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Dirty Frank’s Hot Dogs, a casual hot doggery and neighborhood bar is set to open mid-July in Downtown Columbus, Ohio bringing another fun and affordable lunch option to downtown workers and dwellers. Partners Elizabeth Lessner and Harold LaRue look to bring quality hot dogs and some whimsical sizzle to downtown Columbus.
“Columbus has hot dog envy. People visit New York and Chicago and eat at some of the finest restaurants in the world but come back raving about the hot dogs,” says Lessner, current CEO of Betty’s, Surly Girl Saloon and Tip Top Kitchen and native of Chicago, famed for their outstanding “slap your forehead” scrumptious red hots.
Dirty Franks will feature delicious all-beef Vienna franks, Polish sausages, Kielbasa and Tofu dogs served in steamed poppy seed buns topped with fresh ingredients prepared to order. Sides will include Corn on the Cob with Chipotle Butter, Sriracha Cole Slaw, Roasted Sport Pepper Mac ‘n Cheese, India Pale Ale Dredged Onion Rings, and Hot Dog Cornbread. Salads and a few casserole dishes will also be available.
To complement your dog, locally brewed Frostop Root Beer on draught, plenty of Pabst Blue Ribbon and the house specialty drink, Dirty Frank’s Bloody Mary which contains Sport-Pepper Infused Vodka with Celery Seed Bloody Mary mix.
I want a hotdog. Could you open it sooner?
Like, perhaps, now.
Looks to me like this is pretty much a copy of of what has already proven to be successful in Westerville. If I was the person that opened the Westerville joint and assumed the risk that a concept such as this may not work in Central Ohio, I’d be a bit upset with someone capitalizing on the idea I created and took a chance with.
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1247489/
does liz lessner ever sleep? with the ohioanna market and the new herb garden on the roof of tip top and freaking 80 restaurants how does she do it? keep it up, thats all i gotta say…people think columbus and they say “go to surly girl, go to betty’s..” etc etc…rock on!
If the wiener isn’t kosher, how can I feel good about putting it in my mouth? :(
:lol: sounds like something you’d hear at Axis!
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1247489/
What?? There can only be one hot dog place? How does opening a hot dog restaurant downtown, when you are already a successul downtown business owner, have anything to do with a restaurant in Westerville? It’s hardly a copy given what I have read about Lessner’s place.
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1247489/
We actually visited the Dog Joint not long ago, and I don’t see the two ventures as all that comparable, except in that they both sell hot dogs. The Dog Joint sells hot dogs with a huge variety of toppings — we tried three different ones when we were there — and while the variety was impressive, no single set of toppings really made either of us want to go back. They weren’t bad, mind you — they just weren’t particularly distinctive. The hot dogs themselves were okay, the chili was… fine, that sort of thing. I had their spicy dog, with spicy mustard, hot sauce, jalapeños, etc., and it was close to something I’d like — but the heat had a tendency to eclipse the flavor of the dog more than enhance it.
It looks to me as though this new venture will be focused more on less variety and more quality and creativity. Tastes vary, and each approach will have its partisans, but for my money that’s the right idea. Regardless, though, I don’t think it’s anything like a ripoff of the Dog Joint.
Cap City open face doggy love.
Unfortunately, our press release left out ambience and decor and I can promise you, once you visit Dirty Frank’s, it will be clear you ain’t anywhere near the suburbs.
Our full bar and specialty bloody marys will also remind you that you are in downtown Columbus not the birthplace of Prohibition. Dogs and beer until 2am.
All my love to Westerville and all our ‘burbs. My heart is in Columbus, and as of now, there are no hot dog joints in downtown Columbus.
In Chicago, a dog joint is on every corner of town. In Columbus, not so much.
Say what you want, but a hot dog joint is a hot dog joint. I’m sure Lessner will put her twist on it, but the core of this concept was born in Westerville.
I aplogize for saying anything negative about a DOWNTOWN business owner. I realize these people are better than those who choose to do business in the suburbs and should be immune to any criticism. Give me a break.
Actually Chicago hot dogs were born in Chicago (my birthplace).
I aplogize for saying anything negative about a DOWNTOWN business owner. I realize these people are better than those who choose to do business in the suburbs and should be immune to any criticism. Give me a break.
Well, c’mon now, that’s not fair. I could give a fig about downtown vs. suburbs; I’m totally willing to entertain the claim that this concept is derivative, but right now I don’t see it. You’ve got to give me something more to go on than just insinuating that it’s a ripoff and walking away. There have been three posts now that suggest differences between the two places; are they wrong?
And I’m not sure exactly what the “core of this concept” is, but are you sure it hadn’t been done somewhere else before they did it in Westerville?
I aplogize for saying anything negative about a DOWNTOWN business owner. I realize these people are better than those who choose to do business in the suburbs and should be immune to any criticism. Give me a break.
Well, c’mon now, that’s not fair. I could give a fig about downtown vs. suburbs; I’m totally willing to entertain the claim that this concept is derivative, but right now I don’t see it. You’ve got to give me something more to go on than just insinuating that it’s a ripoff and walking away. There have been three posts now that suggest differences between the two places; are they wrong?
And I’m not sure exactly what the “core of this concept” is, but are you sure it hadn’t been done somewhere else before they did it in Westerville?
Furthermore, who gives a flying fuck?
We’re talking delicious hot dogs people!
Having gotten the thought of a delicious hot dog lodged in my brain, I ended up getting a hot dog from a street vendor for lunch.
I have made better decisions.
I aplogize for saying anything negative about a DOWNTOWN business owner. I realize these people are better than those who choose to do business in the suburbs and should be immune to any criticism. Give me a break.
I think you have a point here somewhat. I see it like this, I want a hotdog joint, and have wanted one for sometime here, and I will probably be at this joint the opening day, I am that passionate about hotdogs. The problem I have is, I dont want a modern eclectic atmosphere, or money dumped into setting up a bar (maybe liquor sales lower prices on food, i dont know never ran a restaurant), and frankly for a person like myself (ignoring the tens of thousands that work downtown)downtown location sucks, I never go downtown, and mostly try to avoid it. I am more concerned about having a hotdog that is cheap because they dont have to cover overhead for modern and eclectic decor. Are hot dogs going to be affordable? Think at most maybe 3.75? With a 6 dollar combo meal? Frankly for a hotdog place, I would love to have it in the bottoms, or the southside. While you might not make as much in those locations, I would feel more comfortable eating a hot dog in the bottoms with real hot dog eaters, than with a man in a business suit on his lunch break from key bank, who shops at whole foods on the weekends.
We’re talking delicious hot dogs people!
There is that.
Bear – didn’t mean to offend you. My comment was directed more than KSquared. Your reply was well thought out and you made some valid points. That exact opposite of KSquared who feels the need to jump to the defense of someone purely because they’re a downtown business owner. I wonder if he did the same if Lessner’s place was being opened in Dublin? I love Columbus and want to see a vibrant downtown and am very happy we have people like Lessnar investing in downtown, but this alone does not give her the ability to walk on water.
Lizless – you can’t tell me reading about people lined out the door didn’t create the thought in your head that hotdogs could sell downtown. I know you can find a hotdog on every street corner in New York and Chicago, but hotdogs are part of the food culture of those cities. This is entirely new to Columbus. Your concept is wild and crazy (sell beer and hotdogs until 2 a.m. – no way! AMAZING!), but at the core it’s still the hotdogs that are bringing people in the door.
I’d have to take issue with that – hot dogs are not new to this city. People eat them a lot here, or at least I see tons of them in grocery stores. It’s not a novel idea to open a hot dog shop – and that makes it not an infringement on intellectual property issue in opening a different hot dog shop 10 miles away.
That said, I like a hot dog now and then, but I probably won’t be waiting in line for one anytime soon.
I just noticed the picture again on the first page, and I would like to ask Liz if she can kick out all patrons who actually put ketchup on a hotdog. :D
As the true test of a Chicago dog? :D