Hot Dog on a Stick’s original location was renovated in 2022. The uniforms remain a signature of the brand. | Photo courtesy of Hot Dog on a Stick
The new owner of Hot Dog on a Stick sees the 80-year-old corn dog brand as “a diamond in the rough.”
The iconic chain was acquired out of the Fat Brands bankruptcy by Las Vegas-based Amazing Brands earlier this year for $8 million. Amazing Brands is also parent to the 16-unit Pinkbox Doughnuts, three-unit Siegel’s Bagelmania, and the one-off Piero’s Italian Cuisine (a storied restaurant in Las Vegas).
Amazing Brands founder and CEO Stephen Siegel said the decision to add Hot Dog on a Stick to his portfolio was personal.
“I grew up on the brand. I’ve been going there since I was a kid,” said Siegel, who is originally from Los Angeles. His wife also served as a general manager of the Montebello, California, Town Center location in the 1990s, which Siegel noted is still open.
Founded in 1946 at the base of the Santa Monica Pier, Hot Dog on a Stick is known for its simple menu of dogs dipped in cornmeal batter and fried; freshly “hand-stomped” lemonade; and cheese on a stick — as well as the colorful striped uniforms and jockey-style hats that are a signature of the brand. (The hats are so coveted, employees are not allowed to take them out of the units.)
It currently operates almost entirely in malls, except for the original Santa Monica location, which was completely renovated in 2022.
The quick-service chain, however, has shrunk considerably over the years.
Once boasting more than 100 units, Hot Dog on a Stick now has 44, including 21 that are company owned, and 23 franchised.
Siegel said the past two owners, Fat Brands and Global Franchise Group, didn’t recognize the value of the brand.
“I thought it stood out,” said Siegel. “But the brand had been forgotten about by the past owners and not taken seriously. But I thought it was a diamond in the rough.”
In fact, Siegel said he had attempted to buy Hot Dog on a Stick from Fat Brands before the bankruptcy, but he was rebuffed. When the brands came up for auction during the reorganization, he quickly made a bid that he said was “probably more than it was worth, though it was worth it to me.”
Siegel is planning to relaunch growth, and he hopes to take the brand out of malls, following the path of former mall-concepts like Panda Express and Chick-fil-A.
Almost all of the existing Hot Dog on a Stick units are in malls. | Photo courtesy of Hot Dog on a Stick
Amazing Brands hopes to grow the brand with stand-alone, and drive-thru locations, as well as in high-volume sites like tourist areas, airports, stadiums, and other venues. And Siegel said he’s already getting calls from potential international franchisees.
“My goal is to bring Hot Dog on a Stick to the world,” he said.
The company is looking for a flagship location in Las Vegas to kick off that growth. Siegel is also a commercial real estate developer with more than 100 properties under the Siegel Group, which could also offer opportunities for Amazing Brands concepts, he said.
Under Amazing Brands, the company will retain substantially all existing Hot Dog on a Stick employees — known as “Hot Doggers” — including a core group of the corporate team that has been with the brand for more than two decades.
Hot Dog on a Stick was founded by Dave Barham, who first sold the corn dogs and lemonade at state fairs before he opened the tiny hot dog stand in Santa Monica across from “Muscle Beach,” next to the volleyball nets.
Barham later turned the chain over to his daughter Dianne Barham. Initially, it was entirely company owned and boasted restaurants from Alaska to New Jersey. At his request when Dave Barham died, Hot Dog on a Stick became employee owned.
But by 2014, mall brands were suffering, and Hot Dog on a Stick filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That year, it was acquired out of bankruptcy by Global Franchise Group LLC, a portfolio company of private-equity firm Levine Leichtman Partners. At the time, Hot Dog on a Stick had 92 units.
Fat Brands in 2021 bought Global Franchise Group and its portfolio of brands, including Hot Dog on a Stick.
Siegel plans to keep Hot Dog on a Stick’s menu simple, though he might add some mixers for the lemonade, like lemonades mixed with sodas or energy drinks, he said.
The company may also look at adding more food on a stick, like zucchini or chicken strips, he added.
But the goal is to preserve the simplicity that has given the brand staying power over the decades.
“That’s what’s important to us, to make sure we preserve what’s been done for 80 years,” said Siegel. “And that means the iconic striped uniforms, the hand-stomping of the lemonade, and the fresh dipping of anything we have on a stick.”
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