Hometown Eats: Slyder’s Restaurant

HILLSVILLE, Va. (WDBJ) - Pull up or should we say, slide into this curbside dive in Hillsville appropriately named Slyder’s Restaurant, where you’ll be welcomed like family because it’s a family who runs this place.

“We’re all family so we don’t have to hire,” joked owner Denice Boles’s daughter Brianna Inman.

“We’re all very close; we see each other almost every day; we all work together almost every day,” said Boles’s other daughter, Brittany Gallimore.

The road to today’s Slyder’s began 60 years ago when this spot was a Taste-E-Freeze before the rebrand to Slyder’s. Then about 10 years ago, the door opened for an ownership change.

“My mom got the opportunity to buy because the owner we were working for was selling, so she took the opportunity to buy, and we’ve built it up ever since,” said Gallimore.

Sisters Brittany Gallimore and Brianna Inman are 2 of 5 sisters and they took after mom Denice when it comes to food service. They beefed up the menu, adding soups, salads, wings and wraps, but they kept the same service time.

“We are fast! We get a lot of people coming for their lunch break, so they got to get their food and go!” Gallimore proudly said.

And regulars have taken notice.

“The service is awesome, the food is awesome, you can’t get no better service. It’s the greatest fast food in the world!” Exclaimed regular customer Debbie.

“It’s fun to sit there and talk with them and wait on them, it ain’t bad working here, it’s fun. It’s a friendly atmosphere, we all come in here and talk and joke around. We have a good time,” said Inman.

The stars of the Slyder’s roster are the burgers and hot dogs, and of course the more than 60 flavors of milkshakes.

“The milkshakes are really good and they got fast service,” said Donnie, who stops by for a strawberry banana milkshake every time she takes her dog to the vet.

“Mmm, that’s the best. Strawberry banana,” said Donnie between sips.

Slyder’s stays active on its Facebook page, hosting regular contests and giveaways throughout the year. Specifically during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, they help families in need. On Thanksgiving, they gave out free food and for Christmas they will select two families and pay for everything. They also encourage customers to drop off an unwrapped toy in exchange for a free basket of food.

The sisters are also proud of not having to go up much on prices for their food, only about $0.75 on each item at the most.

“We know this is a small town so we try to keep it as reasonable as we can for our customers,” said Inman.

Slyder’s, a hometown eat with grand slam flavor.

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