GOODBYE SLIDIN THRU HQ

POSTED BY RIC ON 03 Jan 2012

OK OK!!

I know y’all have been wondering what happened to Slidin’ Thru HQ on Sunset and Paradise…

Well lemme tell ya somethin!

I’m so sorry to leave everyone hangin’ with no heads-up. An update has been long overdue and I apologize to anyone who has gone down there, looking for hot. fresh. mini. burgs. only to find the doors locked and a cold dining room. We’ve been so busy with the grand opening of our new location, that everyday I’ve had “write HQ blog” on my to-do list and haven’t found the time. WELL NOW I’M MAKING TIME! :p

So. First off. Let’s clear up any confusion.

HQ IS CLOSED :’(

It was a bitter-sweet day… It was like we were moving away from home and going off to college. On one hand we had the great promise of a shiny, brand-new restaurant, fully equipped with every tool and piece of equipment needed for our success as a quick-service, gourmet burger joint. And on the other hand we had HQ, our home. Our very first restaurant. The first stop on our journey from food truckers to restauranteurs. We were sad to be leaving all the memories and the family we had created with our employees and our guests, yet we were excited to be going away on a full-ride scholarship to Burg U!

Back in November of 2010, we made a deal to go from humble beginnings on a food truck to our first brick-and-mortar restaurant location! It was a deal we couldn’t refuse. We were promised a rent-free space with fully-equipped kitchen and dining room ready to make-over! We were beyond stoked on life! Everything was falling into place and our 5 year goal of opening a restaurant, just condensed into less than a year!

After running the truck there and providing the bar with 24 hour food for a few months, we were nearing completion of the dining room buildout. Finally we were ready. We blasted off and grand opened HQ officially on February 18th, 2011 with a line wrapped around the corner and we were killin it!

Just one month later, in March, we started StrEats and then in April we teamed up with our new partners and began planning the Future of Fast Food, two new locations; a drive thru in the northwest and a patio in the southwest. We were in the middle of a whirlwind success and with so much going on, I am the first to admit, at one point I got sidetracked from HQ and didn’t focus enough needed time and energy on her. She needed some love and I wasn’t there.

Aside from that, HQ definitely gave us our share of challenges. She was a BOOZLE-MAGNET! haha! One day it was the toilet overflowing into the dining room… Then the plumbing in the kitchen… And because of faulty kitchen equipment, we almost burnt the place down TWICE! Man, I wish I had video from the first time. You should seen the look on Randy’s face! hahaha!

Also, as you all know, the location wasn’t the greatest either. You always hear the old adage, “location location location!” Well it’s true! In opening HQ, I was actually anti-location. I liked the batcave appeal. The hidden gem feel that made it seem like you were in on some super awesome secret. But in the end, the location just didn’t work to our benefit.

There’s definitely a lot more to the story that we had to take into careful consideration before closing the doors, but to sum it up, we felt in our gut that the best decision was to move on to bigger and better things and to take with us countless memories of all the good times and valuable lessons from the not so good times. All-in-all, HQ was the most priceless learning experience ever. You couldn’t pay for that type of training. Restaurant Business 101. Looking back, there’s so much I could have or probably should have done differently. But you know what, I’m a firm believer that all is as it should be and everything happens for a reason, so I actually wouldn’t have changed a thing.

AND DON’T WORRY EASTSIDERS!!! WE WANTED TO WORK OUT ALL THE KINKS IN THE NORTHWEST SO WE COULD HIT YOU GUYS STRONG WITH A BANGIN’ NEW LOCATION NEXT YEAR!!

Let’s take a walk down memory lane and reminisce a bit…

This was Slidin’ Thru HQ in all her glory, when all the art was complete, when all the lights were lit and when she was on her best behavior…

Here’s PRE-HQ, the first day we ever laid eyes on her… The day our lives changed forever…

At the time, we had a warehouse where all of our operations were based from… And when we got back that night, it was a celebration! Notice in the background we had our chalkboard goals wall… 1. ~~BOSS TRUCK~~ 2. ~~RESTAURANT~~ and #3 didn’t quite happen but we still made it on the show!

The first night we cooked and served food to the bar was surreal. For the first time we had a legit 3 compartment sink and didn’t have to wash dishes on the truck (or at home) anymore. We finally had space to breath and prep in the comfort of being indoors!

That was a proud day… (look at Lu, couldn’t hold back the happy tears)

Before we had the dining room open, we used to park the truck out front nightly and serve some mini.burg.bombs. I know some of y’all remember the humble beginnings!

Then we went to work on the buildout of our first dining room!

AND THEN….. The time had finally come!!!

HQ WAS READY TO BLASTOFF!!

Check out the full Grand Opening blog post >>> HERE <<<

PUT EM UP, PUT EM UP, PUT EM UPPPPPP!!!

#MUCHLOVE TO ALL OUR FANS FOR THE AMAZING SUPPORT SINCE THE BEGINNING!!

Pop Champagne OH OHHH!

We had done it! We grand opened HQ successfully and stayed open 24 hours / 7 days a week for a while after that. I didn’t sleep FO LIKE 2 WEEKS STRAIGHT!