Chicago Style Hot Dogs & Beef Sandwiches (Kansas City, Springfield: insurance, home)

[JohnInChicago]

Hello All,

I currently live in a Chicago Suburb, but own land in Bois D'Arc. My wife and I plan on building a home there very soon, hopefully break ground next year. I am an IT Professional and she is an Insurance VP. We both want to do something different when we move. We are ready to give up everything Chicago has to offer - except the food. Since I am the cook in the family, I came up with the idea to open a small Chicago Style Hot Dod Stand. The food would be "imported" from Chicago and cooked & prepared there.

I have plenty of family in the south and everytime they come up here, we go out and eat all day everyday. It's usually pizza, beef sandwiches, hot dogs & polish sausages.

My question is: do you guys that are living there have a craving for this type of food?

I would appreciate any input at all on this.

Thanks in advance and Merry Christmas to everyone.

John

[GeekOfTheOzarks]

I would definitely say yes to the menu you mentioned. However, I'm moving toward a more healthy diet so am including less meat these days but I still eat pizza and get a craving a good polish sausage once in a while!

[Marc2]

My favorite for this kind of thing is Portillo's!

[JohnInChicago]

Portillo's has great atmosphere, but their food isn't as good as it used to be. Anyone remember walking down Maxwell Street in the late 60's or 70's and buying a polish with grilled onions? This is what I'm talking about, Vienna & Chicago Red Hots Hot dogs, Italian Beef sandwiches and polish sausages.

[Curmudgeon]

Now if you'd just move it further south...

[8 SNAKE]

Are you actually planning to open a hot dog stand instead of a restaurant? Springfield doesn't have nearly the foot traffic that Chicago does. Not even remotely close.

[JohnInChicago]

I know this is true. I was thinking more like "build it and they will come". I wasn't thinking of a "hot dog stand" so to speak, but a small walk-in place.

[MoNative34]

Originally Posted by JohnInChicago

I know this is true. I was thinking more like "build it and they will come". I wasn't thinking of a "hot dog stand" so to speak, but a small walk-in place.

Probably the best way to go. Street vending is not the norm in that part of the country like the larger cities. Even in Kansas City, its nill due to food service regulations and light foot traffic.

[8 SNAKE]

Originally Posted by JohnInChicago

I know this is true. I was thinking more like "build it and they will come". I wasn't thinking of a "hot dog stand" so to speak, but a small walk-in place.

In my opinion, even a walk-in restaurant is going to be a tough sell if there's no dining area. People in Springfield like to sit down and eat their meals or pick them up at a drive-thru window and go home. If you go with a small walk-in place, I suspect that you will see very few productive hours of business each week. I'm not in the restaurant biz though, so take my opinions with a grain of salt.

[Ciaerin]

This would be a great venture at Branson Landing or Old Downtown Branson. They have a ton of foot traffic there.