HDB Hot Dog Biz On Verge Of Closing Down Before Going Viral; Now Has 4 Hour-Long Wait For Food
After this ex-SIA steward went viral on @8dayseat’s TikTok, he “sold 10 times more hot dogs and nachos”. He responds to critics who say home-based F&B businesses like his destroy the rice bowls of licensed food operators.
Former Singapore Airlines steward, event company boss and motivational speaker Rafeek Abdul, 49, now runs Window Bites — a home-based business selling hotdogs and nachos with some serious cheese pull from his ground-floor HDB flat’s window in Tampines.
“Best nachos in Singapore,” he declares confidently and articulately in his baritone voice. After @8dayseat’s TikTok video on Window Bites went viral with over 446K views (and counting) two days ago, his previously quiet flat became swarmed with customers — some travelling from as far as Jurong and waiting up to a whopping four hours for their orders.
“Taking orders is fairly quick and most customers wait elsewhere, before returning to collect their food,” he tells 8days.sg, adding that he recently set up a system where one person handles walk-ins, while another manages pre-orders to avoid clogging up the void deck.
No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.
Aspires to be the “hotdog king of Singapore”
Window Bites’ Muslim-friendly chicken hot dogs start from $3 and nachos from $4 — prices are kept affordable for students and families, explains Rafeek. But you can pay more for loaded toppings. His flat is just across from St. Hilda’s Primary and Secondary School.
He runs the business full-time with occasional help from his wife, a pre-school teacher, who makes their signature American-style chilli con carne topping using her own recipe. The rich minced beef (or chicken if you choose), tomato and spiced concoction drapes both their hotdogs and cheesy nachos. Their four children, aged 13 to 25, pitch in when needed. Rafeek frequently cooks for his family, including dishes like biryani, mee goreng and nasi goreng — so, learning to whip up hot dogs via YouTube came naturally to him. “I want to be the hot dog king of Singapore,” he declares.
Outside Rafeek’s four-room flat sits a mini yard of sorts with benches and a coffee table. Inside, he has carved out a corner of his living room where he whips up orders and serves customers through a window.
“I take feedback very seriously,” Rafeek says quietly. “In the early days, customers found the nachos soggy, so I changed the brand of chips and now heat the nachos and toppings separately.”
Biz on verge of closing before appearing on @8dayseat’s TikTok channel
Before our video on Window Bites went viral, Rafeek was considering shutting the business down — daily sales before deducting costs averaged around $60 to $80. “There was one Saturday where I had zero sales,” he recalls. “I just sat around the whole day staring at a wall.”
“I sold 10 times more hotdogs and nachos after it went viral,” he says, beaming. The surge caught him off guard: he sold out completely the next day, had to cancel pre-orders, and waiting times stretched up to four hours. The crowd grew even bigger the following day.
Bought $3K worth of cooking equipment to speed up process
He came better prepared when 8days.sg spoke to him this morning, he says. “I just bought $3K worth of cooking equipment, including a bain-marie (double boiler), to speed things up,” he shares. As we spoke to him at 10am — two hours before opening — customers were already at his window asking if he was open for biz.
Used to earn $20K to $30K a month as events planner
In his twenties, Rafeek was a cabin crew member with Singapore Airlines for six years before leaving to set up his own events business, which organised local and international events. The company ran for 20 years before he shut it down due to the pandemic.
He then worked as director of events for non-profit Muslim organisation Jamiyah Singapore for a year and a half, but quit due to “personal reasons”. His ensuing job search was unsuccessful, marking a low point in his career, which eventually led to the birth of Window Bites in May this year, he says.
Why sell hot dogs? Rafeek travelled extensively as a flight steward and event planner. “I’m a hot dog lover, so when I travel the world, the first thing I look out for is, of course, a hot dog. But the best one I’ve ever had was at a halal standalone stall in New York, though I honestly can’t remember exactly where,” he shares.
Rafeek tells 8days.sg that his events business generated an average monthly income of $20K to $30K, depending on the number of events, so the shift to his home-based business meant a drastic pay cut. He has invested about $5K into Window Bites and has yet to break even.
When he started his home-based food biz, Rafeek was still job hunting, hoping to run Window Bites on the side. After seeing the recent crowd turnout, he tells 8days.sg that he’s considering going full-time if it remains consistent and expresses his gratitude for the exposure.
Responds to critics of home-based F&B businesses
Responding to critics who say home-based businesses are affecting the rice bowl of licensed hawkers and restaurateurs, Rafeek says: “It’s narrow-minded to think that. Home-based businesses should be encouraged — they’re a [stepping stone]. You learn to handle sales, trial and error, and then you can move on to renting a [proper] shop space. You can’t experiment like this in a physical store without losing money [due to rental prices].”
Rafeek has also received comments online questioning the hygiene of home-based businesses. He explains his philosophy: “How [someone] does anything is how they do everything [else]. Look at how someone dresses — it gives you an idea. My customers are guests at my home, and I won’t serve them rubbish.”
Plans to open a food truck one day
Rafeek sees a food truck as a cheaper alternative to a brick-and-mortar store and a way to “think outside the box.” He adds: “A food truck would be more visually interesting”.
Singapore has limited designated spaces for food trucks, and places like Marina Bay would be too expensive to rent, so the idea is still a work in progress, he says.
Rafeek plans to expand his menu with items like Pulled Beef Rendang — another of his wife’s specialties, to add a local twist to both his hot dogs and nachos — fries, and maybe tacos.
For now, you can order his no-frills Classic Hotdog ($3) with onions, chilli and mustard or the Ultimate Hotdog ($10) heaving with chilli beef, pepperoni slices, melted mozzarella cheese, and onions. There’s also his “best in Singapore” Nachos Chilli Beef and Cheese with his “special sauces” ($7); and drinks like Latte ($4) and Cappuccino ($4).
Head down to order in person or pre-order via WhatsApp.
Window Bites is at #01-07, 834 Tampines St 82, S520834. Tel: 8947 1204. Open Sat to Thur 12pm–9pm; Fri 3pm–9 pm. More info via Instagram.
No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.
8days.sg is now on #tiktok! Follow us on www.tiktok.com/@8dayseat.
Watch Now
Related Stories
Shopping
