4 Local Teens Start Hot Dog Truck

Cape Cod Beer provided the following. 

Finding a job at 14 can be troublesome: too old for campand too young to drive, plus all those work permit restrictions really whittle down the options.

When faced with this dilemma, four local teens jumped at the chance to be part of something totally new – running a hot dog truck at Cape Cod Beer, in a new venture called Cape Cod Dawgs.

The four boys: Dylan Chagnon, Jacob Dipilato, Jacob Marcus and Nate Pappalardo, are all 8th graders at Barnstable High School, and plan to share all the responsibilities of operating a Hot Dog Truck Business. 

Given that none of the boys can drive (yet) the truck will be stationed outside of Cape Cod Beer, adjacent to the brewery’s new beer garden, and will be selling traditional hot dog truck foods, including hot dogs, pretzels, chips, sodas, and walking tacos.

Cape Cod Dawgs will debut on Saturday May 25th from noon to 3pm.

It all started with a Craigslist advertisement and some parents lamenting about how hard it is for kids to find a job these days, especially at 14. So when brewery owner Todd Marcus considered purchasing the truck off Craigslist, he asked his son Jacob to ask some of his friends to see if there was any interest. Three other teens and their parents agreed to take the leap.

During the April vacation the teens stripped down the truck to bare metal to paint it and put it back together so that they knew exactly how everything worked. Covering the trucks existing‘bubble gum pink” walls was essential! During that time they also did research by visiting other local hot dog entrepreneurs, such as Nick’s Original Coney Island Hot Dogs in Fall River, The Dog Father in Sandwich, and Frankenstein’s Hot Dogs & More in Wareham.

Product research was done online and by visiting various local purveyors, checking prices and local availability. Name and logo selection was also done by the teens themselves. Each of the teens has their own perspective on the adventure. Jacob Marcus, of Centerville said he is now a hot dog lover.

“Before we started working on the hot dog truck, I never really liked hot dogs, but after visiting some of the best local places for hot dogs, like Nick’s in Fall River, they’ve become one of my favorite foods,” Marcus said. 

Nate Pappalardo, also of Centerville explains, “I’m excited to have my first paid-by-the-hour job. It feels like that one step closer to being an adult.”

Dylan Chagnon of Centerville said he is excited to have his own money.

“I’m excited to be earning my own money. I’ve got to start working on my college fund, plus having my own spending money will be cool,” said Chagon. 

Jacob Dipilato of Marstons Mills added, “I’m excited to make some money. It will be nice to have my own money to buy presents for my family, instead of always asking my Mom and Dad. Plus there’s this hockey stick I’d like to buy!”

Cape Cod Dawgs is an (ad)venture started by four Barnstable teens, selling Hot Dogs from a 1979 Grumman Hot Dog Truck, at Cape Cod Beer in Hyannis.

Not just a summer job for 4 local 14 year old teens, this (ad)venture includes building the business from the ground up, including business planning, product research, budgeting and actually running the business throughout the summer of 2013.

Cape Cod Dawgs will be operating outside of Cape Cod Beer on Phinney’s Lane in Hyannis on favorable weather days in tweather days in the spring, and daily once high school is over for the summer. Opening Day is Saturday May 25th.