Pete's Famous Hot Dogs
Pete's Famous Hot Dogs was a legendary Birmingham hot dog stand that was operated by Gus Koutroulakis and his wife Kathy, located at 1925 2nd Avenue North (map).
The business, which occupied an extremely narrow 7' x 20' space, was founded as Louis's Place in the 1920s. Gus' uncle, Pete Koutroulakis, and a partner bought the business for $600 from its founders in September 1939 (half of it winnings from a pinochle game). Pete bought out his partner 7 years later, made some renovations to bring the store up to code, and bought the $500 neon sign that advertised the store as Pete's until its closing.
On January 18, 1948, Gus' father George, who owned a fruit distribution business on Morris Avenue, sent Gus to help out when Pete took a vacation back to Greece. Not long afterwards, Pete suffered a heart attack and Gus took over day to day business. He has worked at the store practically every day since, 7 days a week from 11 to 6.
Pete's Famous served hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and drinks (in glass bottles). The Zeigler hot dogs were available plain or as a "special" with mustard, sauerkraut, and a secret-recipe ground-beef based sauce. There was also a "hot beef" sandwich with just the meat sauce served on a hamburger bun.
After Gus Koutroulakis' death on April 5, 2011, the stand was closed. In May, the iconic neon sign was removed from the building and taken to the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum for permanent display.
Gallery
Pete's Famous sign in 2006
Gus at work in 2008 by André Natta
special dog & chips
References
- Evans, Amy. (March 2004) Transcript of Interview for "Greeks in Birmingham". Southern Foodways Alliance Oral History Initiative. [1] - accessed March 26, 2006
- Clavell, Alicia K. (April 1, 2010) "Hot Diggity Dog!. Portico magazine
- Diel, Stan (June 2, 2011) "Pete's sign to go on display at Barber's". Birmingham News
External links
- "Hot-Dogopolis" short documentary film by the Southern Foodways Alliance
- Pete's Famous Hot Dogs at southernfoodways.com