# Felony Franks



## Joe Btfsplk (Oct 13, 2009)

I am a felon, I grew marijuana for myself and was ratted on. I've never been in a fight let alone firearms or other nefarious ilk.

I'm a felon. Good luck finding work.

I admire Jim Andrews:

CHICAGO -- When James Andrews opened a hot-dog stand on this city's rough West Side, he thought he was doing a community service by hiring ex-convicts. But some in the neighborhood think the name he chose -- Felony Franks -- is a crime.

An alderman has refused Mr. Andrews permission to hang a new sign or build a drive-through lane. A pastor accused the restaurant owner, who is not an ex-convict, of "pimping out" the community. Members of a neighborhood association have vowed to stay away from Felony Franks until the name is changed and the décor -- including paintings of cartoon hot dogs in prison stripes -- is removed.

"I don't understand it," Mr. Andrews says. "I really don't."

The 64-year-old businessman has long employed ex-convicts at his main business, a company that supplies paper goods to restaurants.

He says he thinks people deserve a second chance and felons need stable jobs so they don't add to homelessness. He thought of opening a hot-dog stand three years ago while driving past one. The name "Felony Franks" just popped into his head, he says.

He spent more than $160,000 to refurbish a shuttered Polish-sausage stand on a busy corner in an area that's a mix of new condos and stately old homes, subsidized housing and boarded-up storefronts. Mr. Andrews hired a dozen ex-cons to cook and serve frankfurters, sausages, steak sandwiches and french fries sliced from raw potatoes.

Customers enter a cramped space framed by cinder-block walls, with no tables or chairs. Near the entrance hangs a mock list of Miranda rights: "You have the right to remain hungry. Anything you order can and will be used to feed you here at Felony Franks."
Servers standing behind bulletproof plastic -- standard for stores in the neighborhood -- ask customers, "Are you ready to plead your case?" Among other dishes, the menu lists the Misdemeanor Wiener and the Chain Gang Chili Dog. Side orders, such as fries, cole slaw and garlic bread, are dubbed "accomplices." The restaurant's slogan is, "Food so good it's criminal."

Some customers just laugh. Others who live nearby think the penal puns are an affront to a community grappling with crime and trying to change for the better.

Michael Cunningham, a 10-year resident and member of the Homeowners of West Town, says the neighborhood already is home to several drug-rehabilitation centers and facilities for former prisoners. He says the neighborhood group successfully fought the establishment of another halfway house and will soon get a new grocery store. "There are positive things happening here and Felony Franks is a step back," says Mr. Cunningham, a self-employed career consultant.

Other restaurants employ former felons. Delancey Street in San Francisco is operated by a foundation that assists former convicts, drug addicts and homeless people. Inmates staff the Mates Inn on the administrative campus of the state corrections department in Trenton, N.J. Those establishments have existed with little controversy.

Felony Franks encountered friction even before it opened in July. Last year, after securing building permits from the city, Mr. Andrews visited Robert Fioretti, the alderman who represents the area around Felony Franks. "I don't like the name," Mr. Andrews recalls the alderman saying.

Mr. Andrews needed Mr. Fioretti's approval to install a sign in an empty frame that juts from the building. He estimates he could bring in 15% to 20% more revenue with more visibility from passing cars. When the sign company he had paid $1,700 told him permission had been denied, Mr. Andrews called the alderman's office. A staffer, he says, told him Mr. Fioretti wouldn't approve the sign because he didn't like "Felony Franks."
Later the alderman proposed a city ordinance that would prohibit signs extending 7 inches or more from a building's facade on a small stretch of street where Felony Franks is located. The City Council has yet to vote on the proposal. Mr. Andrews calls it a "direct attack" on his business. Mr. Fioretti says it's part of a beautification project and "has nothing to do" with the hot-dog stand.

"He likes to create controversy over the sign and the sign is not the issue," Mr. Fioretti says. "I'm all for hiring ex-offenders, but why give more stigma to the fact? We're here to assimilate people into our society and not have them stand out like a sore thumb."

Shortly after the restaurant opened, the local homeowners group called a meeting and invited Mr. Andrews. His wife, Mary, says she warned him, "You're walking into a firing squad."

More than 70 people attended. Among those who voiced concerns was the Rev. Michael Pfleger, an activist Catholic pastor from Chicago's South Side. Father Pfleger accused Mr. Andrews of exploiting the African-American men working for him. "He screamed at me, 'You are a pimp,'" Mr. Andrews recalls, an account Father Pfleger confirms. When Mr. Andrews took the floor later, he says he screamed at the priest, "You don't know me...I am not a pimp!"

Kevin Jones, 42, who works at Felony Franks, says he doesn't feel exploited. "Working here allows me to provide for myself and my family," says Mr. Jones, who says he used to sell crack and served two years' probation for possession of a controlled substance. "I've lived in this neighborhood for 15 years and there's gunfire every other day and you never hear anything about that, but all of a sudden there's all this hoopla about a hot-dog stand?"
Mr. Fioretti has also informed Mr. Andrews he will oppose a curb cut needed to build a drive-through lane, which the alderman says would pose a safety hazard to people at a nearby bus stop. Mr. Andrews says he has no plans to litigate. But the Institute for Justice, a civil-rights law firm in Washington, D.C., says it has contacted him about fighting the sign ordinance as a violation of his First Amendment rights.

Despite the controversy, Mr. Andrews says he's rung up about $30,000 in sales each month since opening, and has received more than 1,000 job applications from former felons. He envisions opening more Felony Franks in Chicago and says he's already received dozens of unsolicited requests from prospective franchisees across the U.S.

He says he won't change the name of his business for anyone. "I won't even consider it," he says.

Write to Julie Jargon at [email protected] 

Felony Franks
229 S Western Ave, at Jackson; Garfield Park; 312.243.0505

They always say you can't teach old dogs new tricks, but those dogs never got locked up at Cook County Jail. Meet some that have, at Felony Franks. 

Set to open Monday, Felony Franks is a classic Chicago hot dog stand with an old fashioned moveable menu board, laminated specials on the walls, picnic tables out back and adorably cartoonish jailbird wiener art, staffed by formerly incarcerated folks looking to get back on their feet and learn a thing or two about business, sans the risk of Tom Cruise dancing in tighty-whiteys. Tactfully named classics available with the standard fixins include the Misdemeanor Wiener, the Felony Frank (a jumbo), the Pardon Polish, the Court Ordered Combo (Italian beef and sausage), or even just a simple Solitary Sausage, aka your Saturday night. Continuing the subtle prison-theme are side dishes like Mobster Mozzarella Sticks, Mistrial Fried Mushrooms, Convicted Cheese Fries, and Confession Chili, an accurate name, seeing how it totally spilled the beans.

To maintain law and order on the customers, they're also posting a specific ordering procedure: "Plea my case" means you're ready to order, while "serve my time" means eating in, and "out on good behavior" dictates a to-go order, new nomenclature that proves you can teach old dogs new tricks, even if it makes them look like a quivering bunch of ... cats.


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## ashley (Oct 14, 2009)

That place rules, its kinda by my house


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## Rash L (Oct 15, 2009)

makes me want food.


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## Stope (Oct 17, 2009)

Thats the best idea for a food joint I've ever heard.

Long Live Felony Franks!


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## moe (Oct 18, 2009)

that place is fucking sweet.


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## Mouse (Oct 19, 2009)

sounds like it's got rave reviews but I have to agree that the style of hot dog in jail stripes is a bit over the top. oh well, to each their own. like what the guy is doing and the others need to shut up.


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