Local stand brings New York flavor to Columbia
Street vendors are typically associated primarily with larger cities. Tony, who lived in New York for ten years, said he’s trying to bring the New York street-style hot dog to Columbia with his stand. Tony’s stand brings both the feeling of a larger city to Columbia while creating a sense of community downtown.
People are drawn by the convenience. Jarett Schumpert said he comes once or twice a week because it’s a good option to have on the go. They also come for the hot dogs themselves. Taking a bite of her first ever hot dog from Taniya’s Fire Grill, one of Tony’s new creations that he dubbed, “The Spongebob,” made with grilled pineapple, cheese, Tony’s “special sauce,” and coleslaw, Woods said, “It’s mellow yellow just like my drink.” Tony says inspiration for “The Spongebob,” came from eating a pizza with pineapple on it. However he’s “gotta go back in the lab” to perfect the sauce. Tony’s “lab” is his cousin’s restaurant, and every few weeks he goes there to work on his recipes with his cousin, who was a chef in the Navy.
Tony now runs his stand in front of the county courthouse on Main Street, but many students may remember him from when he operated on Sumter Street near the Horseshoe. He said he had to move because business is more consistent on Main Street, but he hopes to continue bringing in students and still runs his special: two hot dogs for $4 and a free bottle of water with a student ID.
Tony has had his stand for three years, but has only been on the streets with it for two. He originally worked festivals and flea markets, but said he brought it to the streets because he wanted everyone to get a taste of what he’s doing. Tony used to be an industrial painter, but got in a car accident in 2007 and couldn’t continue that line of work. Shortly after the accident his daughter Taniya, for whom the stand is named, was born and he had to find a way to support her, so he opened up his stand.
Tony started cooking when he was ten years old and grew up watching his mother, aunt and grandmother in the kitchen.
“The first thing I started cooking and somebody liked it was peanut butter cookies,” Tony said. “I learned that in home [economics] in school, and I came home one day and whipped it up and everyone was like ‘Oh this is pretty good!’”
The local entrepreneur first started making hot dogs for people about six years ago when he went to a festival with a crock pot full of chili and a George Foreman electric grill. Everyone liked his New York style hot dogs a lot, so he’s trying to bring the style to the south.
Ever since that first festival, Tony said the big thing he’s learned is, “different strokes for different folks. Some like Pepsi, some like Coke.”
As for the future, Tony said he’s planning on ultimately trying to open up a restaurant so he can make his hot dogs available to everybody, “late night ... midnight, whatever.” He also plans on releasing a new type of hot dog every month from now on. The hot dog man has also considered trying to start a franchise so he can put another stand back on Sumter Street.
That’s the thing about Tony. He’s a friendly, but kind of quiet guy, who’s always trying to mix things up and find some way to improve.