The Dogfather is an unintended success story.
Jamie Hoppe by no means imagined lengthy strains of hungry prospects when she opened San Antonio’s most artistic sizzling canine stand in 2017. All she wished was a spot to serve late-night eats for her crowd subsequent door at The Bang Bang Bar.
However when she provided franks wrapped in bacon, slathered with spicy chimichurri and topped with feta, arugula and honey, the road went out the door.
“We simply wished to place cool stuff on sizzling canines and see what occurred,” Hoppe stated. “We’ve been determining the remainder ever since.”
The Dogfather affords two Fourth of July specials: a purple, white and blueberry sizzling canine and a firecracker burger.
Joyful Independence Day.
Patrick Curel hopes you benefit from the menu.
He’s a chef, supervisor and unintended co-owner, thanks very a lot. Eight years in the past, Curel was Bang Bang’s consultant for Jameson Irish Whiskey. He was additionally a buyer, ready in line for a connoisseur canine.
Hoppe requested him for assist. Curel began serving, and serving properly, and earlier than lengthy, he went from cook dinner to co-owner.
“When Dogfather took off quicker than I anticipated,” Hoppe stated, “I used to be principally attempting to run a runaway practice whereas nonetheless managing Bang Bang. It was simply an excessive amount of for one individual.”
Curel had a background in eating places and grew up in a family-owned pizzeria. He had a superb working relationship with Hoppe. He checked all of the enterprise and culinary packing containers.
“Finally, I requested if he’d be inquisitive about shopping for in and changing into a accomplice,” Hoppe stated. “And the remainder is historical past.”
Phrase unfold. Demand grew. To accommodate, Dogfather opened a second location, The Dogfather II, on Nacogdoches Street two years in the past.
Dogfather thrives on a historical past of artistic innovation. Think about “The Elote,” an all-beef frank topped with roasted corn, cotija cheese, parmesan, tajin, mayo and recent lime on a grilled bun. Obtainable since Day One.
Or take the “Gotti Guisada,” an angus frank topped with scratch made carne guisada and slathered with queso, pico de gallo and salsa verde.
Then there’s the “Wake ‘n Bake 2.0,” a bacon-wrapped frank topped with three smashed tots, strawberry jalapeño jelly and a fried egg. Obtainable on weekends solely.
“We meet weekly to create new canines,” Curel stated. “It relies on what’s sizzling or what’s trending. When the Poteet Strawberry Pageant is on, we’ll do a canine with strawberry jalapeno jam.”
When it’s hatch chile season, Dogfather produces a “Holla Hatch Ya Boy,” an angus beef frank topped with hatch chile relish, cotija cheese and drizzled with chipotle mayo.
As a nod to Independence Day, Dogfather created the purple, white and blueberry canine, a bacon-wrapped frank with basil garlic aioli, feta cheese crumbles, arugula, diced purple onions and blueberry compote.
Don’t like canines? Dogfather affords a slew of burgers, together with the Burger of the Week: the firecracker. The menu description: “44 Farms Texas angus beef patty, pepper jack cheese, pepper jam, arugula, tomatoes and jalapeño ranch drizzle.”
Hungry?
Curel doesn’t anticipate lengthy strains at present. Most prospects, he says, can be grilling at house or having fun with vacation burgers and canines on the houses of associates or members of the family.
“However as soon as they’re achieved, they arrive to the bar and that’s after we see an enormous push in gross sales,” Curel stated. “The bar crowd arrives round 7.”
Finally, the Bang Bang crowd will get hungry.
“On the bar, you’ll be able to order immediately from us with a QR code and we stroll the orders over,” Curel stated. “We do numerous deliveries to the bar.”
Dogfather’s popularity caught the eye of a touring band in 2019. A flight attendant from the band’s non-public aircraft walked in together with her baggage and requested Curel for a to-go order. Curel politely declined. On the time, Dogfather didn’t settle for to-go orders.
“We don’t have the capability,” he advised the flight attendant.
He didn’t know she represented a rock band. He thought she represented a radio station that shared the identical identify.
“She stated, ‘I can’t consider you’re not promoting me these sizzling canines,’” Curel recalled. “She talked about that she had a really specific consumer that requested Dogfather for his or her flight. I stated, ‘I’m sorry, we don’t try this.’”
The girl, he discovered, didn’t signify 99.5 KISS FM — however Rock and Roll All Nite KISS.
“In my earlier job, I’d achieved numerous work with KISS radio,” Curel stated. “I fumbled that one, utterly. It was a $200 or $300 order. It’s a narrative amongst our group: ‘Man, you’re by no means gonna dwell this down.’”
Prompted by KISS and the COVID-19 pandemic, Dogfather quickly started accepting to-go orders.
Curel says Dogfather could even create a canine as a tribute to KISS.
“We’d most likely name it ‘Bock and Roll All Night time’ and do a Bock Beer cheese as a part,” he stated. “Music performs an element within the artistic course of most instances. One member of our administration group, Phanie Diaz, is a founding member of two well-regarded bands: ‘Woman in a Coma’ and ‘Fea.’”
One unintended mess-up in its rearview mirror, Dogfather has powered on as an unintended success story.
