Hot Dog Related Stuff
 

I've been doing all kinds of research on the hot dog business lately. There was a TON of stuff I didn't know and I've been learning a lot.

I never knew people in the south put slaw on their dogs. I didn't know Chili dogs came from Cincinnati or that their chili has chocolate in it. There's terminology associated when buying food from distributors, etc.

I'm excited. This is really going to happen.

Right now I'm learning a lot about the paperwork, accounting, business structures, tax ids, the different ways you can use the cart to make money with the cart depending on your business model, the health codes, permits, licenses, temperatures, procedures, best locations, ways to make the health inspector happy, ways to avoid being hassled by cops, etc.

There are a number of books out there about this business. I got 2. I'm also considering going to Hot Dog University. It was on the CBS News.



This combined with working my with my uncle Manny should really prepare me to open the best possible hot dog business in a clean, safe, and profitable way and to provide an excellent product and experience for the customers.

I'll know by the end of the month if I'm moving forward on this. It's looking good so far though.

I'd love to hear from you guys about what your favorite hot dogs are. What brand? What toppings? Where did you get 'em? What makes you stop for a dog?

In Florida there's a lot of competition in the hot dog business, but I'll give it a shot. They have a chain down there called "Hot Dog Heaven" so I thought it would be good to use the name "Devil Dogs" as a fun way to compete. Maybe we could setup a contest every year between us. We'd both make money and it would be funny. Besides selling hot dogs, brats, and italian sausage & peppers, I could sell t-shirts, hats with horns on 'em, keychains, etc.


I'm still trying to come up with a cute, fun, mischievous but non-threatening, hot dog mascot with horns and a pitchfork with a pointy arrow tail. I can put it on menus, signs, punch cards, hats, t-shirts, the van I'll use to pull the cart, etc. for branding.

my favorite is a Cincy-style chili hot dog. We call them coneys. See Skyline Chili for the real Cincy chili-dog deal. NOT Gold Star!!

Vienna Beef Fire Dogs, or any hot link.

My favorite dog, because I can't get them here, is a Chicago street-style:
sport peppers, pickle spears, tomato slices, sweet relish, spicy mustard, sauerkraut, and and all-beef frank and/or polish sausage.

A friend of mine (my boss actually) turned me on to hotdogs with sauerkraut plus HORSERADISH. Yowzah! That's got a kick.

Where do you go to the bathroom when you are selling dogs? You don't leave your cart unattended, do you? I imagine you need to be in place from about 10 to 4 or so. Can you hold it that long?

white hots!

I used to eat mine with sauerkraut and relish and mustard...not all at once though! Cheese dogs are a current favorite since mustard is off my menu.

Depends?

Stadium Pal?

Wait, hasn't driving to Florida wearing a diaper been done before?

Ha!

We have NuWay hot dogs here. They make their own wieners.

At this place you had better be prepared to wait. Everybody that is somebody eats here. It's old as the hills. And even more famous. No telling what celeb you may run into here.
The joint hasn't changed in as long as anyone can remember. That is key to their success.
Nathan's wieners are good. And available.

HebNats, as my brother-in-law likes to call them. Hebrew National

It wasn't until I read the wiki that I found out that Hebrew National is not kosher enough for Orthodox Jews.

Still, at least the supervision that they have exceeds the increasingly weak FDA inspection.

If you want to be sure it all came from a cow, specifically the front half of the cow, Hebrew National is the way to go.

My only beef with them :rolleyes: is that like many kosher meat products, they just love to use garlic. Sometimes I have to switch to Nathans just to change up the flavor.

BTW, the hand grinder I bought at the QVC outlet comes with 3 packets of seasonings and a few feet of sausage casing. I do want to try making my own at some point. Are all casings edible now or are they just meant to hold the meat in place and be peeled off before cooking?

My favorite hot dogs come from Mel's Hot Dogs here in Tampa. According to their website, they use Chicago-style Vienna Beef dogs. Hebrew National would be second favorite, but nothing matches the stuff at Mel's.

That's a very good question. I asked someone who runs a cart and he says you put your cart within close walking distance to a restaurant, gas station, or somewhere with a bathroom and take the cash box with me when I go. I suppose my cart could get looted for food, but hopefully I can find someone to watch it for a free dog while I go make my business.

http://www.thumanns.com/images/produ...tionalpict.jpg
clicky

these are THE BEST.

period

That's a lot like the Bladder Buddy used by truckers.

Have you considered Veggie Dogs?

Most dog carts use either Vienna Beef or Sabretts 100% Beef dogs that have natural casings so they snap when you bite into them. Vienna = Chicago, Sabretts = New York.

Some people use Nathans, Bests Kosher, or Hebrew National.

These are all high quality dogs. I've never tried Thumann's.


I'll be grilling my dogs rather than boiling them. After grilling them, I'll put them in a steamer. I don't know how many of you have ever had beer steamed dogs or beer brats, but they are really good.

SACRILEGE!!!

Even if I weren't offended by them, you really don't sell enough of them that it would be worth buying them.

You might if you sold good ones. In an already saturated market, maybe the healthier options are a way to make your cart stand out. I hear from Brit and European friends that limited veggie options in restaurants and especially fast food places are one of the touristic drawbacks over here. Veggieburgers are standard fare in McDs etc. in Europe.

I see your point, but people who are into health food just don't eat at hot dog carts. It might be a good idea to make a smoothie cart, or a vegetable snack cart and park it outside the gym.

Check out this map from Clodfobble's IOtD link.
http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/200...a-hot-dog-map/

but maybe they don't eat at the carts because there are no healthy foods on them.... not all veggies are veggie for health reasons. Some of my veggie friends just live on fries.

I've never eaten at one. We were just sitting here talking about what would make me get a street dog and couldn't come up with anything. Good lluck though, I do hope it works out.
For a while there we were spending a lot of time at CHOP (hospital) and I always wondered who was eating at all the roach coaches in the surrounding area.... really nasty looking chinese food selling trucks and stuff. I've never been that hungry.

Thanks Bruce. That is very interesting.

I don't know if it matters what hotdogs I like, but I like ones that're topped with grilled bacon and onion and cheese with a good BBQ sauce.

Those are especially good after a night on the turps.

That sounds great. Like a Western Bacon Dog.

Yeah...they're good. The bacon and stuff covers up the taste of the frankfurt. lol (the sausage that goes in the middle of the bun. That's what we call them over here)

Polish sausage, brown mustard, a bit of ketchup, sauerkraut, all on a nice, sturdy bun. Something kaiserish, none of those wimpy standard dog buns.

In Chicago they use poppyseed buns.

For what it's worth, I still think "Devil Dogs" is a bad marketing idea. You've got a lot of fundies down there in Florida, and it's completely believable that they would not just avoid buying your product but actively spread the protest. Plus, the Hot Dog Heaven people might not be interested in any sort of contests or friendly rivalries, they'll probably just see it as you trying to cash in on their existing customer base. Besides, if you're going to start out by running your Uncle Manny's cart on his off-days, aren't you going to be running it under his business name anyway?

I agree with Clod. "Devil" anything is probably not a good idea in FL.

Dog Days

Doggone it

Where is your Dog now?

The Dog's Bollocks

Dogs breakfast

Frank's Wieners

I don't see using a playful lil' devil as anything even the most twisted and warped fundamental Christian would be offended by something so cute, and lovable. It's a hot dog with horns for Pete's sake.

I'm talking about something like these pics, but with a hot dog. I just don't see how anyone could be offended.

You may be right about Hot Dog Heaven not being interested unless I grow to a chain of brick and mortar stands of my own. Then they might see me as a real player.

As far as uncle Manny's cart goes, that's just for my training. I'll do that for a month or two at the most before buying my own cart and doing this all the way.

That's as bad as Horn Dogs, and there's already a place called "Let's Be Frank"

You have readily admitted in the past that you have difficulty with this in a wide variety of scenarios. You don't see how anyone could have ever voted for Bush, you don't see how anyone could disagree with you on clear Constitutional issues... you've got to keep reminding yourself that there are people in the world who think differently than you do, and that they are far more numerous than you imagine. You dropped out of the homeschool supply business because you learned the hard way that the majority of your clients were fundamental Christians. Don't make the same mistake again--appeal to every customer who has money, not just the ones you like.

Franks footers! make your dogs 12"......

Making a joke of their religious beliefs will not help. I'd seriously stay away from the devil - but thats just me. What do I know?

all dogs go to heaven

Devil Dogs

you could call it

Wang's and wear one of those rice paddie hats?

Der Wiener Shuttle

Doglickers

Yo Dawg

Leatheal dogs , with HOT pepers
Hot Viet pepers
Do you have the Ballz for leathel Dogz ??

srsly, Clod's hit the nail on the head ....one of the main things about being in customer service -which is what a hot dog cart is- is catering to the whims of the public, no matter what your personal opinion on their whims is... you're receiving some great suggestions here. you're only appreciating some of them. If you keep that attitude up once you're on the cart, you're gonna fail. you gotta learn to be more accepting if you want to deal with the public and be successful. You've got to learn the rules before you can break them and get away with it. You don't do that here and that's why you're not so popular as a poster. No prob, it's just a bulletin board. When you're considering your livelihood, you probably don't want to be so blase. just sayin'

I like that one zippy. It's so crazy, it just might work!

Dwellar Dogs

Look man, I seriously am taking the suggestions into consideration. I'm not ignoring them. I brought up the names "Reservoir Dogs", "Horn Dogs", and "Devil Dogs" with 2 people I know who run dog carts in Florida and 1 who has run carts in several states. They all told me "Devil Dogs" is the best of those names and they think it would do really well.

I think what really matters are the dogs. Most people could care less what you call the place. The name and image are just for branding so they can tell the difference between me and someone else. You know what I do if a lot of people complain and tell me they are offended by the name? I change the name and sell the same stuff. It's not a big deal.

Yeh, I'd tell my competition how to take some of my business too :headshake
Just sayin. Then again if the name matters not - go with Radardogs - they know when you're coming.:eyebrow:

That's cool if you have that much rope to play with... They're probably not going to tell you though... and i was referring more to the what you offer than what you're called aspect of it. but hey, who gives a fuck..... Go with whatever floats your boat.

Different parts of Florida. It's a big state.

When you mentioned the name Devil Dogs, the first thing I thought of was the twinkie-like snack cakes I used to eat occasionally as a kid. So I just looked them up. The trademark is owned by Drake's which is a subsidiarity of Interstate Bakeries Corp. They are the same company that makes Twinkies under the Hostess brand.

I bet that if they discovered you were selling a food item using their food trademark, they would put a stop to it. Although they appear to have stopped selling the product in Florida in 2005, so you may be able to argue that point if they approach you.

http://www.drakescakesonline.com/ima...il_dogs_sm.jpg

Ok, then go with Satan's Wiener.

Hot Diggidy Dogs.