“The Love Shack is a little old place where we can get together,” the B-52’s, a pop-rock band, sang in 1989 on their hit track “Love Shack.” “The Love Shack, that’s where it’s at!”
Using this song as his inspiration, Dennis Van Oostendorp opened The Luv Shak in Oxford in 2015. Its precursor was the 6’n Tubbs Food Truck that floated around University of Mississippi student housing complexes during the early hours of the day.
Van Oostendorp said a group of ROTC women would track him down each morning in pursuit of a New York Style bagel. During his time on campus, he saw the need within the community and decided to open his own shop, which has been nurtured by the constant flow of college kids for the past nine years.
The Luv Shak is literally a small, wooden shack. Upon entering, patrons are greeted with a psychedelic atmosphere of tapestries, posters, bright neon lights, a pinball machine and names of past and present customers scribbled everywhere from the walls to the ceiling. Van Oostendorp usually hangs out behind the window, eager to joke with whomever walks in.
2021 UM graduate Jaren Givhan has been coming to Luv Shak since his junior year of college.
“I came and tried it and have been hooked ever since,” he said. “You know coming and waiting for food is a time well spent.”
Girvhan described it as a “hearsay” restaurant because it is not mainstream or a chain. He believes this word-of-mouth aspect is why it has such a loyal following and will continue to thrive. The lack of advertising makes it unique.
A native of northern New Jersey, Van Oostendorp has spent the past 45 years working in the food industry, 14 of them in Oxford.
“It’s not about the money. It’s about providing something that is really cool and that everyone will like,” Van Oostendorp said.
The mom-and-pop style restaurant serves an assortment of bagels on Sunday mornings and different Italian dishes throughout the week, ranging from Meatball Monday to Tortellini Tuesday and Chicken Parm Thursday.
Van Oostendorp believes that The Luv Shak “is not the building, but the people,” valuing and prioritizing his student customers and trying to help them in any way he can. This is why he began the “Pay It Forward Jug.”
This tie dye bucket is an opportunity for others to help people within their community. If you have an extra dollar or two, you can throw it in the bucket to help someone that might be a little short that week.
The Luv Shak is always trying to incorporate new things into the menu. Last Sunday, Van Oostendorp launched the house-brewed kombucha. Their current flavors are strawberry lemonade and mango passion fruit. Among its many health benefits, it is also a great cure for the Sunday scaries.
This funky little shack is not only a restaurant, but also a place where people can come in dressed in pajamas or in their Sunday best and be served regardless. The Luv Shak is located at 2625 West Oxford Loop and is open 4-8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday.
