Slidin’ Thru truck goes brick-and-mortar

By Brock Radke (contact)

Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011 | 4 p.m.

Ric Guerrero and the Slidin’ Thru crew have done it again. They got the food-truck party rolling when they unleashed the slider truck on the streets of Las Vegas, and now they’ve become the first mobile eatery to go brick and mortar. At 8 p.m. on Friday, February 18, Slidin’ Thru HQ opens for good. The 24-hour restaurant will serve up its signature sliders and fries next door to the Paradise Poker Club, a neighborhood bar in an industrial park off East Sunset Road.

So what does Slidin’ Thru The Restaurant look like? “I told the contractor to make it super from the future,” says Guerrero, sitting in a red leather booth with an embroidered burger logo and an intergalactic table top. Classic ’90s video games Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam live in one corner of the colorful, 2,200-square-foot space. Nearby, stand-up countertops bring the eats-on-the-streets vibe indoors. The light fixtures are pretty cool, but not as cool as the spray-painted mural. “I think this is going to be one of those places that you just have to come check out at least once,” Guerrero says. Bonus: there’s a full bar a few steps away.

It may seem crazy and contradictory for a food truck to open a traditional restaurant, but it’s just another step in Guerrero’s master plan to “cover all the bases in the food game.” Don’t worry, the truck will keep rolling; the HQ kitchen will be something of a laboratory for these fast-food mad scientists. In fact, they plan to launch more trucks this year, with different menus. The Muncheese Truck is almost ready to go, serving grilled-cheese sandwiches and lobster bisque in sourdough bread bowls. Guerrero is thinking about fusion tacos, too. Vegas will soon see what the super future holds.