July 15, 2021

A Mitchell restaurant with a national reputation for its hot dogs is starting to make appearances in Sioux Falls this summer with its hot dog cart.

Hungry Dog was named best hot dog in South Dakota by People magazine in 2018, said Brian Muntefering, who owns the business with his wife, Kelly, and son, Jordan. That led to attention from Food Network and Reader’s Digest, and this year, it was rated as the top hot dog restaurant in the state by Google.

The hot dogs are made by a Mitchell meat locker just for Hungry Dog, Muntefering said.

“They’re 60 (percent) beef, 40 (percent) pork in a sheep casing with spices and they’re smoked for two hours,” he said. “This is not Oscar Mayer.”

Customers can get everything from the Raw Dog, which is a plain hot dog with a choice of basic toppings, up to the Slaw Dog, which is loaded with house-made pulled pork, coleslaw and barbecue sauce. The restaurant also makes the chili and mac-and-cheese for other specialty hot dogs, Muntefering said.

On Saturday, Hungry Dog will be at two spots in Sioux Falls. It will be serving from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Eighth Street and Weber Avenue where there’s a sale of books, decor and furniture from the former Books n Brewz Pizzeria, which closed at the site earlier this year.

From 5 to 8 p.m. the hot dog cart will be at Common Sense at 12th Street and Second Avenue.

The menu will include the Raw Dog, chili dog, mac-and-cheese version and a new creation that doesn’t have a name yet. “It has an Asian swing to it with Bangkok peanut sauce, soy noodles and green onion,” Muntefering said. Without a fryer, the cart will have bags of chips for sale.

At the restaurant in Mitchell, there are two dozen hot dog offerings, along with hamburgers and pulled pork and chicken sandwiches. It makes fried cheese balls using four kinds of Dimock Cheese: cheddar, co-jack, ranch and garden medley. Each order is a random mix of the four cheeses, so it’s different every time, Muntefering said.

Inside the restaurant, customers won’t find many seats, but outside, there are several picnic tables.

“We’ve really exploded since COVID started because of all the outdoor seating we have,” he said.

The restaurant is eight blocks south of the Corn Palace, and with the national media attention, it’s a popular stop for tourists.

“Our lunch hours are just crazy,” he said.

Hungry Dog is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

With the success of the hot dog cart, the family might look for a food truck this fall, Muntefering said.

“Then, we can bring more of our menu to the people.”

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