My new business - comments / crtiques welcome

Hello all – I am new to this forum, but have been lurking for a while as I worked out the feasibility to do a cart. (plus I had some problems with the initial registration for the site). Here is what I have planned – your comments and thoughts are welcome.

Background:
I live in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama. I grew up in a family with a combined 20 aunts and uncles that mostly grew up during the depression and did not have much. As a result they could make anything taste good and quality ingredients taste great. My Irish grandfather was a professional baker and raised his family on farms in Pennsylvania and Alabama. He passed the love of quality and fresh ingredients on to my father and he passed it on to me. They were both great bakers, but I missed that gene, my brother picked it up however.

My mother’s father was a wildcatter all over Louisiana and Texas until he broke his back in a rig explosion, then settling down in Oklahoma to farm and raise live stock. The dust bowl wiped them out and they moved south to Alabama.

Why tell all of that? Mostly to give an idea of my culinary upbringing. It was a strange but delicious mix of Irish, Texan, and Cajun with hints of Pennsylvania Dutch all coupled with a huge Deep South influence. My God the food was good. It still is, as what is left of the aunts, uncles and all of the cousins yearly have family reunions that feature tons of fantastic home cooking.

As for me, I am the son of an artist mother and an architect father. So I grew up with my feet firmly planted in both the artistic and technical worlds. As started as a graphic artist and animator while still in my teens. I attended business school. I moved from graphic arts to multimedia and eventfully the Web. From there I followed the money and became deeply entrenched in the technology that my field of work depended on.

Now in my 40’s I have become bored with technology and disenchanted with the corporate world and I am returning to my roots and love of great food. My family has for years urged me to move into food service because I love to cook and according to them I am good at it as well. And that’s what brings me here.

Business:
I want to start a food cart that serves high quality dogs, burgers and sausages.

Locations:
I have staked out a spot downtown and have tentative approval from the city for that location. If it falls through I have several backups in mind.

Service:
I plan to serve lunch 5 days a week initially and later add breakfast. I also plan on 1-2 events per month. We have generally good weather year round aside from a few days. This year we spent almost two weeks over 100 degrees and we generally will have 3-5 days a year that the city stops moving due to ice. We don’t handle snow and ice too well down here.

The Food:
I never realized it until I lived outside of Alabama and traveled extensively, but we have a pretty strong hot dog tradition here in Birmingham. We have a local chain called Sneaky Pete’s and quite a few Mom & Pop shops, but only a handful of cart vendors. In the past few years several of the Mom & Pops have closed, not due so much to economics but more because Mom and Pop retired. Many just closed, others sold out with varying degrees of success depending on how much the menu was tinkered with and the personality of the new owner. Hot dog patrons here seem to be very loyal but don’t like it when you change things too much.

I am focused on quality first and foremost and doing something a bit different than most around here. I think that will set me apart but also worries me somewhat. Most dogs sold here are good quality, but not quite as flavorful as those I have had served up north. All-beef kosher dogs are a rare find here, so I think there is an opportunity, but they also taste slightly different, a bit stronger flavor than most of the dogs served here. That said I have heard for years “I wish I could find a good …..” insert Chicago dog or NY dog here. I am not sure why but there are a large number of Chicago transplants here as well.


Hot Dogs:
Most vendors here serve Ziegler’s, (a local company) a skinless wiener or frank with variations made of chicken and pork or beef, I am not a huge fan but they are popular and have a tremendous history here, (at one time Paul “Bear” Bryant actually owned a portion of the company, making them the most popular hot dog in the state.)

I have tested at Sabrett’s, Vienna Beef, Best Kosher, Nathan’s, Hebrew National and Oscar Meyer Deli Franks. Because of regional taste and availability I am leaning toward Best Kosher. Some, like Sabrett’s, I think may have too strong a taste for local liking. Others I have problems with availability (Vienna Beef). While I like natural casing dogs, I am not sure they will go over well here. Some of my test subject (family and friends) were not thrilled, while others loved them. So I am still a bit torn here.

I will serve true Chicago style dogs (with poppy seed bunds, sports peppers et al,) NY style dogs with red onion sauce, chili dogs, as well as 3 local favorites – slaw dogs, special sauce dogs (2 versions a vinegar based sauce like BBQ but much thinner and a ground beef based sauce) I will also include a brat and burgers.

The Cart:
After doing some research I have chosen a cart made by Top Dog Carts. I have spoken to Jim a few times and settled on a 36 inch griddle model. I am having them add an additional 2 inch trailer hitch so I can add a platform or grill on an extensible arm. This will allow me to increase my cooking area and have both flat grill and char grill capabilities for events.

Well I have rambled on way to long – your comments and critiques are welcome and appreciated.

Thanks
DD

Welcome to RF. Seems like you've got things well thought out. I'll be interested to see what the pros have to say.

Sounds like you have it well thought out. I was wondering about the burgers? What kind of bun, toppings, meat, etc?

Ah, yes. 1/3# burger, I prefer ground chuck 80/20, on an over sized sandwich bun, buttered.

5 menu items - A Regular burger, Bacon Cheddar, Swiss Mushroom, and two local favorites Chili Burger and BBQ Cheddar, all dressed to order. Standard toppings include the freshest possible letuce, tomato, onion. Bacon (there is a local guy who uses fruit woods like apple, peach to smoke, I'll try to use that if its reliable and not too much more expensive) Pickles, Cheddar and Swiss, mushrooms (family recipe - if they are as big a hit with public as my family, then it may be a signiture), mayo, mustard, ketchup. I have also had a few people suggest I put a blackended bleu cheese burger and a horseradish mayo I make on the menu - I am still debating those.

I'm glad to hear you are doing a chili burger, and the BBQ cheddar sounds good too. I must say the smoked bacon sounds really good. (There are times I regret not eating meat anymore, LOL.) I would suggest trying the blackened bleu cheese burger, as that just sounds too good to miss.
As for the horseradish mayo, well I have never been a mayo fan so I really can't give any advice there.

Anyway, it sounds like you have it all well thought out.

Serving burgers from a stand can be timr consuming and slow down the flow if you arent careful. People will want food now, and won't wait until you cook one up from scratch. You will need to have a few par-cooked and put in a pan with hot water and a neatral spice just barely covered with water. I sometimes keep them in with my beef dogs and I have never had a complaint. I serve a 1/3 lb sirloin burger and very few toppings. If you spend too much time on that one item, you will lose customers who don't want to wait. Something to think about if you are gonna be downtown.

As long as enough of the prep is done ahead of time, there should be no problem. Granted I have never worked a cart, but having worked in food service for most of my working career I think it can be done.

It seems like you are going about things the right way. Your serving high quality products. I think that Bests Kosher are AWESOME.

Let me ask you a question.... Have you already felt everything out with the health department? Here in Kentucky I can't serve red onion sauce or any perishable toppings like slaw or chili or cheese in an open air cart.

Just wanted to check.

Yes, that falls under Priority Category 1 food here in Birmimgham. It is allowed but must meet a higher level of scrutiny by HD.

Most of the hot dog manufacturers you mentioned are in the Northeast. We use to buy 1000 lbs at a time directly from the manufacturer in order to keep the unit cost and the transportation costs down.

If you are not going to have the volume, then you are going to have to go through a local distributor...Espeically if you want a hot dog from up north. So, then you have a middleman to pay, too. But, it's a lot easier than accepting and storing 1000 pound deliveries and tying up your money upfront.

I remember I had our guys rush in the delivieries because I did not want our competitors knowing the brand of dog we were using - 6 to 1's All beef - Natural casing (Marathon Industries). In hindsight, it probably was not necessary because few, if any were willing to pay for this quality of hot dog.

Hey, if Birmingham likes a skinless hot dog so be it. Get the popular local brand and provide unique and great toppings that will separate yourself from the competition. Why go through the aggrivation of going out of town for your hot dog. Too many logistical problems and added costs.