Homedog LLC: The hottest new hot dog in Hanover (2024)

In a town renowned for hot dogs, a young Connor Eisenhart has a dream.

Eisenhart, who runs The Homedog LLC., a hot dog cart, wants to be more than just Hanover's hot dog brand.

"I want to become the McDonald's of hot dogs," said Eisenhart during an interview as he slung hotdogs at his cart through a busy lunch rush outside of W.E. Sell Sporting Goods in Hanover on a recent Monday afternoon.

Eisenhart, only 22, has been running his hot dog business for roughly a year. He's got some stiff competition: Hanover is well known for its hotdog businesses, from the Famous Hot Weiner, to the Texas Lunch.

In fact, even the largest local community group on Facebook, the Hanover Area Watch Group, or "HAWG," was named in tribute to the town's love for hot dogs.

Still, Eisenhart isn't intimidated.

Related: Famous Hot Weiner: This Hanover staple is celebrating 100 years in the community

"I always remember, competition drives business," said Eisenhart. "The more hot dog places there are, the more business there is."

Eisenhart's Homedog brand has already become a Hanover sensation.

Many of Eisenhart's customers on social media refer to his hotdogs as "the best in town," including Josh Bair, one of Eisenhart's frequent customers who stopped by during a recent lunch.

"I haven't found a better hot dog in town," said Bair as he waited in line for yet another lunch break. Bair, who owns his own small business, said he appreciates Eisenhart's personability and great food.

'We probably eat six, eight of them a week," said Bair of his favorite "homedog with everything" option.

Not just popular among Hanoverians, Eisenhart recently started a TikTok for his business, @thehomedoglcc, with over 14,800 followers and several videos gaining several million hits.

'I can do that'

"I always loved food," said Eisenhart. "I grew up watching the Food Network with my dad."

Eisenhart's culinary roots date back to his first job as a 14-year-old, when he was employed by the Gettysburg Family Restaurant. While he mainly cleaned dishes, he was introduced to the fryer.

From there, Eisenhart worked as a cook at numerous local restaurants and businesses, including in the kitchen of the Hanover Republican Club.

Originally, as he looked to start his own business, Eisenhart wanted his own food truck.

The prices on food trucks were out of reach for Eisenhart, who was saving his money to start a business.

"I knew I wanted to do something with food," said Eisenhart. One day, Eisenhart saw a hot dog cart outside of the local Hanover Lowe's and thought, "I can do that."

Eisenhart found that the prices on food carts were well within his reach, put all of his savings towards one, and the rest is history.

Now, Eisenhart is frequently open for business outside of that very same Lowe's, though his most popular spot remains W.E. Sell Sporting Goods on York street.

Joining Eisenhart in this business journey has been his girlfriend, Juli Madrigal, who started dating Eisenhart around the time he began his business.

"I'm just really proud of him," said Madrigal, who can often be seen helping Eisenhart out at his cart whenever she isn't at her day job. Typically, Eisenhart is slinging dogs while Madrigal runs payment and hands off orders to customers.

The Homedog and the Doghouse

The Homedog provides customers with a relatively extensive and frequently updating menu.

There are more than 13 options on Eisenhart's menu, with numerous toppings and custom orders to be had.

The cart's namesake dog, the Homedog, is a favorite, topped with mustard, homemade chili and raw onions.

While the Homedog's most popular item varies based on the day, it's the Doghouse dog that sells out every single day.

"The Doghouse" is a hotdog covered in special onions and Eisenhart's proprietary "Dog sauce."

Dog sauce isn't Eisenhart's only homemade recipe, with his cart serving his own homemade chili, coleslaw, and sauerkraut recipes.

"In Pennsylvania, they want their coleslaw creamy, and they want it sweet," said Eisenhart of his recipe. "People seem to love it."

Eisenhart learned many of his recipes online, thanks in part to a hot dog group chat he was a part of. From there, the young cook tweaked his recipes to his own taste.

"I only serve what I would want to eat," said Eisenhart, who cites quality control as his biggest focus in business.

Along with his homemade recipes, Eisenhart sources his products locally, using Wayne Nell & Sons Meats Inc. in East Berlin, smoked dogs from the Sechrist Brothers in Dallastown, and Kessler's from Lemoyne.

As for the rolls, Eisenhart recently signed a contract with Martin's Potato Roll from Chambersburg, something he was very excited to add to his cart. "It's a huge upgrade," said Eisenhart of the rolls. "Soft pillows, I call them."

A Hanover brand

A year into dog slinging, Eisenhart has his eyes set on the future.

"It looks like we're going to keep expanding this," said Eisenhart with an air of determination. "This is gonna be a Hanover brand."

Along with his frequent shifts outside of W.E. Sell and Lowe's, Eisenhart has been a common sight at local events, including recently the Hanover Memorial Day Parade.

In the future, Eisenhart wants to host events, including a Hanover hot dog eating competition that he is currently in talks of setting up.

Ultimately, the biggest surprise for Eisenhart over the last year has been the groundswell of support he's experienced for his business, which has rocketed across social media.

"I thought it was going to be harder," said Eisenhart, "People have been coming to support the dogs."

"It's been great, it's been really awesome."

Typically, Eisenhart tries to have the cart open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, along with weekends.

Harrison Jones is the Hanover reporter for the Evening Sun. Reach him at hjones@gannett.com.