A taste of the past
Published 7:50 pm Tuesday, March 30, 2010
If you’ve recently walked down Main Street and found yourself skipping down Memory Lane because of the tantalizing smell of a hotdog stand, the source has been found.
Dallas Ellis opened Dallas’ Diggity Dawgs, a hotdog stand, in front of the Godwin Courthouse about a month ago.
“I love it when people come by and buy hotdogs on sunny days and sit around on the park benches,” Ellis said. “They sit, eat and talk. Just seeing smiles on their faces is great. I’ve been told it reminds them of younger days. They just love the experience. There’s nothing like it to me to see someone sitting there smiling and eating one of my hotdogs.”
With prices starting at $2, the cost of a trip down Memory Lane is cheap. Ellis sells all-beef hotdogs or Italian sausages with toppings from around the nation.
“Before I opened, I researched the bestselling hotdogs from different corners of the nation,” he said.
Whether you’re used to eating hotdogs a la San Francisco, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Dallas, Washington, Charlotte or Atlanta, he has a hot dog for you.
The Dallas dog comes with shredded cheddar cheese onions and chili; San Francisco has chili, onion, mustard, ketchup, tomatoes, pickles, peppers and celery salt; New Orleans has BBQ sauce, tomatoes and grilled onions; Pittsburgh has chili, onions and yellow mustard; Charlotte has coleslaw, onions and mustard; and, of course, your basic all-American hotdog is the Washington dog.
On the menu, each city is represented by its National Football League team’s logo.
“I love the Dallas cowboys,” he said. “So I use the different symbols from various cities to represent what kind of hotdog it is.”
Ellis, who has 20 years of management experience and has owned his own hotdog stand for more than 10 years, said for him customer service is one of his favorite parts of the job.
“It’s all about customer service,” Ellis said. “I just love making products that make people smile. I love seeing people smile when biting into hotdogs. It reminds them of childhood.”
The dogs are all cooked hot on the spot and only take about two minutes.
“People have said it’s a very convenient lunch,” he said. “They can call my cell, place an order and get right back to work.”
Unless there’s a storm, Ellis is on his corner by the Godwin Courthouse from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“People will know I’m here by the giant, red Coca-Cola umbrella I’ve got,” he said. “It’s a great time. I’ve got more than just a hot dog stand here.”