Cheesin from The DePauw Multimedia on Vimeo.
It has become almost second nature for students to pick up their phones and tweet in their pizza orders on Thursday nights.
With the success of Pizza Dude this past year, it’s no wonder other food businesses modeled after it have started springing up on campus.
Two new small businesses, Go Go Quesadilla and Cheesin’ are two that began this semester and have been gaining popularity on social media.
Go Go Quesadilla is modeled after Pizza Dude, delivering quesadillas to anyone who calls or tweets them, whereas Cheesin’ runs a booth at big events on campus, as well as caters.
Go Go Quesadilla was spearheaded by sophomores Nathalia Melo, Rudy Orozco, Evan Folger and Freddy Lavric and runs out of the kitchen of the Delta Upsiolon Fraternity house. “I was thinking of the late-night options for food on campus and realized we didn’t have one for Mexican food, plus everyone loves quesadillas” Melo said. “When this year came along we thought it would be a good idea to start our own.”
Melo and Orozco take calls and make the quesadillas, while Folger and Lavric deliver the quesadillas to their hungry customers. They can tweet them @GoGoQuesadilla.
Sophomore Nathalia Melo makes a
quesadilla for Go Go Quesadilla.
TYLER MURPHY / THE DEPAUW
Their options include chicken, cheese, or steak quesadillas for three dollars, with the option to add salsa or sour cream. They are open from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. on Friday.
“So far business has been great,” Melo said. “I am honestly surprised by how many people have called in asking for a quesadilla.”
While they aren’t exactly sure how long they will keep the business running, Melo says that as long as sales are good, the quesadilla-making will continue. “I’m excited to see how the business grows and where we will be in the future,” Melo said.
Cheesin’ is a whole new animal to the small business jungle of DePauw, but its co-creator, however, is no stranger to it at all.
Pizza Dude’s creator, junior Adam Folta, alongside junior Andrew Bartucci decided to go into business together on a new project involving the creation of gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches.
“Andrew mentioned it to me half-jokingly while we were working Pizza Dude, saying he was going to start a competitor business called 'Grilled Cheese
Dude,'” said Folta. “We started playing around with the idea and eventually came up with Cheesin’.”
At the moment they run a portable grill at several sporting events as well as plan to set up the booth every Wednesday night. Those late-night munchers can look on their twitter for the location @Cheesin_DPU.
Pricing starts out at three dollars for a classic grilled cheese but then customers can choose to add bacon or guacamole for an extra $1.25, or both for $2.
The staff of Cheesin' serve up gourmet grilled cheese.
COURTESY OF ADAM FOLTA
Per event Cheesin’ has been selling 30 to 40 sandwiches, but Folta has plans for more in the future.
“Our goal is to sell upwards of 80 sandwiches per event,” Folta said. “It’s all about being known and getting the word out through social media.”
Part of his business plan was the employees he hired. Jane Pera and Susie Schmank work behind the grill and cash register.
“I’m putting a bunch of trust in Susie and Jane,” Folta said. “They are great personalities, both have a passion for food and I’m hoping they will really help the business grow.”
Since Folta is running Pizza Dude and helping run Cheesin’, he says it’s tough to manage both as well as academics.
“Yeah it’s really hard to manage both companies,” Folta said. “Cheesin’ is a lot simpler because we have fewer employees and I’m already experienced. Plus we use the same supplier as Pizza Dude so that helps.”
They decided to go with grilled cheese because the product was seemingly simple but could be altered to be gourmet.
In fact, they have plans to sell specialty grilled cheeses in the future, including a five-cheese option, a breakfast sandwich and even a dessert grilled cheese.
“They are delicious,” said sophomore Jeremy Boyd, who had is first one at this past football tailgate.
At the moment they have no plans to deliver the grilled cheeses as with Pizza Dude, however.
“It just isn’t worth the money to deliver a three dollar product” said Folta. “I commend Go Go’s passion, but worry they won’t make enough money. Pizza Dude is more feasible because of the 10 to 12 dollar product.”