On Jan 27, 12:41�pm, "Kswck" > wrote:
> "Sheldon" > wrote in message
>
> ...
> On Jan 27, 8:33?am, "Kswck" > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > "Sheldon" > wrote in message
>
> ....
> > On Jan 27, 12:52?am, "<RJ>" > wrote:
>
> > > While viviting Detroit for the holidays,
> > > my nephew took me to "The Ham Place".
>
> > > It's a tiny cinder-block "diner",
> > > inside a counter and about 20 stools.
>
> > > They have FOUR items on the menu.... that's it.
>
> > > Breakfast; ?Ham and eggs of your choice.
> > > Lunch; ? ?Ham Sammich ?( about 2" thick, on rye )
> > > ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?Pea soup with ham
> > > ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?Bean soup with ham.
>
> > > The ham is superb, the portions are generous, the prices are fair.
>
> > > The place is packed with customers
> > > from morning 'til closing time at 3pm.
>
> > > What a simple business plan !
> > > Pick one thing, do it well, and charge a fair price.
> > > I wish more eaterys were like that.
>
> > Reviews:http://www.mrbreakfast.com/r_display.asp?restid=1586
>
> > There are plenty of such eaterys... NYC is famous for its street
> > venders... there's a guy near where I live that runs his one man
> > operation eatery from a trailer, he nets $200,000/yr selling nothing
> > but hotdogs, fries, and soft drinks. ?His trailer is permanently set
> > up on blocks. ?There is no inside service, all take out from a
> > window. ?There are a few outdoor tables... for bathrooms there are two
> > port-a-potties. ?He's been there a lotta years, always a line.
>
> > Ah, dirty water dogs n hot sausages. Seems the dumpier the place is, the
> > more people online for it.
> > One of the best ever hot dog stands was Grace's-on the access road between
> > the LIE and Sunrise highway(cant remember the name of the road now). So
> > many
> > people stopped there-probably the last decent food between the Hamptons
> > and
> > NYC-the town issued summonses for the traffic jams they caused.
> > Grace's finally closed down and opened in a building down the street, but
> > they were never the same. The building's empty now.
>
> Could've been the stand on Wm. Floyd Parkway. �But there were such
> stands on most of the major north-south main roads on Lung Guyland...
> there was another on North Ocean Avenue, Farmingville.
>
> There are a few still out the Commack Rd in Deer Park-3 dogs w/kraut &
> mustard and a soda $5, w/cheese, onions in tomato or chili-$5.50. Exit 70 On
> Ramp. The one on William Floyd Parkway is gone I'm afraid. He retired, or so
> I am told-used to be near Brookhaven Labs. As did the (really) fat lady in
> Woodbury.

There are many of those roach coach lunch wagon things out there, some
are towed trailers, many are converted soft serve ice cream vans. The
thing is that there is a lot of money to be made in what on the
surface appears to be a miserable business. There is tremendous mark
up on basic food products, the trick to making a lot of money in the
food business is to find ways to circumvent the health codes and to
keep ones operating expenses low. The owner operator of a tube steak
stand can make more money than the owner of a fancy schmancy steak
house. If not for their selling booze most restaurants would fail...
but the only drinks a tube steak cart has to sell is canned soda...
they buy hotdogs for 20 cents and sell them for $2.... toss in a 5
cent bun and a schmear of mustard and it's nearly a thousand percent
mark up. The operating expenses are so low as to be nearly
negligible...the biggest overhead is free tube steak and soda for the
local cops.. out on the highway that's pretty cheap protection.
Anyone ever think why it is that Chinese take outs stay in business in
the same location year after year after year... and they do very
well... they have no formal education yet do better financially than a
medical doctor.