a million sliders by then.

Slidin’ Thru The Restaurant is at 6410 N. Durango Dr. Hours: 11 a.m.-11 p.m. daily. Drive thru open until 2 a.m. Friday-Saturday. A second store at Tropicana and Ft. Apache, is planned for late February.

A word about Slidin’ Thru: Design and Branding

Something you immediately understand about Slidin’ Thru’s latest opening is that they are, as a company, outstandingly innovative and savvy. One of the first of the food trucks ballsy enough to take their product to big overhead-nut-to-crack-ville, the Slidin’ team has moved their ultra-cool food truck graphics and great food into a restaurant space, complete with drive-thru.

Designed by Keith McCoy of studio mccoy (www.studio_mccoy.com), the new location at Centennial Parkway and Durango has an overall emphasis on cleanliness combined with trendy. All of the details were important, it seems. The interior is minimalist, with floors done in epoxy red and pedestal tables bolted to the floor with white corian-like tops. The place is shiny and clean- the seating areas are a shocking white that screams purity, and even the trashcans are chromed, nested in a lacquered rust-finished steel counter in the corner.

According to Keith, “The idea for the space was something futuristic and clean, that would appeal cross generationally to broaden the brand that is Slidin Thru. After talking to the owner I felt like doing something in the same vein as 2010: a Space Odyssey could be very cool. So we went with red and white, very clean lines and higher end finishes. The wall panels are done in an automotive polyurethane (another nod to the automotive roots) and the floor was done in a high gloss red epoxy. At the same time we wanted to maintain the fun, colorful comic book pow that the truck provides since it remains one of our core practices. ”

Placing further emphasis on their Manga/Comic book theme, a series of Wildflower chairs, designed by Lush Life, were custom made to show a comic strip of a rocketship blasting off to planets unknown. The story is communicated in four specially commissioned chair back panels, designed with the help of Unicahome and Lush Life designers Dani Stoller and Roz Hayes. Even the details of the gauge of holes were designed to show the theme from across the room. The chairs are stackable, durable aluminum and are made in the USA.

Other design elements of note are articles communicating comfort throughout the space. Vintage-looking Coca-Cola refrigerators echo the floor’s primary red, while condiment dispensers are in vintage colors- and even ranch dressing can be used to your heart’s content.

Slidin’ Thru uses intelligent visual imagery to build their brand. Neon signage glows from the walls, clients can generate live internet feeds on flat screens in the space, and even the bathrooms allow interaction with clients through chalk. The overhead menus are bright and continue the strong Manga-style graphics that Slidin’ Thru is known for. All employees were thick black-rimmed glasses (even those who do not need eyewear), while chief officer Ric Guerrera wears his trademark primary red version. Slidin’ Thru places a further emphasis on a great customer experience with a team that interacts with the clients through fistbumps and group cheers like “Big Tipper” and “Good Lookin’ Out,” occasionally issued forth by the team. The coolness extends, of course, to their menu, which features interesting offerings, along with a vegetarian caprese ‘slider’ and a daily ‘mystery’ slider to keep the folks coming back for more. The end result is fun- with a high quality product that is tough to beat.

Most innovation comes from small business. Slidin’ Thru is definitely one small business to watch. From what our probing eyes could tell the place was packed over the weekend, with the line for the drive-thru snaking through the parking lot. I would expect many more successful locations from the firm in the short-term.

 

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