Convert houseboat to burger joint??

[NYJim]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

On an average nice weekend day we would have at least 150 boats go by us .......twice

In my county there are 3100 boats registered. These are only boats over 25' there has to be double the amount of 24' and under. Figure 2/3 are on the south shore and 1/3 on the north shore

Once they know we are their we could have a ton more. we are close to so many canals\moorings and dock slips.

Cheese Burgers on a popular canal run $11.00 with fries. Figure quality meat we could easily charge 10-12.

a coors light is now 5 bucks on the dock. that is a disgrace (dont want that headache though)

 

[tommays]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

IMHP it is going to be to rough on most places on the south shore as the afternoon trade winds hit 15+ MPH to make that famous Great south Bay chop

 

[triumphrick]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

Sounds like it's time for that Sam's Club, BJ's, Costco Business membership!!

 

[NYJim]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

IMHP it is going to be to rough on most places on the south shore as the afternoon trade winds hit 15+ MPH to make that famous Great south Bay chop

Good point.very good point. will head out this weekend and see how it looks where i am thinking of anchoring it..

 

[oops!]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

any natural wind breaks around that area?

 

[tommays]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

If you look at what is working in this area it is deliverys from land based places

With bakerys being the most popular in places like Montauk ,Block Island and Sag Harbor ,ect

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

As a service tech for commercial kitchen equipment, and I was going to do this project. I would go with total electric equipment. There is less maintenance costs on electric vs propane/ng. As for a fryer, there is fryers that are self contained with a their own hood and vent system. Who ever is frying their fries at 400* is doing it wrong. Most Hi-limit safeties are set at 435 +/- 15*. At those temps,,,,,FIRE is very possible. McDonalds fries theirs @ 335*. I know, I've been working for them for a tad over 10 years now as their head tech for my owner/operator. The highest temp we use is 360* and that is for certain lines of chicken sandwiches. However, not all of the chicken gets fried at 360* some is even fried at 345*.

I would install one large walk in freezer. It would hold all your frozen product and bagged ice. To have an ice machine onboard would require lots of fresh water as most machines will use very much water. Plus the water that is dumped during the cycle will fill your holding tank a good rate.

All your equipment will need to be NSF approved. Without that sticker, the health dept will not accept it. Believe me on this as I've had to replace equipment that was stainless and looked commercial only not to be approved by the NSF (National Sanitary Foundation)

When I use to travel the Ohio river, I remember seeing barges set up with a bar/resturant configuration with docks. I enjoyed docking there to grab something to eat. The owners said during the winter months that they would have a tug take their barge south into warmer climates. They would get their power from shore and have a sewer line with an automatic pump out so to speak.

That will be another concern is how are you going to remove the waste water from the boat. As mentioned earlier, the health department will require multiple sinks and a grease trap. Even for ready made food that is microwaveable, prepackaged, and throwaway containers, you will still need those sinks.

It would also be possible to find a large hull from an old house boat, turn it into a flat barge. Then put a couple of concession trailers on it. Most of them have grills, hoods, fryers, and all the sinks and stuff to pass inspection. Then all you would need is a good size generator.

Good Luck as this is a great idea..........SS

 

[rlk]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

NYJIM, I like your idea, and offer the following suggestions:

Personally, I would stay away from buying cooking equipment, including a microwave, until I had a better feel of the volume of business. In other words, keep it simple and do no cooking aboard.

Get a restaurant, deli, or supermarket to provide you with deli sandwiches, fried chicken, brownies, etc.

Pick up snacks (chips, cookies, fruits, etc.), drinks, and packaged condiments at one of the local warehouse clubs.

Then I would sell the food like a box lunch. For example:

One box could contain a couple pieces of cold fried chicken, a bag of chips, a pickle, a piece of fruit along with a brownie, and a soft drink.

Another box could be a deli sandwich, pickle, chips, fruit, brownie, and soft drink.

In addition to the box lunches, you could offer other snacks and ice cream, but you may have a problem keeping ice cream from melting. You could investigate using dry ice to see if that would last all day.

Back in the late 1950's, my dad owned a restaurant, and each weekend UNC or NCSU had a home football game, he would offer box lunches like these. They would already be packed and ready to go. The price included taxes and drink. If I remember right, $5.00 per box lunch and drink.

Cars would pull into the curb service area, get however many box lunches they wanted, and be gone in less than a couple of minutes. Again, everything was already prepared and boxed, so they only had to decide on how many chicken boxes or sandwich boxes, etc, along with what kind of soft drink.

Keep it simple, and round off the prices to the nearest dollar. You don't want to be bothered counting change or figuring sales tax.

Also, in the South, especially during summer months, I would not sell anything that had mayonnaise in it, like potato salad, as with our temperatures, the mayonnaise will spoil and give you food poisoning.

Another thing to think about is insurance. In the unlikely event someone gets food poisoning, you want to be covered. I have no idea what the insurance on an operation like this would be, but I would check into it.

Best of luck, and keep us informed.

Bob

 

[rlk]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

I like the idea of using the VHF to pre phone an order, and also liked the idea of sunscreen and bug spray. Bill

Can you use VHF radios for a commercial operation like this?

Bob

 

[gcboat]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

Don't know why not - just couldn't use 16 or 22A. Or if close to bascules their working channel.

 

[triumphrick]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

We used to have a midget and a fat woman who did the same thing with a pontoon boat on our lake peddling hot dogs, chips, and drinks.

Way cool. i see midget and fat lady in the same sentence I get excited.

Waaaay too bored down here. Been rainin for about a week..

Send us some sun south..

 

[eli_lilly]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

Houseboat burger man, pay close attention to any relevant rules in your county. Here in Palm Beach County, the news recently reported on a woman who spent her life savings buying a catering trailer and a dualie to pull it. The county verbally OKed it and assigned her to a county-owned right of way. After she set up on the roadside, the county shut her down because the trailer was 3 or 4 feet longer than what is allowed. Apparently this was in the ordinances, but she was going by what the staffers were telling her verbally versus what was on the books. Now the whole rig has been repossessed.

-E

 

[jonesg]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

She didn't know what she was doing, food biz is no place to play games or practice sloppy inexperienced judgment.
I have zero sympathy.

If I have a fantasy to be a plumber, go out and invest my life savings in pipes, then try to learn the trade....I'd get what I deserved.

I've equipped 4 businesses by shopping at the auctions, new/used equipment sells at auction for dime on the dollar.

I have a "can't tell me anything" buddy who paid $150K for a restaurant, it lasted 4 yrs and the IRS shut him down for payroll tax problems, he got a whopping $6K for all the equipment. Thats it and he still owes the IRS $90K. They don't play games.

If you don't know about the auctions you might be in way over your head. You also have to know how to bid, anything powered not located near a plug is probably shot.

 

[vandy21]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

Hey, I just saw a similar idea to yours for sale on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1994...ryZ63684QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Just thought I'd show you.

 

[jonesg]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

Hey, I just saw a similar idea to yours for sale on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1994...ryZ63684QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Just thought I'd show you.

Thats really a good deal. It costs approx $60K to install a comm kitchen up to code on dry land.

 

[oops!]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

jim....any headway?

 

[NYJim]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

***UPDATE***
Sorry guys been a bit busy. He is were we are at. spent much time emiling and speaking with various state, feds and USCG.
I wanted to check with the state because they do not allow any commercial vendors on state land without a concessioners license. They claim to own the land under the water in their parks, so I called because there are boundry issues to deal with. Seems that rule applies to parks with a lake. I will be in the intercoastal near shore to a state park. they did not have an issue with that. USCG is checking this out for me. Being that I am not charging clients for a ride, they seem to think we are ok. And I can't block any traffice on the waterway. I found a sweet spot that I have been checking out every friday, sat and sunday. very busy flow of traffic all day.

Next, I joined restaurant depot, as someone recommended here and have been testing the food out.... Great Black Angus burgers. working on prices, looks very profitable at this point.

I want to go "Green" as much as possible, so no styrofoam and as liitle plastic as possible. I will buy the ice for awhile before investing in the icemaker. I also agree that it is not fesable to put it on the boat, will put it home. found an ice bagger system and paper ice bags.

Found a houseboat local with year round dockage. working on the guy to beat him on the price. it is perfect because the interior is trashed, he is getting the batteries charged up so I can take it for a spin. it has a 4k genset so that is very helpful.

I figure one large freezer and commercial fridge should do it. and 2 ice chests for ice and icecream. working on power consumption so it dont exceed generator limits.

I do need propane because i will be cooking burgers and dogs. holding off on chicken and fryer right now. I agree to the boxed lunch idea. I need to work on that.

I have all winter to get it ready so i am not in a rush.

ok so there it is all updated......
thanks for all the suggestions, very helpful as always...
Jim

 

[NYJim]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

one more thing. as far as the county, I am ok. I need to stay out of boundry areas that are controlled by some incorporated villages. My friend is a commander at the USCG and he mentioned that. their are county,town and state boundaries that include owning some land along shores under water. that seems to go back to the 1800's.

 

[NYJim]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

Hey, I just saw a similar idea to yours for sale on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1994...ryZ63684QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Just thought I'd show you.

I saw that one. thanks. the big problem is shipping the damn thing. If I buy one out of state (alot in the west for sale) I have been getting quotes like $2.50 per mile!!!! trying all local stuff first....

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Convert houseboat to burger joint??

Pulled pork or Shredded BBQ chicken in a big honking crock pot would be a good idea.. You could make it onsite relatively easily, just start early int he morning. It cooks long and stays in the pot for hours..