Hot Dog Wars

How great would it be to have dueling hot dog vendors, competing for your taste buds and cash? Well, we're not there yet but with today's article in the CCTimes on Edgartown's Anthony Foster and his hot dog cart in Falmouth we got closer.

On a recent and wet afternoon, VT made it over to Tisbury to feast on the Island's only hot dog cart. Len Clark has been selling his hot dogs out of a cart parked behind the movie theatre. While the location is less than ideal, the taste and price are just right. Len sells hot dogs with chili, cheese, sauerkraut and all the fixings along with sodas and water. Len tells VT that business is steady and that the response has been great. " People are like, wow, a hotdog cart!" says Len. Many of the passersby VT  saw were surprised and excited at the prospect of a little street meat.

Photo of Howard Stubbs at work, by CCTimes.

In a parking lot in Falmouth, Anthony Foster is proving that there is money in tube steak. His cart, which he runs with his brother Howard Stubbs, has been satisfying the crowds on Rt. 28 for two years. Mr. Foster is a standout chef regularly found at the street fairs of the Island. He has single handedly revived the urban art of the food cart for the Falmouth crowd.

 The Times says that the idea came to Foster a couple of years ago "when Foster started to feel that the economy was weakening, he got the idea to revive their hot dog business. He pulled a cart out of storage on the Vineyard and got in touch with [his landlord], who owns the lot that they rent. Foster wanted to set up his stand on private property so he wouldn't be subject to a Falmouth regulation that requires vendors to move their carts at regular intervals."

Anthony's success alone won't spark a hot dog war but this explosive line will: "There's nothing else like it. These are the best hot dogs anywhere." That was spoken by a patron of the Falmouth hot dog mafia and quoted in the Times.  VT will see what the response is from the Island. One thing is for sure, this is just the beginning.