On Chicago's West Side, entrepreneur Jim Andrews runs a hot dog restaurant called Felony Franks. The restaurant employs ex-cons and boasts food with names like Misdemeanor Wieners, Guilty Gyros and of course the Felony Frank. So what's the problem? Andrews says he launched created the restaurant to give criminals who've served their time a second chance at becoming a productive member of society. So what's the problem?
A local city councilman hates the idea, hates the name and wants the restaurant gone. So he's help up the owner's application for a sign on the street, which is amazingly petty.
"For a restaurant theme, it's a poor choice," Alderman Robert Fioretti said. Even the local parish priest thinks it's a bad idea. But Andrews is determined to give ex-cons a chance to make an honest living, and the food gets good reviews. The Wall Street Journal reports on this hot dog controversy:
Felony Franks is located at 229 Western Ave. in Chicago and is open seven days a week. Business is booming and Andrews, who also runs the
Rescue Foundation, hopes to take the franchise national.
