The restaurant’s headquarters is based in Atlanta.
A fast-casual brand, Smalls Sliders specializes in cooked-to-order cheeseburger sliders, waffle fries, and milkshakes.
The brand currently has 48 restaurants open in total, each run by franchisees, across several states, according to Richard Leveille, a representative for Smalls Sliders.
The restaurant aims to begin expansion into Ohio in the next year, with a goal for multiple locations to open in Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, Akron, Toledo, and Cleveland, Leveille said Wednesday.
Known for their distinctive bright orange, “Smorange,” 800-square-foot shipping container restaurants called “Cans,” they feature a simple menu, featuring signature sauces and queso alongside the sliders and waffle fries.
Credit: JORDAN HEFLER
Credit: JORDAN HEFLER
“We offer a focused menu, meaning we’re not selling 18 different types of burgers or chicken, but the product we do offer is meticulously made,” Leveille said. “When you only offer one thing, you better be good at it; that’s what we strive for.”
The menu includes plain cheeseburger sliders, which can be customized with double the meat and cheese, pickles, and the signature “Smorange” sauce, which has a base similar to Thousand Island dressing, according to Leveille, but with added seasonings and a subtle crunch from pickle relish.
The brand’s mission is to be the “number one cheeseburger slider restaurant in the world,” aiming to make every day a little better for guests, team members, and community partners, Leveille said.
The brand is still in the process of securing franchisees in Ohio, so there are no locked-in locations at this time, he noted.
But Leveille said the goal is to open around six “Can” restaurants in the Dayton region alone, with an estimate to hire around 200 people per restaurant.
“We want to ensure every piece of real estate is the right piece of real estate, and what’s most important is that the people we do business with, our franchisees, are the right people to take the brand into the marketplace,” Leveille said. “It’s our job to make our franchisees successful, their job to make their management successful, and the managers’ job to make the squad successful.”
Leveille said once construction begins on a location, the restaurant typically opens within 10 to 12 weeks, with time saved due to the orange container buildings being pre-fabricated and shipped to each site.
Interested Ohio investors can visit www.smallsslidersfranchising.com for more info.
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