Project Two – Recon Stage

For my project, I am going to do the food vendor Fry Baby, located on South Congress between Monroe Street and Milton Street. It is in close proximity to bus stops that serve the 1L, 1L, and 483 (which from what I gather is a nightime bus route). There is a parking lot behind Fry Baby and the other vendors, but it costs five dollars and has only a 2 hr limit. There is street parking in the front, but most people end up parking blocks away on side streets.

It specializes in fried food, hence the name. Though other vendors on site have fried food, Fry Baby is the only vendor on site that specializes.

It is in an area that has many food vendors, including Hey Cupcake!, which is more of a tourist attraction than a vendor it seems at time. Since Hey Cupcake! doesn’t have much outdoor seating, its customers will often sit in front of adjacent vendors; Fry Baby is only two vendors over from Hey Cupcake!. Often customers of Hey Cupcake! will not buy beverages initially with their cupcake; when they are thirsty, they buy a beverage from the vendor they are sitting in front of. I saw two college-age girls do this.

Other vendors on site include The Mighty Cone, Wurst Tex, Coat and Thai, Bar-B-Que-T, Diner on Wheels, Mobile Coffeee House and Cafe, and Austin Frigid Frog Shaved Ice. A few sit down restaurants are also within easy walking distance, including Fran’s Hamburgers and Magnolia Cafe. Bar-B-Que-T does have an ATM, but its has a hefty surge charge. Fry Baby only accepts cash.

I ran into my friend Jackie who was out eating with her roommate, Ricki. They were eating food from Coat and Thai but were sitting in front of Bar-B-Que-T. They had planned to eat from Bar-B-Que-T but it was closed. Jackie said that this was the second time they had eaten at vendors this school year. They would eat at vendors more, but they don’t have the time to go where there are vendors. That day, they were on thier way to do stuff uptown, so eating at these vendors was on thier to doing something else. Jackie also said that she didn’t care where the food was from as long as it was good.

Fry Baby is run by a mother and daughter. The food is made on site. When I went early Friday afternoon, around 2 PM, there seemed to be tourists, workers on lunch breaks, and college students frequenting the vendors.

Th food is actually made when you order it, which is seen as an inconvenience to some customers. Considering that the food I got actually seemed to be properly fried, I think some people can afford to wait a couple of minutes; it beats food poisoning any day.

I was able to locate a Twitter account for Fry Baby, but no tweets have been sent from it. I could not find Fry Baby on Foursquare or Facebook.

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