Political Science Alumnus is Successful Restaurateur
Scott Slater recently opened a new six-concept food hall in Pacific Beach
After graduating from SDSU College of Arts and Letters with a degree in political science, Scott Slater (‘05) found his calling as an entrepreneur/restaurateur.
His first foray into the food business began in 2005 with a hot dog concession stand based outside of 36 Home Depot locations in the Bay Area, with outposts in New York, Phoenix, Orange County, and Los Angeles. His first business partner, Fletcher Wimbush, was a fraternity brother from Phi Kappa Psi.
After honing his restaurant chops on hot dogs, he switched to hamburgers and a variety of projects over the years to include his namesake restaurant Slater’s 50/50 (a concept he developed while still a student at SDSU). The “50/50” is a hamburger consisting of 50% beef and 50% bacon. The idea was conceived during an SDSU tailgater, when he barbecued a “burger” for friends made completely of bacon. Once he was ready to take it to the public, Slater said, “I had plans to do full bacon burgers at Slater’s, until later we tested them out and everything caught on fire,” so beef was added to the recipe — and his award-winning burger brand was born.
After selling Slater’s 50/50, he began exploring other restaurant concepts. Early this year, he opened a new food hall called Mission+Garnet housed in the iconic former Denny’s restaurant space in Pacific Beach. With six branded restaurants — it's a one-stop meeting place for hungry locals and visitors headed to the beach, with comfortable outdoor seating, and late-night hours. “We are happy to be stewards of the iconic corner in Pacific Beach which housed the Denny’s restaurant dating back to the ‘60s,” he said.”I remember going to Denny’s as a student.”
Slater tapped into relationships built while attending classes at SDSU. His first business partner, first chef, and attorney are all frat brothers. “It all comes back to the group that you meet in college,” he said. “The reason I moved back to San Diego from Orange County was because I am an Aztec and it's the city I fell in love with.”
Slater said he likes creating and opening restaurants.”I like hosting and I like seeing people coming in here and enjoying themselves — it gets me going,” he said. “So the more I can make people happy, it makes me happy.”
“Taking advantage of social programs at SDSU no doubt shaped the direction of my career path,” Slater said. He still leans on people that he met through his years on campus.
With such a large alumni network, Slater likens it to three degrees of separation, not the usual six, when he says, “You can go anywhere in San Diego and within a group of three, inevitably there will be another Aztec in the room.”