Fort Lauderdale’s famed Hot Dog Heaven is up for sale

Forty-five years is an eternity in dog years, yet Fort Lauderdale’s iconic Hot Dog Heaven has refreshingly stayed the same throughout that time.

The restaurant’s 5-by-18-foot dining room has always seated a dozen diners perched on stools. Its top-seller has been some variation of a Chicago-style frank, with the buns never toasted, the dogs never grilled, and always served on partitioned trays.

But this week, something finally changed. After decades of slinging plump Vienna Beef weenies out of the mustard- and ketchup-colored joint on Sunrise Boulevard, owners Barry and Pamela Star are selling their Fort Lauderdale landmark and retiring.

Hot Dog Heaven’s real-estate agent Andy Cagnetta, who shared the news on social media Wednesday night , said the husband-and-wife couple behind the business want to sell to “someone who is young and ambitious to build on a fantastic brand,” according to the post.

Why did the Stars in Hot Dog Heaven align to sell the doghouse now? Barry Star, 69, on Thursday told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that he’s been toying with retirement since the pandemic.

“I’ve been lucky so far with my health. But I’m getting older, and other people get to retire — why can’t we?” he said. “I don’t need to keep pushing it or be the last man standing. Now I get to play more golf with my friends.”

Star said the famed Hot Dog Heaven building, at 101 E. Sunrise Blvd., is listed for $1 million and the restaurant business for $375,000.

But don’t expect the Stars to clear out anytime soon.

“If someone came with the right offer tomorrow, I’ll take it,” he said. “But if it doesn’t come until next year, that’s OK, too. I’ll keep doing it. I see no reason to stop doing what I love.”

The announcement caught longtime diners by surprise, and hundreds took to social media to share memories of the nostalgic shop.

“Best dogs in town,” wrote customer Gina Rincon on the Sun Sentinel-run “Let’s Eat, South Florida” Facebook group . “I love this place and have been getting dogs here since I was little (40 years) and now take my daughter here.”

“Don’t sell!” added commenter Jo-Ellen Cox. “There’s so little left of our old Fort Lauderdale!”

The restaurant quietly marked its 45th anniversary this summer with the Stars doing exactly what they’ve done since June 19, 1979: slinging jumbo Vienna Beef Chicago dogs dressed with mustard, relish, chopped onions, pickle slices, tomato wedges, sport peppers and a dash of celery salt on a steamed poppy-seeded bun.

As much a Fort Lauderdale icon as The Floridian, the Elbo Room, the late Carlos & Pepe’s and the soon-to-close Historic Downtowner , Hot Dog Heaven built its tubular reputation over the decades by refusing to change its signature offering: the Chicago-style hot dog.

“We don’t use microwave ovens, and I still ship my product in direct from Chicago,” Star said. “The hot dog you get here today is the same one you’ll get tomorrow, and it tastes as great on the first bite as it does on the last, with the perfect layering of mustard and pickles all over it.”

In a restaurant twist, Star said Hot Dog Heaven almost became a pizzeria instead. After graduating from Southern Illinois University, he moved to South Florida to be closer to his retired parents, and took a gig as a wine steward at the 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant overlooking Miami International Airport. He planned to open a pizza business with a friend from Tampa, but changed his mind at the last minute.

“We had our deposit down on a spot on Sunrise [Boulevard] and I looked across the street, and there’s already a Luv’n Oven, Mario the Baker and Pizza Hut,” Star recalled. “So I decided to do hot dogs instead.”

In 1997, Hot Dog Heaven received a rare distinction : The Chicago-based Vienna Beef Co. recognized it as the “First National Historic Vienna Hot Dog Stand” in the country. To mark the occasion, the couple rolled back prices to $1.45 — the original cost of their hot dogs in 1979.

“That nearly gave me heatstroke,” Star said, with a laugh. “We had lines around the block. And I said to myself, ‘I will never do a promotion like this again.’ ”

Even now, Star said he still sources veggie toppings — tomatoes, pickles, onions — from a Pompano Beach produce market and Restaurant Depot. The toppings were once a sore point of contention for Star, especially when customers requested ketchup or mayonnaise, but he’s softened his stance.

“I realized it’s not my battle,” Star said. “Look at all the hot dogs coming from South America lately. People want mayo and avocados and tiny shoestring potatoes. Whatever they want, I’m happy to put it on. What I serve is clean and fresh and delicious no matter what.”

In addition to weenies, Hot Dog Heaven serves up Italian beef sandwiches, Polish sausage, charbroiled salami and hamburgers, french fries and cups of chili. The cash-only lunchtime restaurant is open four days a week, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays.

Sun Sentinel reporter Phillip Valys can be reached at pvalys@sunsentinel.com .