Naperville's first outdoor hot dog vendor open for business
It's quiet most afternoons along Naperville's Main Street.
Teens stroll the sidewalk on their way to Centennial Beach. A pedicab driver keeps an eye out for business. Families duck into and out of downtown restaurants.
And Joe Hornbaker stands near the edge of Riverwalk Park working on his barking.
"Hey! Dollar hot dogs here! Dollar hot dogs!"
"Sometimes I just pick up the lid and let it waft," Hornbaker says. "The smell speaks for itself."
A couple weeks into his job as the city's first outdoor hot dog vendor, business is going well for the Lisle man, who was granted Naperville's only hot dog vendor permit last month.
City officials had some concerns over the logistics of his business plan, but ultimately gave him a year to establish himself and demonstrate his stand can be an asset to the downtown area.
To be sure, the whole process was a learning experience for both Hornbaker and the city.
"The health department wasn't really sure what they were supposed to inspect when I brought my cart in," says Hornbaker, who failed his first inspection. The culprit: he still hadn't gotten his signage posted and his water tank was emitting low water pressure.
As for finding a solid cart to do the job, Hornbaker says he followed a few leads on Craigslist before ultimately settling on a new model he bought from a vendor near Ann Arbor, Mich. As for the dogs, he went with Red Hot Chicago dogs over Vienna Beef.
"They're just a better dog," Hornbaker says. "One hundred percent beef. One hundred percent delicious."
Even on a slow day, Hornbaker says he sells about 40 red hots. The big business, however, comes late at night as the bar crowd heads back to their cars.
"On the weekends, especially, I'm here until 2 a.m. pushing people away," says Hornbaker, who strategically stations the cart near the parking garage on Chicago Avenue.
He's seen a few alcohol-induced scuffles and saw a woman fall headfirst into a garbage can during his short stint. But for the most part, the work has been fairly straightforward.
"The hot dog (stand) is kind of doing the job itself," he says. "I'm just a man and his cart trying to get by in this crazy world."