Fat Man Nok’s opens restaurant

Jaylen Armstrong, Lorence Scott II and Eric Quick in front of Fat Man Nok’s new brick and mortar location in Norwayne. Photo by John Rhaesa

By Sarah Shurge – “I want it to be when people say ‘coney dogs,’ they say ‘we have to go to Fat Man Nok’s,’” said Lorence Scott II, Fat Man Nok’s owner.
Fat Man Nok’s Restaurant opened on Saturday, June 1st, however, Fat Man Nok’s has been serving the City of Wayne for years now. Scott originally opened his food cart business in August 2021.
“It feels good to finally know that I put my drive and focus into something and to watch it grow. To see where I came from – the side of that store – to having the community come in and sit down to enjoy my cuisine,” said Scott.
Fat Man Nok’s Hot Dog stand was originally located in the lot next to the West Town Market on the corner of Howe Rd. and Forrest St. Scott did research around the community for where people walked, traveled, or drove past for work, and he decided that was the best location for his business.
“People always came up to my stand and said I’m going to have a restaurant, so to see it manifest is everything you can imagine,” said Scott. Going from food cart to restaurant has been a process and Scott has worked hard to get to where he’s at.
The first event he worked at was at Goudy Park. The City of Wayne-Downtown Development Authority (DDA) asked Scott to bring Fat Man Nok’s to the Makers Market in Downtown Wayne. He has worked concerts in the park, movie nights in the park, at Wayne Releaf, the car cruise, and more.
Scott has been catering to Amazon: Pontiac, Detroit, and Romulus locations, Henry Ford hospital, and more. “I serve high volumes of people with catering,” said Scott.
Due to the amount of people Scott serves, he felt like he and his team would be prepared for the restaurant traffic. “Business is doing well,” said Scott. “We’re still new and want to increase over time. But we’re doing the best we can and pushing out the food.”

Fat Man Nok owner Lorence Scott II

Scott will still be out in the community with his hot dog stand for countless events such as: Flowers in the Mitten, Moonlit Mystic, Hillcrest for the fireworks and the car cruise. “I’m out there every day with consistency,” said Scott. “Even though I’m trying to build my restaurant, I’m still going to uphold my commitment to the City of Wayne.”
Scott always had a passion for taking care of the community. At his food cart, kids and the homeless got a free hot dog. He fed the UAW workers during the strike. And he still feeds the homeless (after closing time) at his restaurant.
Now he offers free popcorn to customers at the restaurant while they wait for their orders. “Children love that feature,” said Scott.
Fat Man Nok’s menu offers: polish sausage, hot polish sausage, hot dog, coney dog, coney loose burger, pickled red hot snack sausage, pulled pork sandwich, BBQ shredded chicken sandwich, and a devil dog. “We make a quality coney dog, I’ll put it up against anyone,” said Scott. The menu has sides such as: frank and beans, baked beans, mac and cheese, four different types of loaded fries, and blue raspberry Kool-Aid.
Some of Fat Man Nok’s best selling items are the coney dog, polish sausage, pulled pork sandwich, and mac and cheese. “We have unique flavors you won’t get anywhere else,” said Scott. “People can feel the love in my cuisine.”
Scott has a suggestion box in his restaurant so customers can write down what they would like to see. “It’s important to me because of the community, I never forgot where I started. All the same people that frequented my stand, still come to my restaurant,” said Scott. “I want to hear what they want and what they suggest.”
Scott also plans to “cook with the seasons” and add items to coordinate with the weather. So when fall starts, he will add chicken and dumplings, stews, and chilis to the menu. “I just wanted to do something different,” said Scott. “It’ll draw people in because they know we only have the option for a limited time. They have to come in and get it while it’s available for the season.”
Scott wanted to give a special shout out to Jeff Frazier from Frazier’s Towing, Lisa Kubany and Lori Gouin from the DDA, Whaa and Tammy from 88 Sushi, and Moe, Eddie, and Chuck from Shell for helping him in individual ways that got him to where he is today.
“Without my customers, this wouldn’t have been possible. I believe in myself and my team – that if I build it, they’ll come – but the support from city officials and fellow business owners helped get my name out there,” said Scott.
Scott and the city are in the works for scheduling a ribbon cutting ceremony for Fat Man Nok’s Restaurant.
“I want customers to go ‘I went there, it was clean, the service was good, my food was good, and my pockets are good,’” said Scott.
For more information about Fat Man Nok’s, you can call (734) 890-8204, or find them on Facebook by searching “Fat Man Nok’s”, and on Instagram at @fatmannoks. To place an order, call (734)329-2717. A website is currently in the works, so keep an eye on the Facebook page for updates.
Fat Man Nok’s is located at 2717 S Wayne Rd (in the Washington Center Plaza) and is open 11a.m. – 7 p.m. Tuesday – Saturday. Happy hour is 2 – 3 p.m. Tuesday and Saturday (buy two coneys, get one free.) Scott is working on adding more weekly specials. First Responders and City Officials get a discount at Fat Man Nok’s.
“We’re open to the public, come check us out for yourself,” said Scott. “Bring an empty stomach so we can fill it up for you.”