Bacon is a way of life at Slater's 50/50, a new burger restaurant opening next month at Fresno's Fashion Fair Mall. Photos by Edward Smith

Why put bacon on the burger when you can have bacon in the burger?

Burger and sports bar Slater’s 50/50 plans to answer that question when it opens its doors mid-October. It will begin the hiring process next week with a job fair.

Taking over the former Anthropologie space in Fashion Fair Mall, Operations Manager Blake Foster hopes the restaurant will be open next month.

Restaurateur Scott Slater opened the first Slater’s 50/50 in Anaheim Hills in 2009. The burgers are made of 50% hamburger and 50% bacon. Because of this, the burgers have a weird, reddish color, Foster said. “But they’re delicious,” he added.

The hamburgers are built a la carte. And for the record, you can still put bacon on top of the burger. One child’s personal creation of peanut butter and jelly, ice cream a la mode and a hamburger patty on a honey wheat bun made it on the permanent menu. They’ve contracted with Fresno-based Max’s Artisan Bread for their buns.

The menu is more than just burgers, though, Foster said. It has tots, salads, pastas and more.

“You can come here and eat something different everyday,” he said.

They are in the midst of installing a full bar with craft cocktails. A refrigerated room will keep up to 50 kegs cooled for the tap wall.

It will even have a walk-up window for coffee, espresso and milkshakes. People can pick up a shake and walk around the mall with it.

By the time the restaurant is open, Foster hopes Fresno County will be allowed to have 25% capacity for indoor dining. Their dining room will fit 250 and they will have a private room for parties of up to 20 people.

Outside, they will have a patio that mall management has allowed them to use.

They will be holding a job fair Oct. 22-25 to hire 60 positions, from managers to bartenders, servers to kitchen staff. Visit the Slater’s 50/50 website for more employment information.

Training will begin in the coming weeks and Foster hopes to have a couple of soft openings before the grand opening in October.

The Slater’s 50/50 in Fresno is a franchise owned by Fresno Restaurant Group.