Kevin Slachiak, owner of Say Cheese and Comic Book Café says he is a comic book nerd from way back from as long as he could remember and for 50 years he has been collecting comics. He says he nerded out his basement and there were superheroes everywhere and we were just sitting around one day and said we should do this over the restaurant and it turned out really great. Kevin says when they bought The Hulk it was sitting in his garage for a long time because he didn’t know how he was going to get him in the front door. He chuckles and said he thought he was going to have to take out the window, but it ended up working out because the way he was designed; he was designed to walk through the door.
Kevin owns the location and built it out. When they started it was 1, 000 square feet and now it’s 7,000 square feet. He says they had a take-out pizzeria for ten years but then after that they added the comic bookstore; then says all the comic book stuff came to life right away. Then they expanded to add a small dining room. They had six tables, a little bar and a comic bookstore in the middle of it. Kevin says that was a little bit crazy because it was too small, and the place would be packed all the time. They had three locations and decided to get rid of the other locations and expand this one. They decided to blow out the wall and expand again and then again one more time. Emily asked Kevin what he loves more the pizzeria or the comic bookstore. His response was definitely the comic books, it’s a no brainer. He goes on to say he would rather be writing comic books and drawing comic books and if he could retire today that’s what he would be doing. They made 70 of their own superheroes and you will see those superheroes all over the walls and they have a lot of fun with it. You will see a lot of their work around the restaurant and about 90% of the restaurant are their superheroes. The collectables and statues are all licensed property that they sell there but the other characters on the walls are all their own characters that they drew, made, created, and named. Does he have a favorite? He says he has several top guys that he like,s and he doesn’t know if he can pick just one but Red Rafe is one his favorites. Kevin’s favorite character in the Marvel Universe is Doctor Doom, who is a villain actually and Silver Surfer is his second favorite. He says his kids would say the seven-year-old hero is their favorite. His name is Shadow Shifter and he controls his shadow. He can turn the shadow into any creature he wants, and the creature comes to life. Kevin has seven children from 7years old to 20 years old. Kevin says they have a lot fun there and it is a great place to bring the kids.
Kevin says he really enjoys talking nerd talk with the customers and they call him over to the table all the time and they want to know everything. They may ask who are these new characters, what’s going on? Kevin says he is an encyclopedia for all the characters, and they will ask him some random question about the and he has all the answers.
Say Cheese and the Comic Book Café is located at 1771 Love Road in Grand Island.
For more information visit saycheesepizza.com
