RELISHING THE TASTE

By Ed Runyan

Nostalgia keeps Hot Dog Shoppe in business

In 1973, when Francis Bergin's eight children had grown up and she started her career as a server at the Hot Dog Shoppe on West Market Street, Warren was a very different place.

It was a town of people who counted on giants such as Republic Steel, Copperweld Steel, General Motors, General Electric and Packard Electric to keep the city’s economic engine turning. Not far from the Hot Dog Shoppe, Warren had recently opened a second high school, Warren Western Reserve.

In the years to come, however, the giant industries faltered, and many of the city’s young people left for better opportunities elsewhere.

Thirty-five years later, many Warren natives are nostalgic for those days — and the restaurants where they ate, including the Hot Dog Shoppe.

Internet restaurant review sites indicate why people have fond memories. Wendy F. Kimball wrote in 2007: “There is nothing like the sauce they use anywhere. You will never find better prices. Any chance you would consider opening a franchise in Maine?”

The sauces she refers to are cheddar cheese, chili and sauerkraut — available on hot dogs or in a dipping container for french fries.

Keith Burnett, general manager of the restaurant and a 38-year employee, says the legend of the Hot Dog Shoppe is real.

“The word landmark — that’s what this is,” he said. “The stories are great. Every day you get people who come into town. They come in to visit family, and you always hear the first thing, the Hot Dog Shoppe, the Sunrise [Inn], sometimes Buena Vista [Cafe],” he said, rattling off the names of three longtime Warren restaurants.

“You get people who get right off the airplane. The first place they hit — the Hot Dog Shoppe — before they even go to their family,” he said.

Because of travelers, holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas are among the restaurant’s busiest times.

Burnett said Bergin is among the reasons why the restaurant has a nostalgic — and practical — appeal for so many people.

She is among a handful of employees who have worked there 20 years or more.

“Every time I come here, I make sure she waits on me,” said Warren resident Ted Ray, who greeted Bergin warmly when he saw her in the restaurant for the first time since her retirement. A Warren firefighter, Ray has been coming to the restaurant for lunch for many years.

Burnett said Bergin has helped set the bar high for all of the servers he employs. Even when she was in her 70s, she moved faster than women less than half her age, Burnett said.

“She just zipped around here. She took the busiest areas,” agreed Janet Ward of Warren. Ward said Bergin has served her hot dogs since her 27-year-old son was a baby.

Most of Bergin’s children have a college education and now live outside the area. They all attended John F. Kennedy High School in Warren.

Bergin said her children told her they’re sad about her retiring from the Hot Dog Shoppe in one sense — because they will lose touch with many of their friends, whom Bergin saw on a frequent basis at the restaurant.

Bergin, who grew up in Scotland and still has a bit of an accent, has lived in Warren with her husband, Joseph, since 1959. The Bergins still live on the northwest side after raising their children in a large house on Porter Street Northeast.

Now 81, Bergin said she has slowed a little in recent years, but not much. She exercises five mornings a week at a health club and volunteers at St. Joseph Health Center in the afternoon.

She was clearly happy to see many old friends when she came back for a visit last week. “I miss the customers,” she said.

“It’s nice to work here, and they are good to work for,” she said of the restaurant’s management. “We have good customers, nice customers,” she said.

It made her feel good, she said, that the restaurant provide a nice experience for families struggling financially.

“We can serve people who are not affluent. Young people could bring three or four kids and eat ... they can get a family fry and divide it between three or four kids,” she said.

When you ask Hot Dog Shoppe customers why they come, it’s clear that price, quick service and taste are on the list.

“Good hot dogs, cheap. We’ve been coming here 32 years,” said Leslie Bebech of Mecca, having lunch with her husband, Bill. Their bill for two hot dogs with chili sauce each, fries and a drink was about $9, she said.

Though much of Warren has declined since 1973, causing other restaurants nearby to close and crime to increase, the Hot Dog Shoppe has succeeded by focusing on basics, Burnett said: fast customer service, quality food and cleanliness.

“It’s good people who keep good people coming back,” Burnett said.

Some changes were inevitable, however.

When a few customers said they felt unsafe walking to their cars because of panhandlers, Burnett hired security officers.

When the price of potatoes doubled recently, the price of the Hot Dog Shoppe’s Family Fries went up to $2.40.

But business is still good, with 4,000 hot dogs sold on an average day and standing room only being the norm at lunchtime.

“To me, it [the Hot Dog Shoppe] is comfort food,” said Preston Foster of Warren, a retired Western Reserve High School teacher who’s been eating there since 1966.

“When you have a bad day, you sneak out here,” he said. “There’s a camaraderie here for the people who have been here a long time. You see the mayor, the county commissioner.”

SEE ALSO: Hot Dog Shoppe.

runyan@vindy.com