I've always been very curious why I have not seen more food vendors on Elmwood Avenue. Yes, we now have our infamous Ice Creamcycle cruising around the strip, but that's about it. This morning Drew Ludwig, Pastor of the Lafayette Presbyterian Church, called to inform me that he had just rented a small concrete footprint in front of his building to a hotdog vendor. Later in the afternoon I swung by to learn about the new partnership struck up between Drew and Nick Smith, proprietor of Nick's Dogs.
Nick had originally looked at setting up his first hotdog cart on Bidwell Parkway, but that ultimately proved to be too expensive. As fate would have it he then bumped into Drew who was outside mowing the lawn of the church. The two soon struck up a deal that benefited both parties - this past Saturday was the first day of operation for Nick's Dogs. "It was a very good first day for me," he told me. "And so far today has been decent. I was lucky enough to find a business with a low cost of entry. I found a good deal on a cart and I keep it simple by just selling hotdogs. So far no one has asked for a burger." As we talked, a young girl walked up to the cart and asked if Nick had any soy dogs. After discussing the vegetarian product for a couple of minutes Nick turned to me and said, "Tomorrow we'll be selling soy dogs. I'll go out tonight and buy a six pack... we'll see how they sell."
Nick does stray from the Sahlen's hotdogs just a bit. He also serves up some Mineo and Sapio sausages (on rolls purchased, but not made, at Guercio's). "I first tried selling hotdogs for a Buffalo State College fraternity event," Nick said. "Before I knew it I had a line of people fifty feet long. That's when I first realized that this was a relatively easy start-up. My customers sit on the Lafayette Church steps and 'people watch' as they eat their dogs ($2 each - get a free bag of chips or a pop when you order two). The majority of my customers have been guys... I'm going to go out and buy some flowers and put them by the cart to get more girls to come by (the soy dogs might help too)."
Nick is going to talk to Drew about getting a couple of fold-up café tables and chairs to set up next to the cart. The young entrepreneur, originally from the Lovejoy (Iron Island) neighborhood, also coaches Ponytail softball at LaSalle Park (when he's not attending Buff State or selling hotdogs). And come fall he'll be back in college with some spending money in his pocket. Nick also has two or three more start-ups in the back of his mind... hopefully we'll be seeing more from this guy in the not-so-distant future. He told me that people are already saying that he's a shoo-in for the Artvoice best hotdog award.
Look for Nick's Dogs in front of Lafayette Presbyterian Church - corner of Elmwood and Lafayette - Monday through Friday all summer long.