Steve Williams: Fixture outside the courthouse.
The word on the street was… hot dogs.
At 10 in the morning.
Lots of hot dogs.
The franks were flying Tuesday morning at their usual morning spot: Jack’s Hot Dogs stand outside Superior Court at the corner of Church and Elm Streets, where lawyers, social workers, and court employees are the regulars.
The owner of the stand — Steve Williams — is known as “Jack” to most.
“I can talk to an attorney and ask him a question that people spend $500 to ask,” Williams joked. (He noted that famed defense attorney Norm Pattis regularly comes by for a chicken kebab).
Williams spoke with WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program’s “Word on the Street” team in between serving morning dogs.
Williams, who described himself as a workaholic, serves up “premium” hand-held sandwiches Monday through Sunday. The East Haven native has done so since returning to the area in 1982 from Florida to take over the stand from a close friend.
The most popular customer request on the menu is Georgia hots layered with mustard and sauerkraut.
While feeding New Haveners who both walked by and drove up curbside, Williams quickly grabbed a dog off the grill and housed it in a toasted bun. Then he topped it with cheese sauce and onions.
From 10 a.m to 4 p.m Williams serves New Haven from the corner in his winter-ready stand, which allows him to operate inside the metal compartment during the colder months.
Williams had to shut down for a while when the pandemic started. He said right now he is still dealing with supply chain challenges, struggling to find napkins, condiments, straws, paper bags, and soda cans at times. He has had to spend more money on getting larger bags for dogs.
He still has enough napkins to serve both new and familiar faces seven days a week.
Alexis Torres reunites with Williams, her childhood sitter of sorts.
Alexis Torre, 25, was on her way to Wells Fargo Bank Tuesday morning when she noticed Williams’ cart — and was reminded of eating warm dogs fresh out of water in her early childhood.
As a 5‑year-old, she’d hang out with Williams while her grandfather was “at the courthouse all the time.” Her grandfather, a landlord, spent his time evicting tenants — and she spent hers eating Italian sausages.
“I didn’t like hot dogs,” she laughed. This time around, she went for the classic order: a Georgia hot with sauerkraut and mustard.
“I’m vegan, but I’m nostalgic,” Torres said.
While Torres remembered the past, Williams was relishing the present.
His job has gotten easier since 1982. He used to pay $3,000 each year to stand on the street; now it’s $1,000, and new vendors are required to go through a lottery process before setting up shop. (He also pays $7,500 in taxes for his New Haven warehouse, where he stores his New Haven Hummels dogs, he proudly pointed out.)
In the old days, another hot dog stand could usurp his space. No longer.
He has formed long-term friendships not just with loyal clientele, but with other food truck owners selling burritos and pad thai along Church Street.
“There’s no competition,” he said.
For a $2 meal, he asked, “Where else are you gonna go?”
Click on the video to watch Steve’s full discussion about the Word on the Street Tuesday on WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program.
Word on the Street reporters Maya McFadden and Nora Grace-Flood sample Williams' work: At 10 in the morning, a 10/10.