In a town known for its hot dogs, young Connor Eisenhart has a dream.
Eisenhart, who runs The Homedog LLC., a hot dog cart, wants to be more than just Hanover’s hot dog brand.
“I want to be the McDonald’s of hot dogs,” Eisenhart said during an interview as he slung hot dogs at his cart during a busy lunch rush outside WE Sell Sporting Goods in Hanover on a recent Monday afternoon.
Eisenhart, only 22, has been running his hot dog business for about a year. He has stiff competition: Hanover is known for its hot dog companies, from the Famous Hot Weiner to the Texas Lunch.
Even the largest local community group on Facebook, the Hanover Area Watch Group, or “HAWG,” was named in tribute to the city’s love of hot dogs.
Yet Eisenhart is not intimidated.
Related: Famous Hot Weiner: This Hanover staple celebrates its 100th anniversary in the community
“I always remember that competition drives business,” Eisenhart said. “The more hot dog restaurants there are, the more business there is.”
Eisenhart’s Homedog brand has already become a sensation in Hannover.
Many of Eisenhart’s customers on social media call his hot dogs “the best in town,” including Josh Bair, one of Eisenhart’s regulars who recently stopped by for lunch.
“I haven’t found a better hot dog in town,” Bair said as he waited in line for another lunch break. Bair, who has his own small business, said he appreciates Eisenhart’s personality and good food.
“We probably eat six, eight a week,” Bair said of his favorite “house dog with everything” option.
Not only popular among Hanoverians, Eisenhart recently started a TikTok for his company, @thehomedoglcc, with more than 14,800 followers and several videos receiving several million hits.
‘I can do that’
“I’ve always loved food,” Eisenhart said. “I grew up watching the Food Network with my dad.”
Eisenhart’s culinary roots date back to his first job as a 14-year-old, when he was employed at the Gettysburg Family Restaurant. While he was mainly clearing the dishes, he was introduced to the deep fryer.
From there, Eisenhart worked as a chef at numerous local restaurants and businesses, including in the kitchen of the Hanover Republican Club.
Originally, when he wanted to start his own business, Eisenhart wanted his own food truck.
Food truck prices were out of reach for Eisenhart, who saved his money to start a business.
“I knew I wanted to do something with food,” Eisenhart said. One day, Eisenhart saw a hot dog cart outside the local Hanover Lowe’s and thought, “I can do that.”
Eisenhart found that food cart prices were well within his reach. He put all his savings on one prize, and the rest is history.
Now Eisenhart is regularly open for business outside of that same Lowe’s, though his most popular spot remains WE Sell Sporting Goods on York Street.
Eisenhart was accompanied on this business trip by his girlfriend, Juli Madrigal, who started dating Eisenhart around the time he started his business.
“I’m just really proud of him,” said Madrigal, who can often be seen helping Eisenhart with his cart when she’s not going about her day job. Normally, Eisenhart swings dogs while Madrigal makes payments and relays orders to customers.
The house dog and the doghouse
The Homedog offers customers a relatively extensive and regularly updated menu.
There are more than 13 options on Eisenhart’s menu, with numerous toppings and custom orders.
The cart’s namesake dog, the Homedog, is a favorite, topped with mustard, house-made chili and raw onions.
While the Homedog’s most popular item varies from day to day, it is the Doghouse dog that sells out every day.
“The Doghouse” is a hot dog covered with specialty onions and Eisenhart’s own “Dog sauce”.
Dog sauce isn’t Eisenhart’s only homemade recipe; his cart serves his own homemade recipes for chili, coleslaw and sauerkraut.
“In Pennsylvania, they want their coleslaw creamy and sweet,” Eisenhart says of his recipe. “People seem to love it.”
Eisenhart learned many of his recipes online, thanks in part to a hot dog group chat he was a part of. From there, the young chef adapted his recipes to his own taste.
“I only serve what I would want to eat,” says Eisenhart, who cites quality control as his biggest focus in business.
In addition to his homemade recipes, Eisenhart sources his products locally, using Wayne Nell & Sons Meats Inc. in East Berlin, smoked dogs from Sechrist Brothers in Dallastown and Kessler’s from Lemoyne.
On the roll side, Eisenhart recently signed with Chambersburg-based Martin’s Potato Roll, something he was excited to add to his cart. “It’s a huge upgrade,” Eisenhart said of the roles. “Soft pillows, I call them.”
A brand from Hannover
Eisenhart is a year into dog swinging and has his eyes on the future.
“It looks like we’re going to continue to expand this,” Eisenhart said firmly. “This will be a brand from Hannover.”
In addition to his frequent shifts outside WE Sell and Lowe’s, Eisenhart is a common sight at local events, including most recently the Hanover Memorial Day Parade.
In the future, Eisenhart wants to host events, including a hot dog eating contest in Hanover, which he is currently in discussions.
Ultimately, the biggest surprise for Eisenhart over the past year has been the groundswell of support he has experienced for his company, which has skyrocketed through social media.
“I thought it was going to be harder,” Eisenhart said, “people are coming to support the dogs.”
“It was great, it was really great.”
Normally, Eisenhart tries to have the cart open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, as well as on weekends.
Harrison Jones is the Hanover reporter for the Evening Sun. Reach him at hjones@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Hanover Evening Sun: Homedog LLC: The hottest new hot dog in Hanover, Pa.
