Felony Franks Owner Licensing Name To L.A. Food Truck

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Feb 18, 2013 10:00PM

When last we checked in on Felony Franks, owner Jim Andrews was running into more resistance to re-open in Evanston after he closed up shop on the West side. It turned out even progressive Evanstonians were as lukewarm to the idea of having a hot dog stand staffed by ex-cons as residents of Chicago’s 2nd Ward and its alderman, Bob Fioretti.

Well, it looks as though Andrews is following the advice of Horace Greely and going west—all the way to the City of Angels. Andrews has licensed the Felony Franks name to a Los Angeles food truck, which will start serving “Misdemeanor Wieners” and “Chain Gang Chili Dogs” beginning March 1.

True to form, Andrews promises he’ll staff the truck with former criminals as an attempt to give them a second chance at life, similar to what he tried to do in Chicago. Andrews told WBBM-AM they’ve already hired three ex-offenders in L.A. and, if the truck proves to be popular, he may need to hire more and could also consider a Felony Franks food truck in Chicago.

Considering the Byzantine process to even get licensed to cook on a Chicago food truck, it makes perfect sense that Andrews sought a city with a more tolerant attitude to food trucks for this latest go at his social experiment. The licensee for the L.A. Felony Franks truck, according to Andrews, is the aptly named Dennis Justice, one of the owners of American Transportation Systems.