Thursday, May 6, 2010
Six months ago, opening a food cart downtown seemed like a near impossibility for Jason Mandel and Justin Sharkan.
But now the time restriction and various other roadblocks, including safety and rent, standing between them and “Last Stop Snack Shop,” are in the past.
Last Tuesday, their petition to have a hotdog cart open downtown until 2:30 a.m. finally got the City Commission’s approval. Mandel and Sharkan, both sophomores from Wilmette, Ill., plan to have the food cart open by the beginning of Hawk Week, Aug. 16, when students are moving back to Lawrence and residence halls open up again.
Sophomores Jason Mandel (left) and Justin Sharkan got approval to open a food cart downtown until 2:30 a.m. The cart will open on Aug. 16 and serve hotdogs, chips, tacos and grilled cheese.
“It’s been a long road, and hopefully it will work once we open it up,” Mandel said. “We initially wanted to try to have it open a couple nights before the end of finals, but both of us aren’t going to be in Lawrence this summer.”
Mandel and Sharkan estimated it would cost more than $4,000 to get the food cart up and running, which includes getting their health code license and fire department inspection of the cart.
Mandel said they are funding the project with money from their own pockets.
They aren’t sure how much they will initially have to spend on food, but they plan to use the first couple weeks of operation as a trial period.
He projected all of the food will cost $5 or less – $1 for chips and water – and will include hotdogs, hamburgers, walking tacos and grilled cheese sandwiches.
“We want the food to be as fresh as possible,” Mandel said. “It could be more or it could be less, but the majority will be in that range.”
Their food cart will be similar to the one located on Wescoe Beach during the school year.
Sara Beth McGlasson, a senior from Topeka, said she typically ate at the food cart on Wescoe Beach when it’s open and that she’s excited about the possibility of one opening downtown.
“I usually get a hotdog and chips. It’s simple, easy and cheap,” she said. “It will be really nice to have once the bars close, and you need to unwind but aren’t ready to go home.”
McGlasson said she thought a food cart that made pancakes and breakfast food would be “ultimate” but thought that this idea was good, nonetheless.
City Commissioner Mike Dever said he has concerns about large crowds forming around the food cart.
“I do worry about the congregations and people hanging around,” Dever said. “But the extension of time for me is simply serving a niche, and they’ve certainly done a good job.”
At the meeting, the two sophomores addressed safety concerns and rent standing in the way of initiating Last Stop Snack Shop.
The original idea to have the stand located at Sixth and New Hampshire streets was denied at the commission meeting because of safety and vandalism concerns from business owners in the area.
“Most of the trouble that happens downtown late at night is outside of a bar,” said Jane Pennington, executive director of Downtown Lawrence, Inc. “If there is congregation outside of this place, there is the potential to cause problems.”
The stand will be located on one of the corners of Tenth and Massachusetts Streets. Mandel said once they bought their permit from the city , they would have to specify which corner they want.
Despite concerns from Pennington and local business owners, the commission was overall supportive of the students’ effort to open the food cart.
“I appreciate your entrepreneurial spirit,” Commissioner Lance Johnson said during the meeting. “I’d be willing to give it a try.”
Because of the expense and hassle of starting a business, Mandel said he didn’t think competition from other students would be a big issue, either.
“You have to be up all night, and there are taxes and big legal problems you could run into,” he said. “It’s a lot of work besides standing out and selling hotdogs.”
— Edited by Allyson Shaw
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City approves students' downtown hot dog stand
Why pay when you can go to the hot dog house over by the Hawk? They're free! Of course they only hand them out on Friday nights.
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