The Slices Story
When Washington DC natives Eric Duensing and Tom MacDonald got together for pints on a brisk Fall night in 2009, they commiserated over DC’s tragic lack of hot, fresh, New York-style pizza by the slice. It was a problem they decided to fix once and for all, and for veteran vendor Tom the solution was a no-brainer: build a food truck and travel to any and all parts of the DMV lacking good ‘za.
A few months later DC Slices made its first appearance on a Friday in April at Farragut Square, marking what would soon become a weekly tradition in the quickly growing food truck scene. When Eric and Tom realized that they couldn’t keep up with rising demand for their delicious slices on their own, they brought in, current General Manager, and now co-owner, Zachary Graybill as DC Slices’ first full time crew member. Soon thereafter, DC Slices was going to five lunch locations a week and becoming a weekend staple out front of Dodge City on U St and Ultra Bar in Chinatown.
To keep up with the pace of growth, DC Slices has had the pleasure of working with many people from the area over the years. We currently have a full-time staff of 12 and while Tom is no longer involved, two veteran staffers, John Strocko and Andrew Knepp joined the DC Slices LLC partnership. Blessed with many talented individuals, DC Slices, hopes to extend partnership to more veteran staffers. Our crew add tons of talent and help the many aspects of the growing operations that makes DC Slices a successful brand.
Our Right to Vend
As the number of food trucks serving hungry lunch-goers increased over time, a growing amount of opposition began to call for restraining and even banning food trucks from the DMV. Realizing that we needed to fight for our right to (pizza) party, DC Slices became a co-founder of the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia Food Truck Association (DMVFTA). After two rounds of harmful legislation were proposed and subsequently shot down, the DMVFTA was able to work with the DC government to allow a symbiotic food truck culture to thrive. This was accomplished with the help of various supportive council members, the mayor, and a massive showing of support from District residents. In return, we’re proud to prepare the best darn pizza this town has ever seen. In April of 2019, co-owner Zachary Graybill stepped up and was voted in as Chair of the Board for the DMVFTA, recognizing that the food truck industry was due for an overhaul both in imagery and regulations and that the association was in need of help if it was to take on many of the challenges the local food truck scene faces.
DC Slices: By Pizza Lovers, For Pizza Lovers
DC Slices is the oldest and one of the busiest food truck companies in the District, Maryland and Virginia. Our base of operations is a large depot in South Arlington where we have our office, kitchen, plenty of storage, repairs space, two refrigerated trailers, two supply vans and our four trucks. Over the years we’ve had the privilege and pleasure to vend and cater at many famous places and wonderful people. In 2019, we made our biggest achievements to date! Early in the year, we served over 6,000 runners in two hours for the DC-based Rock and Roll Marathon. We thought that was an impressive feat, but it was only a baby step that prepared us for what was to come. In late July, we moved three-quarters of the company to West Virginia to be the official Pizza vendor for the World Scout Jamboree. For three weeks we created a huge operation that, by the end of the event, was pushing out 900+ pizzas in a nine hour period. We couldn’t have done it without an amazing veteran all-star crew that pushed all limits. A week later, we continued normal lunch operations while still going to the huge music festival, Moonrise, out of Baltimore, followed by another music fest, Wonderbus, out of Columbus, Ohio. In 2020, we hope to consolidate our focus to the DMV again AND, hopefully, open up a slices joint in the downtown DC area.
The partners behind the DC Slices brand have always looked to the future and sought growth. In 2014, Eric Duensing and Zachary Graybill seized a unique and rare opportunity to start a pizza business at the vacation resort town, Seabrook, in Washington state. They started with a wood-fired pizza food truck on an old 1930’s Ford flatbed, and the next year started work on a pizzeria called Frontagers Pizza Co. By 2017, Frontagers was seeing a full restaurant every weekend.
Several years of successfully growing and running Frontagers have also provided ample learning opportunities in the nuances of a brick and mortar business. To prepare for the day the DC Slices brand could open an East Coast slice joint, several of our staff have been sent to the West Coast to be trained in those nuances. The benefits were immediately seen in their increased cooking and preparation abilities. It also provides a great employment opportunity to be able to send staff across the country. They love it!