Jefferson 'Chili Dawg' hot dog joint offers tasty treat

When he was 21, Barry Breitbard thought he could retire and be perfectly happy doing nothing the rest of his life. When his retirement finally came a few years ago, he lasted nine months.

He needed something to do. Anything. He took a minimum-wage job at a Jefferson hot dog joint.

Two months later, he bought the place. Six years down the line, Breitbard and his wife have made Chili Dawgs a favorite among regulars, a group of locals that is growing all the time.

"This place is more for fun than anything else," he said and then pointed to the three walls of photographs of hundreds of people. "You get to meet all these people. That's what is this all about."

Photos of little kids who now are teenagers. Photos of families and singles, 20-somethings and old men. Even a few photos of folks who have passed on.

Those photographs and Georgia Bulldogs posters make up much of the décor in the small restaurant just north of downtown Jefferson. Outside, the red and white building offset by old Coca-Cola signs gives the look that this joint's been around for a while.

The building has, but it wasn't too inviting until the Breitbards took over, he said.

"Six years ago, people who drove by this place thought it wasn't a very nice place," Breitbard said of the concrete building's previous lives as a place to buy everything from lottery tickets to booze. "But people who have come in keep coming back."

People such as country music legend Kenny Rogers. Rogers often brings his family in and tends to order the chili-cheese hot dog with onions, said Lacey Sanders, who has worked for the Breitbards since the beginning.

The dogs are boiled, the chili is fresh from a slow cooker and the cheese is grated. Toppings include all the standard condiments - onions, pickles and relish - and a few that are a little unusual - hot peppe