0 0 0 ii 0 8B - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 30, 2004 under the radar |overlooked in Ann Arbor Biener's Wieners staple of Ann Arbor, 'U community The Michigan Daily - ADAM ROSEN - WELL, THAT'S LIKE, YOUR OPINION, MAN By Tian Lee For the Daily The aroma of sizzling hot dogs has wafted around the corner of South State Street and North Uni- versity Avenue for 23 years. A smiling face asks students how they're doing and flips some dogs on the grill. It's a familiar place. Students who go to it are loyal cus- tomers, almost as if this place held a little piece of home in this some- times gargantuan campus that can seem to mercilessly swallow stu- dents whole. Parked outside the Michigan Book and Supply bookstore is the Bj ener's Weiners hot dog cart, a small nugget of Ann Arbor bliss. You'll see the Biener's vendors almost every day from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and if you're lucky, you'll even get to meet the owner, Alan Fineran. Describing this hot dog connoisseur as a warm friendly man, many students return to the cart on a regular basis because Fineran has proved he can make hot dogs with the best of 'em. He's a hot dog man who cares. When he asks students how they are, he really means it. So did his business and life part- ner, Barry Biniarz, before he passed away in March. He was the former owner and originator of Biener's Weiners. "The other day, a student asked me where the nice chummy man with the gray hair was. It's hard to tell the students what happened to Barry," said Alan. As much as the dogs were a treat for poor students looking for a cheap lunch, so was Biniarz to a stressed out student who just need- ed a smile and a $1 dog. "Barry sincerely loved the kids," Fineran said. "He really enjoyed them. Everyone who knew him loved him. You couldn't have had a better person sell a hot dog to a student." When students have an empty stomach and wallet, Biener's long- standing tradition, which the late Biniarz began, has been to let students "buy now and pay later" if they are a little short on cash. "They always come back to me later to pay for it," Fineran said. Barry and Biener's Weiners sin- cerely had a magic touch with stu- dents. "I met Barry last year, and the one thing we had in common was that he would just be himself with me," LSA senior Manny Deswal said. "We would stand on this corner and tell jokes. When I was stressed out at classes or just had a rough day, I came here to get food and be with friends. Today, I decided that we would walk across the Diag to get a hot dog here instead of buying it at the cart near us. They're the best here, and the people here are always smil- ing. They've Alan Fineran prep been here long his cart on N. Univ enough to see people come in and out - and they can just understand students." It is a difficult task for Fineran to explain to students daily about Biniarz's passing. "I've had several students crying their eyes out when I tell them the news." Fineran himself knew he had to get back out there on the corner after spending six weeks in bed and suffering two blood clots as a result of mourning Barry. It's quite the simple combination: cheap food, nice people. "They're just really friendly here," LSA senior Josh Wyckstanandt said. "I see