If I didn't sell hot dogs.......

As an outdoor food vendor, I've considered the idea of selling something else, especially in a warmer climate, year round. This article caught my attention last year.http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/18c.htm After all, it worked for Forest Gump.

I hear ya there CSD.. Especially when something simple like the above you just fill your steam tables and sell.. Quick assembly, low overhead. I had a crazy thought of Meatloaf and Mashed potatoes, or Manhattans out of a small mobile kitchen (Stand or trailer) for them cold months.. Ya never know...

My first thought was "don't you need a liqure license to sell manhattens?" Then I figured it must be some kinda warm sandwich..

quote:

Originally posted by chicagostyledog

As an outdoor food vendor, I've considered the idea of selling something else, especially in a warmer climate, year round. This article caught my attention last year.http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/18c.htm After all, it worked for Forest Gump.

Shoot. People 'round here do that in abundance. It's called a Fresh Vegetable & Fruit Stand.

quote:

Originally posted by dreamzpainter

My first thought was "don't you need a liqure license to sell manhattens?" Then I figured it must be some kinda warm sandwich..

Ya, fancy name for an open faced roast beef sandwich.. (or turkey for that matter...

Really!!!!! Someone who understands the concept of "enough"!!!!Aint roadfood great!

Great link, Chicagostyledog!

Oh man, I have regular fantasies about this kind of thing, especially while I'm sitting behind a desk most of the time, making considerably less than the shrimp & rice plates estimated profit-line.... SO and I have a running joke about me opening up `Rhodes' Congee Hut' or in this case Congee Truck.... The only drawback I see is being stuck in that truck bathed in shrimp steam every day....

Excellent book! I wish it were around in the 70s. I subscribe to the same philosophy. The steam should be good for your skin. LOL

That was a great story, thanks for the link. There's a joint down in Key West called the "B&O FISH WAGON", when the guy first started he sold fish sandwiches from a hand made wagon, it looked like a shack - GREAT FOOD! Then he stood a few old closet doors up and some tarps on top of the doors, a few tables and so it goes, busy and busier, it's still there and he does pretty good. When I first got back from the Nam I had a hot dog stand down on the waterfront in South Philly, longshoreman and truck drivers were my customers. Sold Hot dogs, Italian sausages, breakfast sandwiches, meatballs, hoagies, etc. My old man was a longshoreman back then, he's long gone now, he was a character. He says to me "Keep a bottle or two of booze behind the counter, them guys are cold in the morning". Following his advice, the word spreads and BINGO! Talk about business, the next thing you know I'm opening at 5 a.m., there's no seats, it's strictly out the window, there's so many guys there I have to hire two of my breasters and my girlfriend to handle the action and the place is so small the four of us have to stand alongside each other never moving from your spot and pumping everything out the window. "Yo Chief, slam ne a ham n' egg wit provo on a kaiser and a double Imperial wit a Schmidt's". The water for the joint came from a fire hydrant. What great times and memories. CHEF JOE!

Very colorful Joe. Your my kind of guy, The good old days are still ahead just more regulated. It seems that over the last 20 years there are fewer vendors every few years. I can remember Manhattan in the 60s and 70s there was a vendor on every corner and everyone did well. I think the imposed regulations are in part because of lost tax dollars city wide and I do remember some fuss being mad about it in the news papers.

That's a great story Chef! My Grandfather was a longshoreman ,back when Hoboken was a port.I worked in Port Newark for awhile as a crane operator loading and unloading pier containers on trains not ships,and my father just retired as a piggy packer operator(same thing loading and unloading tractor trailers and pier containers on trains).I think I should have stayed working there,my fathers pension is $4100 a month,but I left to do my own thing.I can tell you from personal experience there was alot of drinking on the job back then,it was very commonplace!I know the lunch trucks around the port and rail yards do a bang up business,never had any offer me a wild turkey though!There was a Greek guy named Gus (alot of Greeks in the lunch truck business,just like the diner business)who made a killer bacon and egg sandwich(I always had 2 they were so good,gained 25 pounds my first 4 months working there. between that and the Portugese restaurants in Newark)He put 2 eggs on a buttered portugese roll with about 6 0r 7 slices of crisp bacon,Great sandwich!Great coffee too,don't know where he got the water but I hope it wasn't the fire hydrant!

I'm a born 'n' bred Manhattanite, and it seems to me that there are as many street vendors as ever. Now here's an example: there are lots of carts that sell grilled chicken sandwiches or gyros. I guess most do okay. But there's one, between Fifth and Madison, maybe on 62nd Street. There's a LINE every day. THREE guys work the cart. One takes orders and one grills, one slices and wraps and one does money and bevs, or something like that. Average "check" has to be about $7, maybe higher. They have to do a couple of hundred people a day, minimum. Do the math. And all cash.
What I don't know is what the license costs. There was a story in the NY Times a few years ago about the hotdog guys. I think I remember that the fella in front of the Metropolitan Museum paid -- brace yourself -- $103,000 for the spot. So how much do you think this guy has to take in to pay two grand a week for the license? Blows me away. I'll try to google it and see if I can come up with the real numbers.
And, Festival, I don't know about anyplace else, but the water in the hydrants here is the same water as in the sink. And the shower. And the toilets...

Bon Appetit!

http://www.langston.com/Fun_People/1998/1998AEP.html

That $100,000+ fee isn't necessarily paid by a small independent hot dog vendor. Every day, large trucks with a crew of 2-4 people arrive at various locations, such as Central Park, and drop off carts in the morning. A crew picks them up at night. This is big business with contracted companies that pay the city to lease the space.

From What I have been told,from a few people .It is hard to get a new vending permit in NYC. US Military Veterans have top priority in getting vending permits,and many of the vendors you see lease the permits from people who have them already.I shy away from most carts in NYC,alot of them are pretty dirty,not all but alot.As you can see most dont have sinks for the vendor to wash his hands,and many are run by dirty looking characters,and road dirt and grime from all the cars get all over everything.I am not a finicky guy,I just am finicky about cleanliness when I eat something.There was a report on tv about how dirty some of the vendors were when they watched them with a hidden camera.