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 1910s. In September 1939, Gus' uncle, Pete Koutroulakis, won $300 over the course of a weekend playing pinochle at the Greek Club. He got a partner to match his investment and bought the business for $600. Pete bought out his partner seven years later, made some renovations to bring the store up to municipal code, and bought the $500 neon sign that advertised the store as Pete's for the next 72 years, until its closing.
On January 18, 1948, Pete took a four-month trip Greece to visit his aging father. His twin brother, George, who owned a fruit distribution business on Morris Avenue, stayed behind and sent his son, Gus, to run the restaurant, essentially a lunch counter, until Pete came home. Not long afterwards, Pete suffered a heart attack and Gus, his nephew, took over day-to-day business and determined to "make the best of it". He worked at the store practically every day for the rest of his life, seven days a week from 11 A.M. until the time business slowed down in the late afternoons.
Pete's Famous served hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and drinks (in glass bottles). The restaurant provided on its basic hot dogs (supplied by Zeigler Meats) the special ketchup-based, spiced sauce found at all the hot dog stands in the Birmingham area established by people from Greek backgrounds. Customers could also have them plain or as a "special" with mustard, sauerkraut, and a secret-recipe ground-beef based sauce. Koutroulakis also made, upon request, 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
- Thompson, Wright (June 27, 2011) "The hunchback and the lost art of the Birmingham dog." Grantland
External links
- "Gus" short documentary film by Joe York for the Southern Foodways Alliance
- "Hot-Dogopolis" short documentary film by the Southern Foodways Alliance
- Pete's Famous Hot Dogs at southernfoodways.com