Right Now Downtown

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE HOT DOG STAND

The big debut of Dirty Frank’s Hot Dog Palace (248 S. Fourth Street) is right around the corner.  No, seriously this time.  Everything that could possibly go amuck has already gotten mucked up.  Think it’s easy to open a restaurant?  Tell that to industry veteran, Liz Lessner.

Cuz it takes more than duct table.
As it turns out, Dirty Frank’s reasonable-looking address was in need of an extra makeover.  Liz details the horrifying process of discovery, “We thought the space needed a fresh coat of paint, but it was, in fact, out-of-code in just about every aspect imaginable.”  Her story ends in this magical phrase: gutted to the studs.

Cuz it’s about the money, honey.
More specifically, it’s about the entire meltdown of the mortgage industry.  Think it’s hard to get a home loan?  Try securing a commercial loan on a new business venture.

Cuz you gotta speak in code.
Even when you’ve finally got the money (honey), the economy can still throw major curves.  Said Liz, “The City of Columbus laid off most of its Building Services Department the week we needed to file for permits.  We were promised a twenty-day turnaround… it took nearly sixty days to get our permits.”

And does Lessner still love it all?  You betcha.  That’s what makes her a champ (and not a chump).  At the end of the day, she still says, “When setting up shop, there was no place I wanted to be but downtown.”

Tags: Dirty Franks Hot Dog Palace, Downtown Columbus, Downtown Columbus Restaurants

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 at 8:01 am and is filed under Downtown Columbus, Inside 43215, Restaurants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.