Do You Know Who You Are Getting Your Hot Dog From?

July 20, 2009 — -- For Bob Fitzgerald, finding a job with multiple DUI convictions on his record and no driver's license was no easy task.

Then in July, the 56-year-old recovering alcoholic found employment—his first job since his last conviction in 2003—at a newly opened hot dog stand in Chicago.

"I spent the last three years in and out of institutions, living in public housing," the Chicago resident said. "This is the first time I'm able to pay for anything."

Fitzgerald is an employee at the aptly-named Felony Franks, a local business that employs rehabilitated ex-felons looking for a chance to improve their lives. Most of Fitzgerald's co-workers have been convicted in the past of drug-related crimes, including dealing and illegal activities to support drug habits, such as theft and armed robbery.

The business is the brainchild of Chicago businessman Jim Andrews, who has hired ex-offenders at his local paper company for the past eight years. In 2003, Andrews created the Rescue Foundation to help ex-offenders.

But unlike Andrews' other business, the hot dog stand operates under a jail-theme with a slogan, "Food so good, it's criminal."

"The biggest thing I'm trying to do, I'm trying to take the stigma off ex-offenders," Andrews said. "Society will not look at them as rehabilitated people, but will look at them as a felon for the rest of their life."

In addition to the signature felony frank—a 1/6 lb. all-beef dog with a garlic finish—the menu boasts the misdemeanor wiener, pardon burgers, burglar beef, handcuffed tamales and freedom fries. To order, a customer must answer to an employee's greeting of "Are you ready to plead your case?" The customer can then tell the cashier if they'd like to take their food "out on good behavior" or sit down and "serve time."

At the stand's official opening last Monday, 2,000 hot dogs were given away to the hundreds of guests. Among the attendees was Congressman Danny Davis, D-Ill., who assisted in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.