When thinking about late-night dining after a night out, the name “Big D’s Meats” likely comes to mind for many Tulane University students.  

Big D’s Meats is a student-run food stand serving burgers, grilled cheeses, sandwiches and hot dogs. The stand can be found in various locations around Tulane’s campus from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.  

Sophomore Dustin Greenwood started Big D’s Meats last fall outside of his freshman year dormitory, Butler Residence Hall.  

“I started this business because I saw a need for late night food options on campus,” Greenwood said. “I figured if kids were willing to spend $30 on Uber Eats every time they go out, surely they’d be willing to spend $10 on a pretty good burger.”  

Big D’s Meats seemed like a natural project for Greenwood, as it combines his passions for cooking and business.  

“[Cooking is] a big part of who I am [and] something I’ve always loved to do. To be able to bring that to my peers and make them happy late at night, when there’s not really a lot of other food options, it is something that’s very rewarding for me,” Greenwood said.  

Greenwood aims to maintain a high level of freshness and quality in his products.  

“Last year, I would literally get as much ground beef as I could from Rouses that I could fit in my dorm fridge. And then when that was too much I used [the dorm fridges of the] people next door to me,” Greenwood said.  

 Currently, Greenwood has grass-fed beef and hamburger bun suppliers. 

Despite Big D’s Meats’s success, Greenwood encountered obstacles while running his business.  

According to Greenwood, last February, the Tulane administration decided that Big D’s Meats can no longer operate on campus.  

As a result of Tulane’s restrictions, Greenwood readjusted his business model to include catering for private events. Since the start of the semester, Big D’s Meats has appeared at Dune Music Fest and an event at the Rabbit Hole club. Big D’s Meats is also scheduled to cater Tulane fraternity events in upcoming months.  

Running Big D’s Meats while being a full-time student presents challenges for Greenwood. In addition to taking classes, Greenwood does the marketing, cooking, cleaning, prep work and supplies ordering for Big D’s Meats.  

“Being able to balance that, it’s taught me a lot of life lessons and business lessons [about] managing all of my time and all the responsibilities that come with [running a business] on top of being a Tulane student,” Greenwood said.  

Greenwood credits his time studying at Tulane’s A.B. Freeman School of Business for giving him many skills that he incorporates in his business.  

“I applied what I learned in [my] financial and managerial accounting [class] already and I’ve gotten to learn how to engage with customers and learn how much to sell, how little to sell, how often should I do it, things like that,” Greenwood said. 

Despite the challenges, Greenwood finds it rewarding to run the business.  

“The motivation and encouragement that I’ve gotten from my peers, like telling me that my food’s amazing, that they love it, they respect the grind. All of it really does mean a lot to me,” Greenwood said. 

 Greenwood hopes to continue to expand Big D’s Meats while at Tulane.  

“I would love to keep running it through college and then, at some point down the line I would love to open up a restaurant,” Greenwood said. “That is my dream.” 

Although he acknowledges the risks involved in starting a business, he believes it is worth it to pursue his passion.  

“There’s a lot of things that could go wrong, but at the end of the day, the I’m willing to lose money if it comes to that, just because I know that the experience that I’m gonna get from all this is so much greater than any dollar amount that it’s worth it to me.”