Richardson | January 2023

DINING FEATURE

BY KAREN CHANEY

West Virginia Slaw Dog ($6)

TOP DOGS AT TJ’S DAWG HOUSE Polish Sausage ($6)

This is a Vienna Beef hot dog with homemade chili and coleslaw.

Best of Both Worlds ($13)

TJ’s Dawg House 501 South Plano Road (the food truck is in the Lowe’s parking lot), Richardson Mon. 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Tue. closed, Wed.-Sun. 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. 640 N. Interurban St. (the food truck is in the Four Bullets Brewery parking lot), Richardson Mon. 3-5 p.m., Tue. closed, Wed.-Sun. 3-5 p.m. 802-777-1541 Search TJ’s Dawg House on Facebook. TJ Chelak Jr. opened TJ’s Dawg House in Vermont in 2007. In 2016, he relocated his business to Richardson.

These are a Chicago hot dog and an Italian roast beef sandwich.

This is a polish sausage with sauerkraut. (Photos by Karen Chaney/Community Impact)

TJ’s Dawg House Richardson food truck business steeped in Northern culinary culture A s the owner of TJ’s Dawg House, TJ Chelak Jr. said his food truck business has gone through a few modications to get to where it is today. After being laid o from IBM in the parking lot of Lowe’s Home Improvement on South Plano Road. Before opening, Chelak said quarter-pound hot dog with his homemade coleslaw and chili. “I’m from the North, and my chili has kidney beans and black beans in it,” Chelak said. “If it doesn’t have beans, it’s called a sloppy joe.”

he did online research to nd the best-tasting hot dog in the U.S. He determined Vienna Beef, based in Chicago, was rated No.1. He emailed the company to get the ball rolling. “I told [Vienna Beef] I was inter- ested in opening a hot dog stand, and they sent me samples,” Chelak said. “I went to the grocery store and bought a bunch of hot dogs, and I taste-tested everything.” Based on his personal ndings, he created his recipes and menu largely around Vienna Beef products. The West Virginia Slaw Dog, Chelak’s current personal favorite, features a Vienna Beef jumbo

Vermont in 2002, Chelak worked as a snowboarding instructor, then at Home Depot. While there, he met who he calls “the hot dog guy.” One thing led to another, and Chelak started working for the hot dog guy selling hot dogs in front of Home Depot for two and a half years. In 2007, he opened his rst TJ’s Dawg House with a pushcart that evolved into a “dawg house” he pulled on a trailer. He moved to Texas to be close to family, and in 2016 he set up his food truck in

Another way Chelak draws from his Northern culinary roots is his Binghampton NY Spiedes, which is a marinated chicken with grilled onions and optional hot peppers. “I grew up eating this,” he said. Chelak said almost all his cus- tomers are repeat customers, and visiting with them is his favorite thing about the business. “If you work for corporate, it’s the same thing every day,” he said. “Here, every day is a dierent day, and the funniest things happen.”

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