Catering to Criminals
Would you eat at Felony Franks? Chicago resident James Andrews opened a prison-themed hot-dog stand in the city's West Side neighborhood and staffed it entirely with ex-cons. With the slogan "Food so good, it's criminal," Felony Franks offers patrons a bleak cinderblock storefront and a list of fake Miranda rights ("You have the right to remain hungry"). But not everyone wanted to eat prison food, it seemed. A Chicago alderman refused to let Andrews hang a sign outside his restaurant, and the neighborhood association fought to eliminate the eatery altogether. Such outrage surprised many locals. "There's gunfire every other day and you never hear anything about that," said Kevin Jones, a former crack dealer turned Felony Franks employee. "But all of a sudden there's all this hoopla about a hot-dog stand?"