This Corn Dog Chain, Popular In Malls During The '80s And '90s, Still Exists In 5 States

Back in their heyday of the '80s and '90s, American malls were ruled by restaurants and snack joints that served convenience foods like corn dogs. Original mall food court chains like Sbarro, Orange Julius, and Mrs. Fields cookies expanded during the '80s, becoming the center of suburban American life. But one of the biggest food court names of the time had origins about as far from an enclosed, air-conditioned mall as you could get. That was Hot Dog on a Stick, which first started on the sunny beaches of California, and it can still be found in the Golden State and in Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Hawaii.

Hot Dog on a Stick was not the first place to sell corn dogs. In fact, corn dogs origins are hotly contested, but it was the first major national brand built around them. The first location was opened in Santa Monica, California, right on the beach next to the famous Santa Monica pier, by a man named Dave Barham. Originally a lemonade and ice cream stand named Party Puffs, Barham wanted a food that wasn't as seasonal as the warm-weather ice cream, and he adopted his mother's cornbread recipe into a batter for hot dogs. Soon after Party Puffs opened in 1946, he changed the name to Hot Dog on a Stick.

Hot Dog on a Stick had — and still serves — a simple menu that includes its signature item, along with fried cheese sticks, french fries, and classic fresh-squeezed lemonade, which is made to order. It also attracted attention for the employees' colorful striped uniforms and hats, which became another signature calling card as it expanded into a chain. One of its biggest moves during its early years was opening a stand in the Old Town Mall in nearby Torrance, which became one of the first food stands in an American mall. Its success became the model for the company, and Hot Dog on a Stick expanded in mall food courts, peaking at close to 100 locations around the nation.

However, after Barham passed in 1991, the chain started to flounder a bit, being bought and sold and treated as a less important minor brand by its owners. It's now owned by FAT Brands, which also owns Fatburger and Johnny Rockets. Over the last few decades it has fallen to 44 locations in the United States, most of which are in its home state of California. (It does boast locations in South Korea and China though.) However, nostalgia for the brand is still strong, and the original Santa Monica location even got remodeled and expanded in 2022. FAT Brands has also indicated it is trying to grow the chain again. So while Hot Dog on a Stick may not be a mall staple anymore, it's far from gone.