HOUSTON – As Smalls Sliders, an award-winning cheeseburger slider brand, prepares to open in Houston, the fast-growing national chain honored Texans wide receiver Tank Dell.
Dell was recognized as a “Smalls Town Hero” for his impact in the community. The restaurant is making a monetary donation in Dell’s name to the C.J. Stroud Foundation, which benefits youth football camps and mentorship programs. Dell and the Texans quarterback are best friends.
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“One of the things we do with Smalls, and the reason we’re so passionate about what we do is a lot of community involvement,” said Smalls partner and owner David Higgins, a Houston native and Stratford graduate. “We want to honor someone from our hometown that we love and respect, and Tank fit that bill.
“He’s a University of Houston Cougar doing an incredible job with the Texans. We just want to honor him for the hard work he’s done and being one of our hometown heroes. Completely awesome that he chose the C.J. Stroud foundation. We couldn’t be more happy and excited as well.”
Opening the third location in the state of Texas, and owned and operated by Higgins, Preston Cunningham, David Higgins, Allison Smith, Kirk Douglas, and Richard Crawford, the Gessner Road location is opening in the next month or two. The official check presentation to the C.J. Stroud foundation will take place this summer at the grand opening.
“We’re extremely honored to have such a notable figure within Houston be a part of the launch of our Smalls Sliders Can,” said Cunningham, one of the owners of Houston’s Smalls Sliders. “The excitement for our location has been building for some time, and we can’t wait to officially open our doors this summer, introducing the community to our iconic cheeseburger sliders very soon.”
Smalls Sliders makes fresh, cooked-to-order cheeseburger sliders that are equipped with a streamlined drive-thru, walk-up window and unique modular buildout. The Atlanta-based brand is headed towards nationwide growth with locations opening across the Southeast, Southwest, Midwest, and West Coast. These expansion plans are spearheaded by Smalls Sliders’ leadership team, which includes Brandon Landry and retired New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees as an investor.
The first Texas location is already open in Willis. The Gessner location is the first in the Houston city limits. There will be other openings in Conroe, Huntsville and multiple locations in Katy.
“They’re going to experience the uniqueness of Smalls, high quality prime beef, not frozen,” Higgins said. “It’s a high-quality product made ready to order. As you order it, you get it hot and fresh with a high-quality prime beef slider with Smalls’ special sauce and one slice of cheese.
“Drew Brees is a big fan of bacon. His favorite is the Biggie Smalls, a double patty with bacon. We have waffle fries with a side of white queso. It’s a very unique flavor profile. We can’t move fast enough. We want to blanket the city of Houston.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.
