Small Business Spotlight: Slice Inc.

Article by Becky Fillinger, photos provided

Adam Kado’s new pizza restaurant Slice Inc. officially opens Saturday, October 2 at 1PM. Come by 519 E Hennepin Ave for the ribbon cutting ceremony and welcome another small business to NE Minneapolis! We talked to Adam about the concept for Slice and balancing his professional activities – he’s a busy man!

Adam Kado, right, with partner Hosie Thurmond on the left.

Q:  Tell us about the concept for your new pizza restaurant. 

A:  Our concept for Slice is take-out and delivery New York style pizza in slices and whole pies. We want to take an innovative approach in service to our customers, so we will be utilizing a service window to decrease interaction and increase efficiency. We have also invested a lot in our online ordering system so people will be able to place an order online and pick it up in person. (The website won’t be live until Friday, October 1, but here is a sneak peak.) 

Q:  Will you have daily specials? 

A:  We will not have an extensive menu. We want to make sure everything on our menus tastes good and is a classic. We will, however, try new specials every now and then, and based off what the people crave we will supply.  

Q:  You’re the son of an immigrant from Kenya. How do you describe your American dream?

A:  For me, the American dream is freedom and ownership. My father was an entrepreneur and although he didn’t make a lot of money, he took pride in the fact that as an immigrant he owned his own business. To our family, that was priceless. I hope that one day when I have children and it comes time for them to provide, they can start with positions in our respective family businesses. For me that would be a dream come true. 

Q:  Please tell us about your involvement with the Timberwolves and Lynx teams. Will you transition fully to your restaurant business? 

A:  As far as my transition to the pizza industry, it was actually my first job when I was 16 years old working at Papa John's as an in-store worker. I still remember working 30 hours a week at Papa John's in high school while simultaneously playing varsity basketball. I went on to play and coach college basketball and also played 2 years professionally in Europe. Today I work with the Timberwolves and Lynx basketball academy and also own a basketball player development and consulting business. I think it’s important for current and former athletes to develop other life skills outside of athletics, and that’s what inspired me and my partners to start up Slice. 

Q:  What do you want Mill City Times readers to know about your restaurant? 

A:  We want the Mill City Times readers to know we are excited to provide an affordable eating solution that not only tastes good, is prepared fast, but is also made with quality ingredients. We also couldn’t be prouder to service this Northeast Minneapolis community. We have here such a beautiful diverse blend of Millennial, Generation X and Generation Z (even Boomers) that we feel our restaurant is curated to the neighborhood we will be calling home. We have already received numerous letters, calls and messages of support from the whole community and we really can’t thank them enough for their support. 

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