Hot Dog on a Stick has 44 locations, which may not be a large number when it comes to fast food chains. But it’s instantly the biggest chain in its new owner’s portfolio.
The 80-year-old corn dog chain has been acquired by Las Vegas-based Amazing Brands from Fat Brands, the Beverly Hills-based company that filed for chapter 11 protection in January but emerged from bankruptcy in June by selling off nearly $600 million in assets, according to QSR, a news outlet for quick service restaurants.
The sale brings Amazing Brands to four brands. The other three are mostly in Nevada, the largest being Pinkbox Doughnuts, which has 19 locations.
Acquiring Hot Dog on a Stick was a labor of love for Stephen Siegel, founder and chief executive officer of Amazing Brands.
“I grew up going to the Sherman Oaks Galleria in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the original Sherman Oaks Galleria, where Hot Dog on a Stick was,” he said in a phone interview.
Being a fan “played everything in acquiring it. We only acquire stuff that we’re passionate about and believe in.”
Hot Dog on a Stick was founded in 1946 by fitness enthusiast Dave Barham on Muscle Beach near the Santa Monica Pier. The original stand remains to this day, serving his turkey corn dogs and fresh “stomped” lemonade. The chain currently serves corn dogs with turkey, veggie or Nathan’s Famous beef dogs as well as Cheese on a Stick, fries and Funnel Cake fries.
Over the years, it became known as a food court brand in enclosed malls, an image Siegel wants to change.
“For us, it’s about evolving it out of the malls, continuing to be in certain malls but taking the model to airports, stadiums, amusement parks, free-standing drive-thru buildings that we’re going to create at major intersections,” he said. “Other brands that were in the malls, like Panda Express and Chick-fil-A, all started in the mall, but they evolved out of the mall. Hot Dog on a Stick is like the gold standard of the mall, but never left the mall.”
Siegel said Hot Dog on a Stick has generations of loyal fans and former employees who want to see it come back. But he said the brand is mostly known on the West Coast, and he would like it to have a national profile.
He wants to play to the brand’s strengths, including its nostalgic red, white, yellow and blue uniforms with shorts and tall hats for the females and “stompers” used to make lemonade in buckets every couple of hours.
But he also envisioned adding titles to the menu like chicken and breakfast sausage, all on a stick.
Siegel plans to expand his other brands to California and said Pinkbox will come to the city of Los Angeles next year. The location hasn’t been disclosed.
“Pinkbox is very fun and very pink,” he said. Its current menu includes Labubu doughnuts, a Kentucky Cornbread doughnut, a glazed raised doughnut braided like a two-finger peace sign, a Strawberry Shortcake Bar and even a frosted chocolate doughnut shaped like a pooh emoji.
Hot Dog on a Stick, which was formerly based in Carlsbad, is now based in Las Vegas.
It will be marking its 80th anniversary on Wednesday, July 15 – National Hot Dog Day – by offering customers who buy one stick a second one for 80 cents.