Dog-Gon-It Hot Dogs and Lemonade offering gourmet hot dogs to community

Quinten Shock said that he’s been a part of the restaurant industry for a long time, so having his own restaurant would be “a dream.”

“I started washing dishes and then worked as a server, did some management, just a little bit of everything,” Shock said.

So, Shock, who drives a truck for Clark Restaurant Services as his day job, and his wife, Natasha, a middle school teacher, decided to turn his vision into a reality by starting Dog-Gon-It Hot Dogs and Lemonade.

The name is a tribute to Shock’s father who passed away a few years ago.

“Dog-Gon-It was one of dad’s favorite sayings. We thought about other names, but, in the end, decided to pay tribute to Dad,” Quinten Shock said.

But why choose hot dogs?

“Well, there’s nothing you can’t do with a hot dog,” Quinten Shock said.

And Dog-Gon-It’s menu is proof of that.

The joint is offering “specialty gourmet dogs” with names like the Backyard Dog, an all-beef hot dog topped with Nannie’s baked beans, potato salad, mustard, potato chips and crunchy onions, the Mac Daddy Dog, a dog topped with pulled pork, barbecue sauce and mac and cheese, and the Shock’s version of a Chicago dog called the “Shock”ago Dog, a hot dog with the mustard, onion, pickle relish, tomato, a Kosher pickle spear, sport pepper and celery salt.

The menu also includes lemonade, served traditionally or with added flavorings.

“The lemonade is a family recipe from Granny Boone that has been passed down. We’ve tweaked it some to give our own spin, but it is the best,” Natasha Shock said.

Coming up with ideas for hot dog toppings has been a joint effort among the couple. Natasha thought up the Backyard Dog, which has ended up being one of the stand’s best sellers.

“People ask me how I come up with the dog combinations, and I’m surrounded by ingredients all day while driving and delivering for CRS, so I just kinda think, ‘Oh, that sounds good,’ ” Quinten Shock said.

The couple is also working on another dog for the menu, the Good Golly dog, which takes its name from another of Quinten’s dad’s favorite sayings.

“The Good Golly dog was inspired by the guys in the venue beside us here on the Lot. They’d come over at the end of the night and tell me to just throw whatever I have on the dog,” Quinten Shock laughed. “It’s been a thing for those guys, so we’re working to make it a permanent menu item.”

The business was originally supposed to be operated out of a traditional hot dog cart inspired by the carts found on the corners in larger cities selling hot dogs. But the Shocks say they outgrew the cart after their first outing.

“We spent an entire month working on the cart only to use it once and realized we needed something larger. So now we’re kinda working out of a tent until we can come up with a better solution,” Natasha Shock said.

The couple says that the support from the community led to the transition from the cart to the tent.

“We’re super thankful for the reception and the support we’ve received from the community so far,” Quinten Shock said. “It’s very much appreciated and isn’t going unnoticed.”

The Shocks are working toward a better solution for their space issues and hope to evolve the business into a food truck or trailer.

“We’ve seen the success of food trucks around town, so we would love to be a part of that movement,” Quinten Shock said. “We just really wanted to start small and see how it goes. I’d love to have an actual store-front restaurant in the future, so I guess only time will tell.”

The stand currently serves up 12 different hot dog varieties along with chips and lemonade, and they’ve introduced specially crafted dogs for holidays and events.

“Like last weekend for Cinco de Mayo, we offered a special menu,” Quinten Shock said.

That special menu included five different offerings curated specifically for the holiday, including the Fiesta Frank, a hot dog topped with Mexican street corn. Shock said that he is considering giving that dog an encore appearance on the menu.

Customers can find the stand set up mostly at The Lot located at 900 East Fourth Street beside Welborn Floral.

“This is probably going to be our home base,” Quinten Shock said.

More information about the business can be found on its Facebook page, Dog-Gon-It, including special menu items and hours of operation.

“We’re working on branching out onto other means of social media, but this is all a learning as we go experience,” Natasha Shock said.