“I came here for the post-bar crowd,” Tompkins said. “During the school year, it’s a big chunk of our business.”

According to city of East Lansing records, nine out of the 11 available non-office restaurant-eligible spaces downtown are east of the Peanut Barrel, away from the bar-packed vicinity of the Ann Street Plaza.

Although a large portion of the overall customer base slows during the summer, restaurants, such as What Up Dawg?, 317 M.A.C. Ave., are able to maintain a solid late-night clientele.

“The closer you are to the bars, the more crowd you’re going to get when the bars let out,” Tompkins said. “Everyone who lives in these neighborhoods — all the fraternities and sororities — kind of tromp up M.A.C to go to the bars and then tromp down M.A.C to get back.”

Tompkins originally wanted to run a hot dog stand in the most literal sense of the word: a cart to sell hot dogs on busy street corners during the weekend nights as students streamed home from the bars.

But after getting turned down due to East Lansing’s strict peddling laws at the time, he opted for a storefront and made sure to get the right location. He ended up in his current location, just off the Ann Street Plaza in downtown East Lansing.

About one-sixth of the business profits come between the hours of midnight and 2:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, Tompkins said.

“I think every business around here that stays open late will tell you they rely on that late night crowd,” he said.

A location game
George Hoover, owner of Cottage Inn Pizza, 615 E. Grand River Ave., developed a philosophy not long after he opened his doors in 2002.

“I used to say there was no life after the Peanut Barrel,” Hoover said.

For him, the last bar — in this case the farthest east — meant a slow business traffic.

In the past, he even tried to convince nearby landlords to put more alcohol-serving establishments farther east down Grand River Avenue.

Despite being somewhat removed from the bar district, Hoover isn’t dissatisfied with his location. It’s a central location, easily accessible to both students and permanent residents, he said.

Chairman of East Lansing’s Downtown Development Authority Bill Mansfield said much of the business tends to center around the west end of downtown, near the Ann Street Plaza.

“There is certainly a concentration of bars in that 100 to 200 block area,” Mansfield said. “The activity does seem to center around that end of downtown.”

Mansfield said this trend has to do somewhat with the concentration of parking, as well — most of the public lots are centered near the west end of downtown, leading to higher levels of foot traffic in that area.

Nick Constantine, an education student at MSU, said location is a primary factor when he chooses what to eat after he goes to the bar.

“If I’m really hungry and right by the bar, I’m looking for whatever I can find,” Constantine said.

Hoover said he notices distinctly different business trends at night than during the day. He gets a greater number of orders at night, but they aren’t as expensive as during the day.

Cottage Inn offers a Stagger Home special, exclusive to the late night crowd.

And when students are staggering home, they often have less money — most of it already was spent in the earlier hours of the evening.

Turning in early
For some businesses, the late night crowd isn’t worth waiting up for.

Spencer Soka, owner of StateSide Deli, 313 E. Grand River Ave., said the restaurant was open late on weekends during the fall 2010 semester but stopped closing at 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday right around the holiday season, just after tailgating season had ended.

For Soka, the decision to close early was more of a personal choice.

“At night, it’s a whole different crowd,” Spencer said. “It’s a whole different image.”

Now, the East Lansing location closes around 10 p.m.

Although Soka’s decision was more of a personal one, others are driven home early by the inability to make a profit.

Michael Abrams, co-owner of Five Guys Burgers and Fries, 623 E. Grand River Ave., began closing at 10 p.m. every night and said he isn’t sure he’ll ever remain open late on weekends again.

“It was never as good as we thought it would be,” Abrams said.
“We just don’t seem to do well between 10 and two in the morning.”

Abrams said it could be the nature of his business — it’s very labor-intensive, forcing him to staff more workers than other types of businesses.

Furthermore, Abrams said he thinks students eating late at night often cannot afford his products.

“Half the time they run out of money,” Abrams said. “They don’t have an additional $10 to spend on a burger and fries.”

No strict formula
Even though it is a several-block hike from the nearest bar, Bell’s Greek Pizza, 1135 E. Grand River Ave., is open until 4 a.m. every night. And they’re not struggling to stay that way. At least 30 percent of sales come late at night, owner Habib Jarwan said.

Jarwan said he does whatever necessary to remain open late every night, all year long.

“People get used to us opened late, so I don’t want to disappoint,” he said.

Overall, Mansfield said there are still many businesses doing well, regardless of their location in relation to the bars, and some spaces — even on the west end of downtown — still have a high turnover rate.

Hoover said he anticipates an increase in foot traffic when a new Chase Bank location opens near his restaurant in the fall.

Hoover said success ultimately comes down the business dynamic of the area, wherever a business is located.

“I think a lot of it is understanding the energy of your area,” he said.