A slider concept from the Great Lakes State is expanding to Texas, and that includes a high-profile location in Dallas: Called Savvy Sliders, it's a young fast-casual concept founded in Flint, Michigan, and it will open its first Dallas restaurant at 4818 Greenville Ave., in the space recently vacated by vegan chicken restaurant Project Pollo.

According to Milton Treviño, CEO of Savvy Holdings Texas, which is helping bring the concept to Texas, the restaurant will open in early summer.

Savvy is known for its sliders made with Angus steak, chicken, or fish, plus chicken tenders, wings, and custard milkshakes. It was founded in 2018 by Happy Asker, a veteran restaurateur who also founded a Michigan pizzeria chain called Happy's Pizza.

There are now 35 locations, most in the Detroit area, although they're making ambitious plans to expand, Treviño says.

"Savvy Sliders is making its Texas debut in San Antonio where it will open its first location at 303 San Pedro Ave.," he says. "But we're looking at multiple sites slated for launch throughout the summer of 2023, including San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston."

Their mainstay is sliders, with options such as fried chicken, grilled chicken, ribeye steak, battered fried cod, and a vegetarian falafel slider.

But they also do chicken tenders and chicken wings, and some locations have a breakfast menu with steak & eggs sliders as well as sliders on biscuits such as the Hangover with bacon, sausage, eggs, cheese, and tater tots.

"The emphasis is on the quality of ingredients, and also a menu where you can mix and match so there’s something for everyone," Treviño says.

Milkshakes are made with creamy custard (like soft-serve) and come in the usual choc-van-straw flavor triad, but also banana pudding and M&M Blast.

Amazingly, Dallas does have a couple of slider concepts including Easy Slider, the indie restaurant/food truck in Deep Ellum, and Son of a Butcher, the slider concept from FB Society (Mexican Sugar, Whiskey Cake).

Part of what makes Savvy unique, Treviño says, is the way the franchise system is structured, with a mission is to provide advancement and ownership possibilities.

"We collaborate with talented owner-operators, giving them support and backing, if they need it," he says.

Project Pollo, the San Antonio-based vegan chicken chain, sadly shut down in April after a tumultuous year of rapid expansion; one location remains open in Austin.

The two Savvy Sliders locations on the books so far are both taking over former Project Pollo spaces, including Dallas, although there's no word on what will happen to the others that closed.

"We're interested in any great opportunities in Texas," Treviño says. "The former Project Pollo sites were in very good shape, and we feel lucky to get the Greenville Avenue space, in such a prominent location."