Several months after the iconic hot dog shack quietly reopened following a long awaited demolition and reconstruction process, Hot Dog on a Stick is ready to celebrate and plans to host a public reopening event on Saturday April 22 at its location next to the Santa Monica Pier.
"We really wanted to wait for our peak season, which we are going into now as we’re heading into summer to make sure we had the best weather possible," Senior Marketing Director Kate Fortune said. "Also, this is the month of our founding so that’s the other reason we wanted to go with April instead of October."
Hot Dog on a Stick first opened its doors over 77 years down the beach from the Pier. While the company has since opened multiple locations across the state, Fortune said the original bright red building will always remain special.
While this history earned the location a historic landmark dedication, the Santa Monica Landmarks Commission approved the demolition and agreed that the new version would retain its landmark status.
The prior building was fully demolished in March 2022 and has now been replaced with the new 50% larger version, complete with updated fittings and appliances.
"You can imagine after 77 years in business, it did need some updating and some repairs," Fortune said. "Really this remodel was all about making sure that this location is going to be around for another 77 years going forward."
"We’re so excited that we finally have the remodel completed and the store has reopened and it just looks so so beautiful," she continued. "So we put this grand reopening celebration together because we really just want to thank all of our Santa Monica community and customers for being so loyal and good to us for the last several decades."
The celebration will feature Santa Monica Mayor Gleam Davis stomping an inaugural lemon in the signature Hot Dog on a Stick method, a lemon stomping station for the public to try it out as well, free limited edition merchandise and a lemonade giveaway from 2 to 4 p.m.
While the event will celebrate the location’s refreshed look, Fortune said it is also meant to honor the site’s history.
"We’ve had such a great reception from the City of Santa Monica," she said. "We know it was really important to our customers that we kind of maintain and hold on to that nostalgic look and feel that they’ve always known, so that was something that was super, super important and we think that the new store has really done a great job of that – it looks very much like the original location that our customers know and love."
Hot Dog on a Stick is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m Friday through Sunday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
