Hot Dog Stand

Girls in funny outfits jumping up and down on pogo sticks smashing lemons into lemonade = Gold.

Hook up a portable DVD player, run some movie trailers, music videos, etc. for your customers to watch while they eat. They linger to watch, they might buy more stuff.

Funny outfits = SEXY Halloween costumes = platinum.

Never, ever change the hot dog water. It saves money and adds to the taste.

Keep stock of gatorade, water, breath-mints, and doritos to sell with your hot dogs, and realize the bulk of your business will be done right after last call. The hot dog guys who hang around the bars here (also a college town) make a mint.

Have actual tables with comfortable chairs - quick-bite places usually don't have anywhere to sit down, and if they do, they're not comfortable or practical. I'm 5'3" - I hate sitting on tall stools, and hard chairs aren't comfortable either. Consider that maybe some people might be coming back from shopping, so they might have bags with them. They want to get off their feet and actually get comfortable - not struggle with where to set their bags down so they can balance themselves on a shitty little stool. You might also want to think of some fun old sofas and coffee tables - which, I realize is a Starbuck's ripoff, but they're always comfortable and the first seats to go. Or even better - old diner style booths. Those would be great decor for a hot dog place.

Also, you could set up a type of small newstand with papers and magazines for sale. A free selection of newspapers and magazines would be a nice idea (like at a doctor's office), but the same ones used over and over again by other folks could get sloppy with all the mustard and relish being handled. An actual little newsstand also would bring you more profit.

Have lots of different toppings for the dogs - not just the basics. Have options of a chili dog, a Texas dog, turkey franks, cheese dogs, etc. Regular size, the foot long ("And then some - THUNK!"), maybe sausages and keilbasas. There's all sorts of stuff you could do. Also things like bags of chips, or french fries if they want something hot.

Good luck and let us know how the progress goes.

Deep fry everything. It's college kids. They will eat it.

Really, offer various sized dogs, brats and other tubed meat and have a topping bar and let them build their own. You can still have signature dishes if you want. Make sure the dogs and topping are good quality. Just because they're hot dogs doesn't mean they need to be nasty.

Honestly, if you're doing a stand (for some reason I was thinking of a cart) you should check out Zack's (zackshotdogs.com). Great hot dog place.

You gotta have some sort of eating contest and hand out shitty t-shirts as a prize. Places that have these generate lots of excitement when someone eats til they puke and people love that.

Sorry, I have to ask...what exactly IS a "Texas" dog?

It's a different kind of chili on the dog. I can't really explain it, but they used to make them in the town I went to college in (Pennsylvania, but I've also had them in Michigan). It's still made with beef, but there were less beans, and the sauce wasn't that gross red sauce, and it wasn't as spicey. The sauce was kind of on the brown side (I know, that sounds worse, but it was actually alot better than regular chili), it almost looked like gravy with beef in it.

Uuuh huh.

Well, I've never heard of that. Your life is a lie!

My idea for a place I'd like to go and hang out would be a joint that was almost like a throwback to old school pizza parlors with of course a tinge of modern crap.

Put some Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat, or one of those old-school OUTRUN arcade cabinets in the corner.

Like someone else said, play trailers on a NICE televison set.

Import good snacks that are impossible to find here. i.e. You haven't had cheddar Ruffles until you've had Mexican cheddar Ruffles. The cheesiness will fuck. you. up.

There's a joint here that has a signature HUGE dog. It's massive and comes with an extra large fries and Coke. It's also fuckin expensive, but people keep buying it because if they can finish it within 20 minutes they don't have to pay and they get a picture put up on the wall. It's a great way of drumming up excitement about a place (college kids always dare each other to try it out), and in the past couple of years very few people have succeeded in finishing it.

I'd like to see a place that actually sells the Twinkie dog that Weird Al makes in UHF. Sure, it will probably make you vomit, but it's Weird Al.

The secret of my favorite local Hot Dog joint (JIMMY's in Easton, Pa... it used to be in Phillipsburg , NJ across the bridge):

They cook them in peanut oil. A JIMMY's with everything has mustard, onions, and a pickle (they use to have pickle spears, now they include atleast a half or whole pickle). I'd eat 3 or 4 at a time with a choc milk. So addictive. I crave them, while living here in FL, and I'm not even that big of a hot dog nut. My in-laws bought some and brought them down in a cooler on one of their visits. And, yeah, they have the crappy T-Shirts too. 2 old Greek guys, one tall, one short ran the place and made the dogs. The short guy has a bulbous nose and the most awesome scraggly comb-over you've ever seen. The tall guy (who isn't as tall as he used to be, because of his permanent elderly hunch) has a big bushy mustache and a thumb that is permanently stained= mustard yellow. These guys have made hotdogs since my Mom was a kid for 12 hours a day... and there's always a line out the door whenever I went. You couldn't dine there, and there was only chips & beverages in addition to the dogs, but for 75 cents a dog, it was a staple of my town.

Richard's Drive-In (which we all called "Greasy Dick's") had burgers and kickass milkshakes, perogies, etc. and you could eat outside on little concrete tables. Total dive, but the food was great.

Ambience is nice, but the food has to kick ass. These places I visited growing up were crappy little holes in the walls, where the grills probably haven't been cleaned in decades (flavor!), and sometimes the service was rude or non-discript, but it was always the food and reasonable prices that brought everyone back.

In Durham, there is a chain of hot dog stands called The Dog House. All their hot dogs are named after breeds of dogs. Like the Collie, the poodle.. etc.

Take the 20 minute drive and copy from these guys:

http://arborwiki.org/city/Red_Hot_Lovers

You could do something similar. Name all your dogs after famous celebrities. You could also show old movies like someone else mentioned with said famous celebrities.

And of course the dogs have to kick ass.


On an aside, the best burger joint I had the pleasure of going to got shut down, probably because they literally flame broiled the burgers. The flames would shoot out about 3 feet high from the grill. They were shut down because it was a fire hazard.

Not sure how much money you're investing in this, but if you do go with the movie idea, and you get waitresses, dress 'em up like old school movie usherettes, maybe with short skirts or something. Maybe do movie theme days or specials for your menu.

I think I had heard about this place. This is the joint that deep frys the hot dog right?

Not like the fries at MacDonalds in the big basket. Quickly in a smaller cooker... in peanut oil (or so I hear). Whatever the technique, they're not breaded or too greasy. Just tasty as hell.

BAM!

2 reviews (above in the link) both say the dogs are STEAMED (???), but I don't know how that accounts for the slamming flavor then. Maybe the secret's in the dog itself.


*JIMMY's is not to be mistaken for "Jimmy's on the Delaware" which took over the old building in NJ, and uses a similar name to lure in unsuspecting suckers.

EDIT: If you're in the area, Sharky's (Forks Twp., PA) and Toby's Cup (Phillipsburg, NJ) are decent as well.

EDIT2: Wikipedia had this to say...

"...The second version is a shallow fried dog served on a steamed roll with mustard, chopped white onion, and a dill pickle spear. This style is more prevalent in the eastern part of the Lehigh Valley and served by Rich's, Potts' and Jimmy's. They are also served in neighboring Phillipsburg, New Jersey, at Toby's Cup and another Jimmy's location."

SHALLOW FRIED? "Shallow frying is a type of pan frying using only enough fat to immerse approximately one-third to one-half of each piece of food; fat used in this technique is typically only used once."

You should serve them Mexican-style. By that I mean wrap them in BACON. Trust me.

As a fellow Michigander, I'm sure that you know that you'll have to offer Coney sauce at least once a week on special, if not as a daily topping. I'm sure that Coney sauce is what Lisa was referring to in her post about "Texas" dogs. You can order a block of the stuff (dry) from either Gordon or Sysco food service, then you just add water to get the consistancy you want. My Mother-In-Law used to own a restaurant and still gets the sauce for us. It is the same sauce served at both LaFayette and American Coney Island, and is also delicious on fries and burgers.

EDIT: Sorry James, reading at work and I glossed over the "Not wanting to be like the local Coney shop". I stand by at least having sauce on site, though. Run Coney Burgers and Cheese Fries every other Thursday... Besides, if they offer "Flint Coneys", then you'll have 'em beat by a mile anyway.

Get a giant LCD TV, a Blu-Ray player, and have a once a week movie night.

Sell hamburgers, for the customers who think hot dogs are gross.

Just curious, are you setting up in Ypsi or Ann Arbor? I grew up nearby and I'm just curious where you are thinking of setting up shop.

I suggest selling Nathan's dogs as well, besides the Hebrew Nationals or whatever other company you were thinking of using.

If you do milkshakes they need to be good hand mixed shakes and give them the metal cup. It's the only way to go. Getting an old greek guy to front the place is probably not a bad idea.

Check out Alton Browns "Feasting on Asphalt" shows to see what good roadside food can be.

The movie trailer thing sounds like a good idea, but it would get old having trailers on a loop over and over. Even if you had 30 different trailers, that would only last an hour, at an average of 2 minutes per trailer.

One word, James: Trannies.

Trust me, James: If you're courting Ypsilanti hot dog aficionados, you'd better leverage the power of trannies.

He could be brave and play a 42nd Street Forever DVD. But seriously, he doesn't have to play the latest stuff in the theaters. As a matter of fact, he's more likely to see a litigation, if he's "unauthorized to publicly display blah blah blah".

He would be allowed to play stuff that's public domain.

Nooooo!! Don't expose me for the hot-dog charlatan that I am!

Yes! You're right, that was the difference - in Michigan, it's called Coney sauce. In PA, they were called Texas dogs. An ex-boyfriend of mine was from Michigan, and he and his Mom took me out for the Coneys when we were visiting them one year. It's the same sauce as the Texas dogs in PA, but I thought they were both called that - I just remembered the Michigan name wrong. Either way, damn tasty stuff.

This thread is making me wish it was summer so bad. And that's just cruel when I'm locked in an office and it's sunny outside.

What I wouldn't give to get some good old Vancouver veggie street meat with all the fixings, go to the beach, sit on a log, and throw bits of bun at the seagulls and crows.

Drugs.

I say buy a lot of food dye and start up "Color My Weiner". The dogs taste the same but come in a variety of colors of Green, Blue, Purple and Red!

I have a block in the freezer right now. My wife loooves the stuff...

JEALOUS! I haven't had one of those in years! Of all the things you can get in NYC, we don't have those.

Lisa, here is a link to American Coney Island. You can order a Coney Kit and make Detroit Coney Goodness in your own kitchen!

http://www.americanconeyisland.com/home.htm

Bit of advice: Unless you're looking for a distinct clientele, I wouldn't hire oiled-up shirtless male workers only and name the establishment "The SAUSAGE FACTORY".

You're the best! I had no idea those existed - I'm absolutely getting the kit. thanks! Much yummy goodness will be winging it's way to me.

Edit - oh, wait - that's a fundraising kit. Are there just kits for a pack of hotdogs at home, or this keeps in the freezer okay?

Funny you mention that because up until this year there was a local hot dog place called The Wiener Factory. Did I get weird looks from time to time when I mentioned the place? The answer is occasionally.