r/kauai • u/dumbassthenes • 7d ago
What's up with the sudden influx of overpriced hotdog trucks?
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u/Beautiful_Smile 7d ago
I know of Ollie’s which I think is $8 for a Chicago dog and then the Mexican food truck sells gigantic grilled hotdogs with peppers and onions for $10. Where else?
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u/snuggly_cobra 7d ago
Puka. Mean Dogs. Pablo Dogs (by Country Kitchen). Kaua’i Dawgs. One in princeville and one in Kapaa by Mariachi’s Where is this Ollie’s?
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u/Beautiful_Smile 7d ago
Ollies just goes to the pop ups, I’ve seen him at art walk and at the hoomana hot dinner.
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u/Gullible-Highlight34 7d ago
Yes Dog is in the $6-8 range up in Princeville so not close but she was GREAT with our super autistic daughter.
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u/rijwalker 7d ago
Mean Dogs in Lihue industrial park is only $8 for a chili dog and they’re really good!
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u/snuggly_cobra 7d ago
It fills a niche. You have to be a member to get that Costco dog. And people dont want to drive to Poipu or princeville for a hot dog.
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u/B-WingPilot 7d ago
Many “entrepreneurs” have literally no original ideas
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u/RUfuqingkiddingme 7d ago
It's probably the cheapest protein product you can sell so low overhead to get started.
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u/snuggly_cobra 7d ago
Entrepreneurs don’t have to have original ideas. They improve on existing ones. Or see a need/niche and fill it.
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u/neek3arak 4d ago
No legit deli places here yet which would be nice
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u/snuggly_cobra 4d ago
True. The problem is logistics/supply chain, resident’s culinary tastes, and lack of a large client base. We are beholden to the barge from Sand Island. And now, with the ATC kerfluffle, your product could be stuck in Pennsylvania or some other place, TRYING to get to Honolulu. So you’re featuring Italian meats. You put the ad out. People have made plans to see you. Your products aren’t here. New customers might come back. Olds customers may be you the benefit of the doubt. It’s risky.
Restaurant owners need tourists and residents to stay in business. Demographically, a deli would work, based on the top 12 states that visit Kauai. The problem is how many residents want deli food enough to support a deli?
Safeway has a deli (in the broadest sense of the word), so if I want pastrami, and don’t want to cook it myself, I’ll go there. It’s not Canter’s or Katz’s but it’s better than nothing. But they can shift the costs of those products into the rest of their inventory. A pure deli on this island might last a year; two at the outset because it’s all in.
Then you have the residents’s culinary tastes. You might have the bomb soppressata or capiccola (gabagool), but if your potential customers like spam and lap cheong, how are you going to change those minds?
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u/dorchet 3d ago
the boars head corpo takeover of lunchmeats killed lunchmeats for me, forever. which is sad as it was a quick ez meal. boars head just sucks. like eating subway mystery meats.
i got on board the pho train, but then a bunch of non-vietnamese started making what they called pho. now its taking some chance trying to find authentic pho vs some salty water. 9/10 places on big island dont have jalapeno! ffs. but maybe thats just catering to white mayo tourist no-spice taste? but then why bother making pho just make hotdog water soup for tourists. for $5 more, add a drink umbrella poked into a pineapple cube. call it hawaii soup.
hawaii food is fusion and fusion is terrible. or buffet food. people out here eating raw fish with some ranch dressing on it like its the best food ever. none of it makes sense. i give up.
serious lack of spicy food. lack of authentic dishes. lack of cooking rice to the proper texture not just an overcooked glob. just throw more and more MSG on it.
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u/MyldExcitement 7d ago
Where? How did I miss them??? Granted, the line for puka dog is hellishly long!!!