Hot Dog on a Stick

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“Hot dog on a stick” redirects here. For the food, see corn dog.

Hot Dog on a Stick

Type	Fast food restaurant
Founded	June 1946 (Santa Monica, California)
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California

HDOS Enterprises, commonly known as Hot Dog on a Stick, is a company originating in Long Beach, California originally founded by Dave Barham. Their first store opened at the former Muscle Beach location next to the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California in 1946. They started serving lemonade and corn dogs to people on the beach. Hot Dog on a Stick soon expanded and became a food chain. Barham later branched into Giant Slides, and the combination of food and entertainment were staples throughout fairs in Southern California.

After the death of CEO Fredrica Thode on January 29, 2007, Gabriel Ventor assumed the position.

Their trademark foods are hot dogs on sticks and lemonade. Although commonly referred to as corn dogs, the employee manual states that the food is actually known as a Hot Dog on a Stick, due to the fact that corn dogs are frozen and reheated, while these are made fresh to order. They serve a variety of types of each including frozen lemonade, limeade, cherry lemonade, American and pepper jack cheese on a stick, veggie dogs on a stick, French fries, and hot dogs on buns. They usually have small stands with lots of mirrors and are located in mall food courts.

After Dave Barham's death in 1991, the company became an employee-owned corporation (ESOP). Today, Hot Dog on a Stick is present in 17 U.S. states with 105 stores.

[edit] Hot Dog on a Stick on Deal or No Deal

On the March 19, 2007 episode of Deal or No Deal, an employee of the chain named Shell Kearney was selected by host Howie Mandel to appear on the show. Mandel was in the local community for the purpose of plucking someone at random and bringing them directly to the set to compete on the show. He found the contestant at a Hot Dog on a Stick franchise at Westside Pavilion, a mall in West Los Angeles. She claims to have worked there for 9 years. Her twin sister, also an employee of the chain, was working at the time and Shell brought her along for support. The contestant chose case #13, saying it was the lucky number of HDOS because of Dave Barham's birthday, June 13, 1913. Shell sold her case, which contained $75,000, for $62,000. It was also mentioned on that episode that model Hayley Marie Norman, who holds case #25, applied for a job at Hot Dog on a Stick, but was turned down. It was also revealed that Tameka Jacobs, who holds case #21, once worked for the company.