It’s been about four months since Ryan Tate and his wife Carla brought the unique concept of South Miss Hot Dogs and Hand Pies to 107 Morris Street in Petal, working out of a food truck in front of their brick-and-mortar while that location underwent renovation.
After putting in that work, the Tates finally reached their goal with the recent grand opening and ribbon cutting of the shop, which has since seen an increase in the already impressive turnout they have received so far.
“I feel like people would rather come into a building than a food truck, so I’m getting a lot more customers, and the A/C works in here, so it feels a lot better (than the truck),” Ryan said. “There’s more space, so I can get a lot more done – I went from one or two (varieties) of hand pies, to where now I can do six different flavors.
“I’m getting a lot of people that I haven’t met before coming in, as well as repeat customers. A lot of people from Hattiesburg are coming now too, so I think it’s starting to spread wider.”
The eatery offers several varieties of gourmet hot dogs, including the Cuban Dog, Western BBQ, N.Y. Street Dog and the Plain Dog. On the hand pies side, the Tates switch up between sweet and savory pies, such as Granny Smith Apple, Pot Roast, Sausage Jalapeno Popper and Blueberry Cream Cheese.
The food truck at South Miss Hot Dogs and Hand Pies opened on May 9, when Ryan and Carla – who are from California and Mississippi, respectively – decided to start a truck after Ryan left the U.S. Army.
“I left my job to come here,” Ryan said. “We bought a food truck and started traveling around, and as we were driving by I saw the building for sale.
“I said, ‘well, why don’t we just buy the building and sell the food truck?’ So we did, and in the meantime we bought us a little food trailer. We used the money from the food truck for the trailer and the building, and for the last eight or nine months, I’ve remodeled (the building). So (we were) making money with the food trailer while (we were getting the building ready).”
The food truck received an instant response upon first arrival, when customers began lining up at around 10 a.m. – an hour in advance of the truck’s opening at the time.
“We (weren’t) turning them down,” Ryan said. “We just (sold) them the pies and the hot dogs, and (we were) selling out like 15 minutes before we opened.
“On the one hand (it was) good, because (we were) selling out, but I don’t want to turn people away because I feel bad about that. But (now that we’re) in the shop, we’re able to cook all day, so that problem (has been solved).”
Now that the Tates are settled in the actual store, their business hours are from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
“Everyone has been awesome and so positive,” Ryan said. “0They’re posting on Facebook and Instagram about us and saying good things. I’m meeting a lot of friends who are business acquaintances, and they’re helping me and I’m helping them. So it’s been really good. I haven’t had any negativity whatsoever, so it’s been really cool.”
