COLUMBUS, Ohio — Many restaurants in downtown Columbus have relied on the office lunch hour, catering orders and sporting events to make their monthly goals, but due to the pandemic, those streams of income ran dry. 

Restaurant owner Tom Dailey saw about a 60% decline in sales, due to the pandemic. Instead of giving up, he decided to get creative by adding a hot dog restaurant to his repertoire. 

Opening Tasty Dawg in December, hot dogs were the answer to his problems.

“We had to become very creative,” said Dailey. “We had to focus much more on delivery, much more on partnering with third party delivery services and also extending our offerings with things like tasty dawgs so we could appeal to a wider customer group than we have traditionally.”

Each hot dog is served on a gourmet pretzel bun, and all toppings are prepped in-house. They offer everything from a traditional Coney dog, to their Tommy dog, inspired by Dailey himself.

Manager Danielle McIver has been making Tasty Dawg hot dogs since the beginning. She said the job gave her hope at a time where opportunities were slim.

“Work became exciting, because it was something to do,” said McIver. “I got to be out the house. I wasn't stuck, I was an essential worker. It's definitely a change in scenery and operations, so I just love it. It’s just exciting to work with hot dogs honestly.”

Located just down the street from Huntington Park, Dailey was excited to see the Columbus Clippers return back to the field, and said there's nothing for people like a hot dog and their favorite sports team.

“I’m really excited about what this summer can bring,” said Dailey. “In terms of customers and people just getting back to something that’s much closer to normal.”

This summer, Tasty Dawg is opening its second location on South High Street near the Columbus Commons.