June 22, 2010

Frankly Austin: the weirdest weiner in Texas

 Eddie Eppright had a twist in fate when he was laid off from his job at a law firm in May of 2009.  The economy had hit bottom and upon a trip to New York to visit his in-laws he was inspired to pursue the hot dog cart idea.  Although there were already places to get hot dogs in town, Eddie has a real passion for Austin and wanted to do something authentic with local products.  So he found a butcher in Taylor who makes all natural beef dogs and smoked sausages and opened up his stand in September of 2010. 

He recommends the Bevo dog, which is his version of a jumbo hot dog with chili and cheese on it.   Another crowd favorite is the ‘weirdest weiner’, which has chili, cheese, brown mustard and jalapenos.
Both Eddie and his wife Shannon are of Irish descent, and they bring 2 ½ year old Eamon (which is Irish for Edward) to special events.  Little Eamon can be see hawking dogs with the best of them, shouting “Hot dogs! Best hot dogs in town!” and drawing people to his father’s business.  After the couple married, they sat down with a map of the United States and wanted to pick somewhere that was warmer and more laid back than DC, and they ended up in Austin in 2005.
How does Eddie like the change of pace?  In his words, “I just like meeting people.  I always had a customer service mentality.  I like to keep my customers happy and have good conversations with people from all walks of life, plus its fun being my own boss.”