Hot dog! 100 years of wieners at Hot Dog Heaven in Fort Lauderdale and Arbetter’s in Miami
Two South Florida hot dog stands, 100 years, more than 10 million hot dogs served.
As we celebrate National Hot Dog month and brace for the annual spectacle of the July 4th Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest in New York, it’s time for a special tubular toast to two local wiener specialists notching big milestones.
Hot Dog Heaven in Fort Lauderdale quietly marked its 40th anniversary in June with husband-andwife owners Barry and Pamela Star doing what they’ve done since 1979: slinging out top-notch Vienna Beef Chicago dogs with mustard, relish, pickles, tomatoes, celery salt and sport peppers on poppy-seeded buns.
“Forty years — that’s a long time in dog years,” Barry Star says.
As has become customary, Hot Dog Heaven will be closed most of this month (July 4-July 31) as the Stars go on their annual vacation to Lake Geneva in Wisconsin.
“People get mad at me because it’s hot dog month and we’re closed National Hot Dog Day [July 17 this year], but we need a break,” Star says. The restaurant, at 101 E. Sunrise Blvd., reopens Aug. 1.
Picking up the slack will be Arbetter’s Hot Dogs in Miami, which celebrates 60 years this week with its signature chili dogs and a July 4 party featuring free birthday cake (noon-5 p.m., 8747 SW 40th St.).
“It’s a very prideful thing for me,” says second-generation owner Dave Arbetter, son of founders Bob and Flaminia Arbetter. “My family stuck it out.”
Hot Dog Heaven
Like many Chicagoans, Barry Star shudders when someone asks for ketchup on a hot dog. When I asked for ketchup during a recent visit (for my teen daughter, I swear!), he pulled out a red squeeze bottle, pointed it at me and a crimson stream shot out.
I ducked, then saw that it was merely a strand of silly string. It’s his version of an initiation prank. Star laughed, pulled out a real ketchup bottle and cheerfully coated the takeout hot dog. Unlike many unyielding chefs, Star will accede to customers’ requests, no matter how upsetting.
The accommodating attitude — and the terrific Chicago dogs — explain why the Stars have endured. That, and they were wise enough to buy the small building that houses the eatery in the 1980s. “That gives us stability,” Star says. A restaurant freed from a landlord’s grip is one that can survive and thrive, particularly a lunchtime spot where the average check does not exceed $10.
The Chicago dog cost $1.45 when Hot Dog Heaven opened. It costs $3.85 today. Other varieties are available, including New York-style dogs with mustard and sauerkraut and chili cheese dogs.
Barry Star figures he has sold more than 3 million hot dogs at Hot Dog Heaven. The 780-square-foot building features a cramped, 250-square-foot food prep area where hot dogs are steamed and assembled, french fries are dunked in hot oil and Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches are sliced. There’s a narrow counter with stools along the front window and a few tables out front.
Barry Star says he knew at a young age that he was destined for a life in food. “I was slicing sandwiches diagonally when I was 8,” he says. “In school I took home economics instead of shop or drafting — I figured I’d rather be hanging out with girls cooking than making an ash tray.”
He met Pamela while working as a wine steward in Miami and they scraped together enough to open the shop. Hot Dog Heaven has attracted a diverse and loyal clientele, and Star says he’s especially gratified when customers who first came as children now bring their kids.
But his own children didn’t gravitate to the business. The Stars have a son who works for EA Sports as a computer programmer on the popular Madden football game and a daughter who is a commercial realestate broker in St. Louis.
Barry Star is 64. He says he wants to keep going. “I just enjoy what I do,” Star says.
He has had offers for the land, he says, but the block where Hot Dog Heaven is located is oddly configured, bordered by a school and city park, so development options are limited. “Maybe someone who wants to run a small hot dog shop will take over,” Star says. “Or maybe Starbucks will want it.”
Ugh. That thought is worse than ketchup on a hot dog.
Hot Dog Heaven, 101 E. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, 954-523-7100, HotDogHeaven.infinology.net, open 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Closed Sundays and July 4 through July 31.
Arbetter’s
Dave Arbetter says the thing that makes Arbetter’s unique is chili that isn’t traditional chili, but rather a
derivative of an Italian Sunday gravy (meat sauce) from his immigrant mother’s family. The recipe dates to the 1930s. When Bob Arbetter opened a hot dog eatery on Flagler Street in downtown Miami after the family moved from Saugus, Mass., he’d ladle the chili on top.
“My mom used to make it at home and she’d literally get on the bus … to bring it to the restaurant,” Dave Arbetter recalls.
Arbetter’s moved a couple times in its early years and has operated continuously at its Bird Road location since 1971. The Arbetter family sold and bought back the business twice, most recently in 1996, after branching elsewhere in the state. “It seemed the other owners just didn’t run it the same way,” Arbetter says. “It’s different when it’s your name on it.”
Arbetter says the eatery now sells 1,000 hot dogs daily and he estimates it has sold nearly 15 million overall. “We’ve probably eaten a few million too,” he says. The signature chili dog, which uses a skinless pork-beef hot dog, costs $2.59 ($2.99 with liquid cheese).
His parents died a year apart in 2003-2004, his father the year before his beloved Boston Red Sox finally won the World Series after a lengthy drought. “I wish he could have been alive to see that,” Arbetter says. Dave Arbetter says he is proud to keep the family’s hot dog tradition going.
Arbetter’s keeps updating and bringing in new menu items, he says, including grilled beef Sabrett hot dogs in natural casing for New Yorkstyle dogs. “It has that good snap,” Arbetter says. He also keeps the store clean, placing all equipment on wheels a few years back for easy movement. He says the staff pressure cleans every night and hand washes the ceiling every month.
“There’s a reason not many places last this long,” he says. “Either they don’t change at all, or they change too much.”
Arbetter’s has struck the balance just right.
Arbetter’s, 8747 SW 40th St., Miami, 305-207-0555, Arbetterhotdogs.com, open daily 10:30 a.m.- 8:30 p.m. (until 9 p.m. Friday-Saturday).