The Story

In one of my previous lives back in the early 90s I ran a small motorcycle exporting company which allowed me to travel the country as I searched for motorcycles. Often my travels  brought me to New York City.  Many times when I was on a buying trip in the New York area,  I would take a few days off and wander Manhattan on foot and take in all I could of what makes New York, New York.  Over the years when ever I returned to New York, there were two things I would always do, get a slice of New York-Style pizza, and get a hot dog fresh off a street vending cart.

Years later my business travels took me to Texas and the Southwest. There I fell in love with the Texas barbeque, and green chili. I also discovered and fell in love with a very special place called Austin that thought might make a great hometown someday. In 2001 my wife and I decided it was time to make that someday happen before to much time slipped by. I sold my business to moved with my wife to the town I have fell in love with years ago. I loved it all. From the Continental Club, to The Broken Spoke; from Barton Springs, to Hamilton Pool; from Artz’s Ribs, to the Salt Lick; from P. Terry’s, to Casino El Camino, Austin was such a great place to be! I was always amazed at the quality and variety of food that could be found in such a small town. Austin even had a couple good New York-Style pizza, especially with the addition of Home Slice Pizza, my life down here was almost complete. 

Almost. There was one experience I never could find in my beloved adopted hometown. A perfect all beef, all natural casing New York-style hotdog served from a classic street cart. Sure there were a few good hot dog places around town, and in no way do I mean disrespect them. But for me, none of them had that authentic New York flavor or atmosphere. When you eat a dog in New York, there is a certain magic of getting a hotdog served fresh to you out in the open by a busy central city central street under the canopy of a colorful umbrella from a diamond platted street cart that just can’t be duplicated in a strip center sit-down restaurant. So I decided I would make this one of my missions in life to add one more verse to the wonderful patchwork that makes Austin, Austin. 

I scoured the country to acquire an authentic New York style vending cart. And not just any cart, an All-American Hot Dog cart, the manufacturer who makes most of the ones you see on the streets of New York. I also went to great lengths to get THE Hot Dog of New York, SABRETT. Sabrett is not the best known dog by the general public, but ask any native New Yorker, and this is THE New York hotdog. As Sabrett is a smaller company on the east coast, it was no small effort to get these dogs to Austin. As of this writing there are no suppliers of Sabrett Hot Dogs in Texas and, to my knowledge, this is the only vending cart in entire state to be able to feature Sabrett hot dogs. We also have Sabrett’s famous onion sauce, sauerkraut, and delicious brown mustard! To add some Texas punch to this line up I also feature one of the best Texas-style chili to be found from the Texas Tamale Company.

So that’s it. I hope you will take some time come and join us on some beautiful Austin afternoon and experience the fun of eating an authentic all beef, natural casing Sabrett hot dog en plein air made to order anyway you like!

We also do a top notch catering business and can easily expand our menu to fit your party's needs!

Best Regards and Enjoy!- John

PS One more note. Being this is Austin, I did scourer the earth for a good vegetarian hot dog. But alas, none I found (and believe me I tried many) could come close to the flavor of a real hot dog. So I apologize to my vegan friends out there, but until a dog passes the taste test, none will be served from my cart. If you have a favorite brand you are welcome to request it and I will look into it, but the odds are I have already tried it.

I am proud to feature use All American Hotdog Carts, as featured on my New York City Streets and was feature in “John Ratzenberger’s Made in America” http://allamericanhotdog.com/
Our great Texas-style chili from the Texas Tamale Company: http://www.texastamale.com/
And of course the star of the show Sabrett Hot Dogs: http://www.sabrett.com/