The Arcadia News-Leaser
Brad Bryan 23.MAR.06

From the number of window-peekers and vehicles doing the slow-down, drive-by and gawk on any given day, you’d think that there was a Krispy Kreme opening at the site of the former Arby’s restaurant on Dettloff Drive in Arcadia’s Industrial Park.

Sorry folks, no donuts here. Move along.

As heralded by the signs placed on the front of the building, and weeks of broadcast through the Arcadia telephone-game rumor mill, the Dog Hut is set to open in the coming weeks.

First slated to open March 1, a delay in the shipment of some overhead exhaust fans has set back the date.

From the building’s exterior, to its menu, even to its owners, it is plain to see this isn’t going to be any ordinary burger joint.

For starters, no burgers.

“It’s not your average hot dog stand,” said owner Dan Gurney.

Not to be confused with the eponymous race car driver, Gurney is a retired insurance adjuster from Cicero, Ill.

He’s a Baby Boomer and a veteran, with franchise experience who seems just about as excited to open his first restaurant as Arcadia is to have it open.

Every bit as involved as her husband in the project, Darlene Gurney has been working beside Dan to make their seven-year dream come to life.

“It’s got to be fun or neither of us would be in it,” said Dan.

Fun or not, the Gurneys have been making the drive from their new home in Fairchild to their Arcadia restaurant six or seven days a week since fall, putting in some seriously long hours to give the building a complete makeover.

Quick to smile and even quicker with his slanted humor, it’s apparent Dan, and Darlene too, are planning to make their retirement fun.

How can a restaurant that promises six-foot tall statues of Blues Brothers, Jake and Elwood, not be?

Having sat vacant since Arby’s closed just over five years ago, the building needed some updates.

Not as equipment-intensive as other franchise ventures, the Arby’s building has ample room for the diminutive setup.

The extra room will be used for training purposes. Creating what will soon become a working prototype, the Dog Hut will be cooking for training purposes at first.

With an operational drive-up window and small office on the south side of the building, the remaining kitchen section is left open to accommodate a small steam table, serving counter and deep fat fryer.

Tiny compared to other restaurants, a 10 feet by 10 feet cooler will provide all the cooler space the Dog Hut needs.

Gurney says that regular shipments will keep product fresher.

The Dog Hut in Arcadia, Dan says, will serve as a the flagship restaurant for what promises to become a fleet of working-man’s franchise stores.

Stores in Eau Claire and La Crosse are already planned.

Taking what some would consider a capital risk, the Eau Claire Dog Hut will open in a former Arthur Treatures building and used car lot at the corner of Highway 93 and London Road. Gurney says improved access there will breed success.

The location is less than a mile from the Eau Claire venture of Maloney’s Baloney.

The jewel in the crown of this blue-collar, 50s-60s-style franchise would definitely be the Chicago Style Hot Dog.

“It’s a meal in a bun,” said Dan. The Chicago Style Hot Dog arose during the Great Depression in the 1930s as a way to offer down-and-out Chicagoans a decent meal at little expense.

Other low-priced menu items at the Dog Hut will be Italian Beef and Italian Sausage sandwiches.

The hot dog menu, or Dog Hut Dogs, with their trademark French fries will retail for under $3 with other sandwiches costing slightly more.

Setting the restaurant apart from just about any other U.S. fast food business, is a distinctive line of fresh juices and real ice cream and real ice cream malts and shakes.

The Dog Hut is backed and supplied by Vienna Beef Ltd., Pepsi and Cicso.