Harbor Dogs in Scituate, MA

The 26th stop on the National Hot Dog Month Tour brought me to Scituate, MA to a little hot dog cart called Harbor Dogs. Life long Scituate resident, local fire fighter and Harbor Dogs owner Mike Healy has only been in the hot dog business since May, 2012. He likes hot dogs and cooking and wanted to try his hand at dogtrepreneurship.

Harbor Dogs has a great location for a hot dog business. The cart is parked right on the edge of Scituate Harbor.

It’s got to be easy to get pumped to go to work when this is your “office.” Even on a cloudy day, this is one fine location for a hot dog cart. Mike gets lots of hungry boaters on weekends and there is good foot and vehicle traffic along Scituate’s “main drag.”

We were there early and got to see the grand entry of the Harbor Dogs cart. When Mike has to be at the fire station, his man, Will, sets up and slings the dogs.

Will was the proud recipient of an official National Hot Dog Month Tour tee shirt, courtesy of DreamMaker Hot Dog Carts. Will couldn’t fool around, he had to get things cooking.

When Will was setting up the steam pans, I noticed he was pouring beer into the well for the hot dogs. I LOVE this! I ALWAYS steam my dogs in beer when I cook them that way, it adds a whole new flavor dimension to the hot dogs.

Will also started grilling sausages. Between the boiling beer and the sausages cooking on the grill, the parking lot began to smell delicious. My tummy was a grumblin’.

Once Will was ready to go, he hung up the “open” sign. After that, all there was to do was wait for customers- and Mike.

Harbor Dogs offers Pearl All Beef Franks, Pearl Jalapeno Franks, and Italian Sausages. Mike believes in keeping things simple until he gets the hang of the business.

It didn’t take long before the first customer showed up. Shortly after she left, Mike arrived on the scene.

Mike was frsh off duty at the station and he gave us the lowdown on how he got started in the hot dog business.

It was time for me to get down to business too. I made up a Pearl, steamed in beer, with mustard, relish, onions, and Onion Crunch. I call this topping combo “All Around Crunchy.”