Big Al’s works late to appease hunger

At 2:30 a.m. on the average weekend night, most University Park families are sleeping snug in their beds. The employees of Big Al’s Pizza, however, are wide awake and working, often catering to the late night hunger of SMU students.

Owner and operator of Big Al’s, Curtis Blume, is one of these people.

“During dinner, about 35 percent of our business comes from SMU,” Blume said. “But late night, it’s at least 70 percent.”

Since opening in late September, Big Al’s, located on McFarlin Blvd., has targeted much of its business toward SMU late night. Even one of its initial marketing strategies, in addition to direct mail marketing, was to hand out menus to fraternity houses. Three weeks after opening, Blume said, the word got out, and since then business has been better than expected.

The late night hours are the restaurant’s biggest assets in gaining patrons from SMU.

“Late hours and great pizza is a hard combination to find,” junior biology major Lee Grimm said.

Grimm said he orders from Big Al’s at least once a week.

On Friday and Saturday nights, Big Al’s delivers until 3 a.m., and every other night, including Sunday, delivery ends at 2 a.m.

“We had SMU a lot in mind when we opened and decided our hours,” Blume said.

Blume also said that Big Al’s is usually busy up until closing time, especially Friday nights.

“Every time we try to close, [SMU students] keep calling,” he said.

Sophomore business major Blake Barnes said he orders food from Big Al’s twice a week, and he attributes the restaurant’s success to several factors.

“[Big Al’s] delivers late, the delivery men are quick and it has a variety of good food,” Barnes said.

In addition to pizza, Big Al’s offers salads, pastas, appetizers, quesadillas and burgers. And while pizza accounts for most late night sales, Blume said that orders for buffalo wings and burgers also make up a good portion.

With summer approaching and a good amount of students leaving Dallas, Blume is aware that business will probably slow down, but he is not worried.

“It’s expected [for business to decline], but a lot of people are staying,” he said. “At worst, we might close early.”

Blume pointed out also that besides SMU, orders from downtown account for a lot of the restaurant’s business.

Still, even though Big Al’s is not biting its nails over a smaller SMU-driven revenue this summer, Grimm said he has seen how much Big Al’s values SMU customers.

“They always show they appreciate your business,” Grimm said.