An Ohio-based restaurant offering hot dogs and chili dogs, burgers, fries, shakes and more has expanded to Florida, opening a Sarasota County location.
Hot Dog Shoppe is open at 415 U.S. 41 Bypass N., Venice, in a former Burger King location. The restaurant will celebrate its opening with a week of festivities Jan. 29-Feb. 4, including daily specials all week and raffle prizes such as free hot dogs for a year. It is the first Florida location for Hot Dog Shoppe, which was founded in 1946 in Warren, Ohio, with the location’s owner Marty Rauch planning to open 20 throughout the state.
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Rauch’s family was the original developer of what is now known as the Ramada by Wyndham Venice Hotel Venezia, adjacent to the restaurant. The general manager of the Hot Dog Shoppe is Jacob McLeod, whose father opened the original Burger King on the site. Rauch said he owned the former Burger King property for several years and after they didn’t renew their lease, he looked for what would take its place, landing on Hot Dog Shoppe, a concept that his college classmate had bought.