Yasser Zermeno has been training to become a restauranteur ever since he was 16. As a dishwasher in Guatemala, he watched and learned from chefs in the kitchen, until he eventually became a corporate chef in Las Vegas.
He officially became a business owner in 2013, with the launch of the Picanha Steak Truck. Just last year, Zermeno opened Picanha’s first brick-and-mortar location.
“We’re just growing the brand as a whole, and people really love the concept,” Zermeno told What Now Las Vegas. “It’s not a very expensive steak restaurant where you’re going to pay a crazy amount of money to have a nice meal.”
In an effort to grow the brand throughout the city, Zermeno determined that the next step would be to open a cloud kitchen, also known as a ghost kitchen, in the Gateway District at 333 W Saint Louis Ave.
“With this style, you can order in person, take out in person, and we’ll offer delivery,” Zermeno said. “It’s really where restaurants are going right now, the grab-and-go style is becoming so much more important.”
However, this is not the end of the story for Picanha’s expansion. The third location, Zermeno hopes, will bring the restaurant near Centennial Hills.
“We have a lot of followers from neighborhoods in the northwest, and they come all the way from there to our restaurant,” Zermeno said. “So we are planning on opening up a new restaurant in that area. We still need to do a lot of homework, but the northwest is an area that we would love to branch out to.”
Picanha is named after the cut of meat it’s most famous for — the top sirloin cap. However, their most popular menu items are the steak sandwich and the surf and turf entree. In addition to their brick-and-mortar location, loyal fans still follow their steak truck around the city.
“We love all the support we’ve been given by our fans,” Zermeno said. “I feel so grateful that we’re able to keep things growing like this.”
