New Food Joint Opens on Campus

Students eat at Jack Stone's last Saturday night around 12:30 a.m.

With its flashing lights and delicious aroma, it’s hard not to be drawn in.

                Jack Stone’s, a new carry out restaurant located behind Durham Bike on Pettee Brook Lane, offers a “delicious alternative to healthy food” to students and residents of Durham.  Their food selection ranges everywhere from deep fried hot dogs topped with mac ‘n cheese, to the bacon dog, to pizza rolls; the only thing you won’t find on the menu is a salad.

                Owners Christopher Parece and Daniel MacNeil are both previous students of UNH, making a living as bartenders until now.

                “We wanted to open a bigger restaurant, but we couldn’t because of the economy,” said Parece. “So we went as small as we could. Food carts are the new trend, they’re all over New York City.”

                Jack Stone’s is housed in a small trailer that the owners built themselves. Resembling a trailer one would find at a carnival, red and white lights blink and flash; it is an attraction that lights up the night sky. The new joint, although receiving a few customers for dinner, has made most of its money from students’ late night snack cravings on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Their hours have changed from 4 p.m. until 2 a.m. on the weekends, from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. “We can’t afford to lose our profits,” said Parece.

                Jack Stone’s food is affordable and “good”, according to students. Good, however, equals tasty, not healthy. Depending on the restaurant’s success, they may or may not add some healthier foods to their menu.

                Dr. Joanne Burke, a professor of Nutrition at UNH, says that in the college environment, cheaper food is easy to entice a customer with. “But, healthy can and should also taste ‘good’,” said Burke. “People vote to eat with their feet. Though healthy sometimes is perceived as more expensive, the positive investment in long term health is often underestimated by the consumer.” The University, through the dining halls and other restaurants on campus like the Dairy Bar, promote healthy, accessible food, for students and community members alike.

                But students can’t resist Jack Stone’s. Andrew Burger, a student at UNH, lives in an apartment by Theta and goes to the trailer almost every day for food.

                “It’s convenient because it’s so close to me and good,” said Burger. “Good, but not good for you. I work out all the time and I’m in college so I don’t care that that much. I’ve got the rest of my life to worry about that.” The kids surrounding him probably had the same mindset, as their hotdogs quickly disappeared from their paper plates.

                Parence and MacNeil plan to move the business into a new building that starts construction this upcoming June. The older building that now holds Durham Bike will be knocked down, and in its place will come an apartment and room for bigger businesses. By starting out small, the owners hope they can eventually move into the new building. The delicious food, in contrast from the local movement to go “green” and eat healthier, has been buying customers so far.

                “If you go along with what everyone else does, how are you supposed to be successful?” Parece asks as he pours French fries into a frialator. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you that?”