'Food Court Wars' victor will stay on at Lansing Mall

DELTA TWP. – When Mark and Krysta McGee's "rent-free ride" at the Lansing Mall ends in May the couple who won "Food Court Wars" last year will stay on at the Lansing Mall.

The McGees have signed a six-month lease for their restaurant, Mark's Gourmet Dogs, located in the mall food court, through the end of December.

That's not all. They'll be changing up the menu and working on opening a second location closer to home.

By the end of the year the couple aims to open a brick and mortar restaurant on Main Street in downtown Eaton Rapids. It's their hometown and where the McGees' seasonal hot dog cart got its start six years ago.

That was before they earned a spot on Food Network's reality show "Food Court Wars," hosted by chef Tyler Florence, and won the rent-free, year-long spot in the mall.

The couple is in the process of leasing and renovating a 2,300-square-foot space on Main Street. If all goes well, by December the new restaurant will be open, offering an expanded atmosphere and menu that will include homemade barbecue sauce over pulled pork.

The couple said they considered opening a second location in Lansing but could never find the right spot. Krysta McGee said Eaton Rapids is where their heart is.

"I don't think it was a hard decision at all," she said. "We're going back to our roots. We love Eaton Rapids and we have a great following there."

A challenging year

Mark McGee says the last year at the mall hasn't been easy. Their decision to remain there, he said, meant re-thinking how the business should operate.

"When we started out right after the show aired we were really busy," said Mark. "We were really busy until January and then it died out. Traffic has not been great but it was like that our first year with the hot dog cart."

So rather than close the mall location, he says the couple will try a new approach. The restaurant will drop a few items from its current menu beginning May 1.

That includes a bacon-wrapped hot dog and the "baked potato bratwurst" made famous on the May 29 episode of "Food Court Wars." The bratwurst, served inside a baked potato and topped with sour cream, mustard and green onions, was suggested by Florence during taping. It was served during the show competition.

But Mark said while the item was "a great idea" it hasn't sold very well.

Instead Mark's Gourmet Dogs will offer a version they started serving on their cart — a bratwurst stuffed with baked potato, bacon, cheese and chives and served on a bun with sour cream, green onions and crumbled bacon.

The couple said most of the new menu is a return to the items that proved successful before winning the mall spot. It will include more specialty hot dogs, a "bratwurst of the week" and chips, a hot dog and drink for under $4.

"We're going back to what got us here," said Mark. "We tried this the Food Network way. Now let's try it our way. We had a concept that worked and it got us noticed by the Food Network. Why change it? It only took us a year to figure this out."

Meanwhile, the couple still maintains two food carts that travel to various locations around Lansing for festivals, events and lunch crowds. Mark says they are the heart and soul of the business and aren't going away.

"I'm going to be the 90-year-old man, all wrinkly and old, selling hot dogs on the street because I love that," he said.

The couple will re-evaluate the Lansing Mall restaurant at the end of the year, although he hopes they can keep it open.

"We're trying to do whatever we can to bring business in," he said.