LANSING — A takeout hot dog restaurant that opened three years ago in downtown East Lansing will expand later this spring, opening a second location inside Lansing Shuffle.
University Weiner opened in a storefront at 551 E. Grand River Ave. in 2023. Founder Ben Pikus, a 2024 Michigan State University graduate, said the restaurant has become a busy late-night stop for MSU students.
“It’s been amazing,” Pikus said. “We definitely have built like a culture on campus, like a kind of a community, I would say, where it’s almost like part of the going out culture to get a University Wiener to end the night.”
The restaurant offers various hot dog creations, including the most popular, the “MAC Ave,” a hot dog with covered in bacon, mac ‘n cheese and barbeque potato chips. The menu also includes the “Spartan Dawg,” topped with bacon, cream cheese, hot sauce, and sauteed peppers and onions, and the “Windy City Weiner,” topped with mustard, onion, relish, a pickle spear, tomato, sport peppers and celery salt.
Lansing customers who visit the restaurant have been asking for a location in the city since University Weiner opened, Pikus said. The new location has been in the works for a few months now, he said.
It will join four other eateries at the food hall and social club in the Stadium District.
It’s expected to open sometime in May, Pikus said. University Wiener General Manager Corbin Swint, an MSU student majoring in hospitality, will oversee its operation.
“This location will serve as a cool spinoff in the Lansing Shuffle,” Pikus said. “It will be closer and provide better hours for that community.”
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The restaurant will offer the same menu as the East Lansing location, he said.
“We’re super excited to expand into a new market where we’ve already definitely built a lot of guests who have asked for us to expand out there,” Pikus said.
The other restaurants inside Lansing Shuffle include Takitos AF, Kin Thai, Browndog At The Shuffle and Lalafish.
Detroit Rising spent three years transforming Lansing Shuffle, located at 325 Riverfront Drive. The $4 million project turned the 11,000-square-foot building into a space that can house seven restaurants, common dining space for approximately 150 people, two bars and shuffleboard courts in a four-season space. Lansing Shuffle opened in January of 2023.
In February, the company announced its intention to buy the property. Considered city-owned park land, a majority of Lansing City Council would first need to bring the issue to the ballot and voters would need to authorize any sale. Officials have not yet voted to move forward. Voters will ultimately decide the issue.
Learn more about University Wiener online at www.universityweiner.com and Lansing Shuffle at www.lansingshuffle.com.
Contact Reporter Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on X @GrecoatLSJ.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU grad to expand popular hot dog eatery with location at Lansing Shuffle
Reporting by Rachel Greco, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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