Inspiration comes from unexpected places. Charles Dickens misread the grave stone of Ebenezer Scroggie as “mean man,” leading to his Scrooge character in “A Christmas Carol.” Issac Newton wrote out the law of gravitation after being hit in the head with an apple.
Even a show about food can affect lives.
Chris Harrison decided to purse a lifelong dream of starting a restaurant after seeing a TV show about hot dogs. The result is the new hot dog and bratwurst place, Yummy Dogs, across from the Wexner Center on North High Street. The journey to the grand opening, however, was not easy and Harrison’s restaurant is trying to find its campus food niche.
The idea for Yummy Dogs began as just another night at home for 50-year-old Harrison, a Columbus native.
“Originally I had been watching a PBS show called ‘A Hot Dog Story,’ and I just kind of off the top of my head went, ‘well why don’t they just kind of offer all those ingredients in one place, so that people can choose,'” Harrison said.
At the time, Harrison was working at the Columbus Drury Inn and was ready for a change. He went to work making his hot dog dream a reality after a space became available close to campus. Unfortunately, delays in getting proper permits caused the restaurant to sit empty and drained his funding.
“I had all this money set aside so I could start off with a full staff and run some good ads,” Harrison said. “Eight months of sitting empty pulled those resources away and it was like well, I have to open up now to really get some kind of income.”
After months of delays and two years after watching the PBS program, Yummy Dogs opened in January with a staff one-fourth the size Harrison initially wanted.
So far business has been slow, but Harrison said word about the restaurant is starting to spread.
“Last week we had a lot of people coming in by word of mouth he said. My goal is getting them all to come in on a more consistent basis so it all kind of adds up.”
Harrison is pleased the food at Yummy Dogs encourages customers to be creative. Customers can choose up to four ingredients from 15 toppings and nine condiments to “build their own dog,” Harrison said.
Care to try a foot-long chili, banana pepper and roasted onion hot dog covered in ranch sauce? Or how about a bratwurst with cole slaw, cheese, green olives and Italian dressing? No items cost more than $3.50 and a typical order is ready in less than three minutes, Harrison said.
“If it’s not yummy it’s because you made bad choices of what to put on it,” Harrison said.
Adam McLane, a senior in business, eats out twice a week and said he preferred food prepared quickly.
“Every college student has a decent amount of work to do so quickness is always important,” McLane said.
Danny Yontz, a senior in economics, has not heard of Yummy Dogs, but said fast, cheap food is always something he would consider.
“For a snack or something in the middle of the day, a bratwurst wouldn’t be a bad idea, it seems quick,” Yontz said.
Harrison said Yummy Dogs will catch on because the food is unique.
“It’s not like I have a pizza place, where every other door (on High Street) is pizza or wings. It’s something that’s not really overly available,” he said.
Jim Baird can be reached at [email protected].
