Dog n Suds
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dog n Suds is a midwestern United States chain of hot dog drive-in style eateries with the once popular and now rare form of in-car "carhop" delivery service. The chain was created in Champaign, Illinois by school teachers James Griggs and Don Hamacher. Licensing rights are now owned by TK&C's LLC of Lafayette, Indiana.
They were very common throughout the 1950s and 1960s and at one time had about 750 restaurants. Griggs sold his interest in the business in the early 1970s. Today only 13 "traditional" and two newer "non-traditional" locations survive in the Mid-Western United States. A new Dog N Suds was opened in Norton Shores, Michigan in September of 2007.
Due to the outdoor environment, business is seasonal. During the long winter months some locations shut down food operations and sell Christmas trees instead.
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[edit] Food
Dog n Suds serves many different food items depending on which restaurant you are visiting, but mainly serves hot dogs. The "Dog" in Dog n Suds represents the Coney Island-style chile con carne over hot dog or chili dog served there, while the "Suds" represent its super-sweet original formula homemade root beer, which is served in frosted glass mugs and claimed to be "The World's Creamiest Root Beer." Dog'n'Suds root beer can also be found in some vending machines throughout the midwest.
Another favorite from the classic Dog N Suds menu is the Texas Burger. This burger is made using two burger patties, 1 1/2 buns (One top, one middle, and one bottom), a slice of cheese on the top burger, lettuce and the Dog N Suds secret sauce on the middle bun, and Coney sauce on the bottom bun.
In the early days, representatives of Dog n Suds met with Coca Cola to bring Coke products to Dog n Suds, but an agreement could not be reached, so Dog n Suds created their own cola. There were even reports that Coke sent representatives posing as customers to make sure that if someone asked for a Coke to drink that the wait staff would properly inform the customer that they were not being served Coke.[citation needed] Monroe Couch, owner of the Hillsboroguh Ave location in Tampa, Florida instructed his wait staff that if anyone asked for a Coke they were to tell the customer that "We don't serve Coke, but we do have a product that we feel is better than Coke."
[edit] Locations
There are currently 15 Dog n Suds locations, which are in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. There is also a location in Paragould, Arkansas. The newest Dog N Suds is located in Norton Shores, Michigan. It opened in October of 2007.
A Dog n Suds was located on Robie Street in Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada until the early to mid-1970s, but it is not clear whether it held a franchise from the U.S.-based owners of the franchise rights. There was also a location in the Sapperton area of New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada during the 1960s, but its status as a franchise is also unknown.
Another Dog n Suds was located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada during the 1960s and 1970s. Its major competition was the A&W chain of drive-in restaurants.
There was also a location on West Hillsborough Ave. in Tampa, FL owned by Monroe Couch. Monroe had a second location on Armenia Ave, but ultimately kept only the one on Hillsborough Ave. Unique to this location was that it had an indoor dining room with booths. Each booth had an order phone with the menu on it. Diners would pick up the phone on the menu and would order on the intercom just like cars that pulled up to the curb. One other Florida location was in Brandon, Fl which was a small town at the time outside of Tampa. This establishment was open through the 60s on Brandon Blvd/Hywy 60.
[edit] See also
- Superdawg, an original drive-in hot dog stand featuring carhop service located in Chicago, Illinois.
- Sonic Drive-In, a modernized carhop fast food establishment
[edit] External links
- List of all Dog n Suds locations
- Dog n Suds in Lafayette, Indiana
- Dog n Suds in Montague and Norton Shores, Michigan
- Dog n Suds TK&C's LLC, the current owner of licensing rights.
- History of Dog n Suds, at TK&C's LLC.
- Dog n Suds In Loves Park.
- Michigan Dog 'n Suds Drive-Ins List of all Dog 'n Suds locations in Michigan
[edit] References
- Carolyn Walkup "Dog n Suds operators gear for revival push - Company Profile". Nation's Restaurant News. July 17, 1995. FindArticles.com. Retrieved 26 Apr. 2007.
- Carolyn Walkup "Classic Dog n Suds Drive-In chain strives for a comeback - Company Profile". Nation's Restaurant News. Oct 19, 1998. FindArticles.com. Retrieved 26 April 2007.
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