Doctor’d Dogs a real sidewalk treat

Dogs, the hot variety, not the canine type, have been flying along Hutchinson’s Main Street for the past three weeks.

The coming of Red’s Hot Doctor’d Dogs has brought a favorite taste of Chicago to downtown Hutchinson, served up from a portable stainless steel cart shaded by red and yellow umbrellas trumpeting Vienna Beef hot dogs.

For owners Betty and Greg Jodzio, the hot dog cart is a new venture. Red’s Hot serves three basic dogs, plus two without the dog.

“I’ve never done this before,” said Greg Jodzio, “but I’ve been talking about it for 20 years. Why now? I’m retired and my 401K said it needed replenishment. So a friend said ‘do something you like.’”

Hot dog carts are usually found in big cities, and are fixtures in Chicago and New York, “but they seem to be popping up in a number of places because of the economy,” Greg said. “How often to you get to talk to the cook when you are eating?”

The cart can usually be found in one of three places for lunch beginning at about 11 a.m. To find out where Red’s Hot is set up today, visit: twitter.com/Reds_Hot, or http://sites.google.com/site/doctorddog/

Read more of this story in the Leader’s June 9 print edition.

(Terry Davis is a Hutchinson Leader staff writer. E-mail him at davis@hutchinsonleader.com.)