Ok me and a buddy had this great idea (or at least so we think) of making a floating kitchen out of an old houseboat. We would float around busy areas and sell burger, hotdogs, and sandwiches, sides to be chips and soda (maybe beer down the road if it is possible.) My question is would anyone actually buy food off of a boat like this? It would have a pick up window or a drive threw type setup and a delivery system with a smaller boat. I think it would be great with spring break like places. Any ideas or critiques welcome. Please let me know what you think!

There are at least a couple of such ventures in FL where we are now, but
I've never had them do anything near me, so I can't speak to their
commercial success. A window off the side of the boat for pickup/ordering
suffices, along with, perhaps a small deck area where someone could stand,
briefly, to do the pickup.

Certainly, it seems to me that if you develop a reputation, and have an
adequately busy "season" you should be able to prosper that way. Your
clientele would be small powerboaters, however, not cruisers, most likley -
those out for a day of fun on the water, vs making a run in their dinghy...

L8R

Skip

--

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wrote in message
...
Ok me and a buddy had this great idea (or at least so we think)
of making a floating kitchen out of an old houseboat. We would
float around busy areas and sell burger, hotdogs, and sandwiches,
sides to be chips and soda (maybe beer down the road if it is
possible.) My question is would anyone actually buy food off of
a boat like this? It would have a pick up window or a drive threw
type setup and a delivery system with a smaller boat. I think it
would be great with spring break like places. Any ideas or
critiques welcome. Please let me know what you think!

There have been a couple of houseboat/burger joints plying
the Holiday Isle Sandbar in the Florida Keys. On weekends
there can be a couple thousand partying boaters anchored
up on the sandbar. Drunkenness and partial nudity abounds
(lots of topless babes). The burger boats I've seen seem to
do plenty of business but they were ill-conceived in that they
had these large and VERY NOISY construction site generators
running, I suppose to generate electricity to cool the kitchen,
etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsDg1muzYFE

Lot's of people considered the burger boat an eyesore and
an earsore and stayed far, far away.

If you decide try a burger boat do be sure to have a quiet
inboard generator. And, don't blare your music so loud that
it drowns out everybody else's. And do be aware of liability
issues as there will be drunks stumbling around and if they
should happen to hurt themselves and if they can claim it
was due to some dangerous condition on your boat then
you will be sued. So, don't let anybody aboard. Like Skippy
said, a couple service windows like a drive thru window for
orders and pick-ups would reduce liability.

And, you might have to have a business license in the
communities where you ply your trade. Might need health
inspections like other food establishments, too.

--
Sir Gregory

The barebones of this idea are ok. It's all of the details that will kill
you. Have you ever run restaurant business? Are you an experienced short
order cook? When you say areas that sounds like a lot of licensing issues.
Each town or county will want various fees and inspections.
You are right that it will do good business for spring break and the 4th
of July, but the bills will keep coming during the slow times.
Why not make a deal with some sub shop and pizza places to do deliveries?
You can do that in a small boat and test the waters.

Dave M.

On Wed, 6 Feb 2013 18:17:02 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Ok me and a buddy had this great idea (or at least so we think) of making a floating kitchen out of an old houseboat. We would float around busy areas and sell burger, hotdogs, and sandwiches, sides to be chips and soda (maybe beer down the road if it is possible.) My question is would anyone actually buy food off of a boat like this? It would have a pick up window or a drive threw type setup and a delivery system with a smaller boat. I think it would be great with spring break like places. Any ideas or critiques welcome. Please let me know what you think!

=====

There is at least one boat doing that sort of thing in the Ft Myers
area (Florida west coast). In addiion to burgers, soda and ice cream
they also sell bait and some other fishing stuff. For whatever reason
they are not consistently open for business in the same location which
I view as indicative of some sort of problem.

You can be sure that the local law enforcement types will be checking
you out, and possibly USCG. Make sure you are in compliance with all
of their requirements or they will make your life miserable (since
that is how they view their job).

Never ran a restaurant or even worked in one lol, I am a jet mechanic who is always looking for something extra to do. I got a good idea of how to run it, contacted the health department and they said they have never heard of such a thing but willing to work with me step by step. Just gonna try my best, if it turns out a flop then I guess I got a floating kitchen to cruise around in!

On Wed, 6 Feb 2013 18:17:02 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Ok me and a buddy had this great idea (or at least so we think) of making a floating kitchen out of an old houseboat. We would float around busy areas and sell burger, hotdogs, and sandwiches, sides to be chips and soda (maybe beer down the road if it is possible.) My question is would anyone actually buy food off of a boat like this? It would have a pick up window or a drive threw type setup and a delivery system with a smaller boat. I think it would be great with spring break like places. Any ideas or critiques welcome. Please let me know what you think!

A friend of mine owns a Pontoon food boat. He services the local boating hang out on
weekends/holidays, drops anchors, and opens for business.

Takes orders over cell #, and uses a small skiff(12ft) to deliver product around the
anchorage. You'll need at least two people to run it. It's not wise to encourage
potentially drunk customers maneuver their multi-ton vehicle near/next to his
establishment.

He uses honda EU2000i genny(quiet/fuel efficient) to run the frig, freezer and other
stuff.