{"id":276385,"date":"2026-05-19T10:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T10:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/276385\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T10:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T10:26:09","slug":"smalls-sliders-opening-first-jacksonville-area-restaurant-in-st-johns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/276385\/","title":{"rendered":"Smalls Sliders opening first Jacksonville-area restaurant in St. Johns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Smalls Sliders<\/a>, a fast-growing mini\u2011cheeseburger chain, is set to open its first Jacksonville-area restaurant May 26 in St. Johns County, bringing its bright \u201cSmorange\u201d shipping\u2011container \u201cCan\u201d concept to Northeast Florida.The restaurant will open at 9:30 a.m. at 1545 County Road 210 W., near The Fountains at St. Johns mixed-use development, marking the fast-growing Atlanta-based chain\u2019s<\/a> first entry into the Jacksonville market, a spokesperson confirmed to the Times\u2011Union.<\/p>\n

The opening comes about two months after the Atlanta-based chain<\/a> signaled the Jacksonville-area arrival with a celebratory “Can Drop” of the signature \u201cSmorange\u201d-colored restaurants.<\/p>\n

Smalls Sliders is known for mini-cheeseburgers cooked-to-order, seasoned waffle fries and hand-spun milkshakes. Its restaurants are specialized modular 800-square-foot shipping containers \u2014 known as a “Can”\u00a0\u2014 that encompass a kitchen streamlined for efficiency. It has a grill, fryer, milkshake machine and food prep area for the\u00a0popular quick-service restaurant, which boasts both a drive-thru and a walk-up window.<\/p>\n

There will also be an 830-square-foot outdoor patio with about 32 seats. There is no indoor seating.<\/p>\n

The Saint Johns restaurant is the first of seven proposed in the Jacksonville area,\u00a0franchisee William Cone previously told the Times-Union during the March 17 “can drop” in Saint Johns. The restaurant is the franchise’s fifth location. Four already are open: two in Ocala and one each in Tallahassee and Fort Walton Beach.<\/p>\n

A sixth restaurant is planned in Middleton, followed by one in Beachwalk. Noting they have a large trade area in Florida and South Georgia, Cone also said more restaurants are in the works. He previously said that they were scouting potential locations in Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Orange Park as part of the planned expansion into Northeast\u00a0Florida.<\/p>\n

Want a great burger in Jacksonville? Here are 10 places to try<\/a><\/p>\n

More dining news: Sign up for Dining Notes, our free weekly newsletter for the latest restaurant news in Jacksonville<\/a><\/p>\n

‘Go Big. Eat Smalls.’\"Smalls<\/p>\n

Smalls Sliders, a quick-service restaurant chain known for cheeseburger sliders, seasoned waffle fries, and milkshakes plans to open its new location at 1545 W. County Road 210 in Saint Johns on May 26.<\/p>\n

The chain’s tagline is “Go Big. Eat Smalls” \u2014 promising “no shortcuts.”<\/p>\n

A Smalls slider is a 100% beef patty, topped with melted American cheese, pickle and signature secret sauce (\u201cSmauce\u201d) served on a toasted bun.<\/p>\n

Customers can upgrade their sliders to a Biggie Smalls (double meat, double cheese) or a Biggie Smalls with bacon and a side of queso to dip the burger in, which Cone said is a personal favorite.<\/p>\n

The queso as a dip for the burgers and fries is unique to Smalls.<\/p>\n

Seasoned waffle-cut fries made from Russet potatoes, soft drinks, and hand-spun shakes \u2014 available in vanilla, chocolate or Cookies and Cream flavors \u2014 are also showcased on the menu.<\/p>\n

Get smashed: First a food truck, Hard Pressed Burgers opens restaurant in San Marco<\/a><\/p>\n

‘Born and raised in Baton Rouge’<\/p>\n

Although Atlanta is now its headquarters, Smalls Sliders “was born and raised in Baton Rouge,” Cone said.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2019 by Brandon Landry in Baton Rouge, Smalls Sliders counts former NFL quarterback Drew Brees among its early investors.<\/p>\n

The Saint Johns Can is being developed by Ocala-based DPC Smalls Investment LLC, led by Cone’s father, Doug Cone, who brought the concept to Florida in 2024 as part of a multi-unit deal.<\/p>\n

The buildout cost was estimated at $500,000, according to a Feb. 18 St. Johns County building permit.<\/p>\n

Teresa Stepzinski is the dining reporter for the Times-Union. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @TeresaStepz or reach her via email at tstepzinski@jacksonville.com.<\/p>\n

If you’re a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber<\/a> to get the latest dining coverage.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Smalls Sliders sets opening for first Jacksonville-area restaurant<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Smalls Sliders, a fast-growing mini\u2011cheeseburger chain, is set to open its first Jacksonville-area restaurant May 26 in St.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[16984,116,118,117,5221,117954,5902,117956,117955],"class_list":["post-276385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-biggie-smalls","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-restaurant","tag-saint-johns","tag-st-johns-county","tag-waffle-fries","tag-william-cone"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}