What’s Good Here? Buddy’s Saucy Dogs

What’s good here?

Once you realize how revered man’s best friend is at Buddy’s Saucy Dogs, you probably won’t be insulted when your meal is served in a dog bowl.

In fact, you may take it as a compliment.

As soon as you enter Buddy’s on U.S. 378 near the Target shopping center in Lexington, you’ll be greeted with “Welcome to Buddy’s! What’s your dog?” It may actually take a little longer than expected for new customers to answer that question since Buddy’s dogs can be served with one of 16 different toppings. And forget old-school, traditional dog toppings such as relish, mustard, ketchup and onions. Each hot dog at Buddy’s is named after a popular dog breed that relates to its topping. For example, the Golden Retriever is topped with macaroni and cheese while the Chocolate Lab is topped with beans baked with brown sugar, bacon and, yes, even chocolate. The most popular is the Buddy – a dog topped with 12-spice chili and named after owner Jeff Zona’s beloved former family pet.

Some other favorites are the Italian Greyhound, with sweet Italian meat sauce; the Rottweiler, with pineapple and habanero peppers; and the Collie, featuring a Southern coleslaw topping. Customers may mix any two toppings to create a unique mixed breed, or for the super adventurous, there’s the Junkyard Dog, served with all 16 toppings. Customers also have a choice of four different types of hot dogs: beef, turkey, veggie or a burger dog – lean hamburger meat seasoned and rolled as a hotdog.

What else?

After talking with local moms – and his wife – Zona was determined to offer a quality, healthy hot dog at Buddy’s. After talking with multiple vendors, he selected all-natural Applegate Farms hot dogs.

“When I would speak to moms about this concept, they would all say, ‘My kid loves hot dogs, but they are not healthy,’” Zona said. “The Applegate hot dogs we use have only 70 calories, versus most brands which have 130 to 190. They only have 5 grams of fat, to 15 grams in most, only 310 mg of sodium, to most well over 500. The best part is no nitrates, no MSG, no antibiotics, no preservatives, gluten-free, and they taste great.”

How did Buddy’s Saucy Dogs get its start?

Zona, who works full-time as manager of Belk at Columbiana Centre, opened Buddy’s Feb. 13. His dream for the restaurant began 15 years ago.

“I have always wanted to own my own fast-food business; however, I was always nervous in taking the risk,” Zona said. “When (I graduated) college in 1979, a McDonald’s franchise cost $250,000. A college student does not graduate with that type of money. I went into retail but always with the fascination of fast food. Then, about 15 years ago, I started thinking about this concept – the concept of a fast-food hot dog business. ‘Why not?’ I said. There are more hot dogs sold in America than hamburgers, yet no national franchise for the hot dog. We all have our local hot dog joints, but nothing nationally.”

While hot dogs are the draw to Buddy’s, Zona’s family’s love of actual dogs is the impetus for the restaurant’s theme and its goal to support local animal rescue programs.

“Over the years, we fostered and rescued several dogs as our family pets – Mandy, Buddy, Alex, Rowdie and Bailey. I always felt these pets truly appreciated their homes,” Zona said.

After moving to the Columbia-Lexington area three years ago, Zona became involved with Columbia area animal rescue organizations Pets Inc. and Pawmetto Lifeline.

“Both are great organizations helping rescued pets,” Zona said. “After seeing the funds needed to support shelters like this, I decided to give back 1 percent of our sales to these shelters.”

So far, Buddy’s has donated $1,900 each to Pets Inc. and Pawmetto Lifeline.

What does the place look like?

Buddy’s carries the canine theme throughout every facet of the restaurant. In addition to dog bowls as plates, a large wall of the restaurant features Buddy’s friends – pictures of customers’ dogs (with dozens of empty frames that save room for more to come). Quotes about dogs (such as Harry Truman’s “You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog.”) frame the entryway, while all tabletops are covered in collages of dog pictures of the different breeds featured on the menu.

Who eats here?

“We cater to everyone, especially if you love dogs and love a good hot dog,” said Buddy’s manager Sparky Toothman. “Children love us because they get to eat out of a dog bowl and sit at our fun tables. Dog lovers love us, because 1 percent of sales go back to animal rescue, and because they can hang an 8-by-10 picture of their pet on our Buddy’s friends wall. Then everyone likes good-tasting, freshly made lunch and dinners, which is what we offer.”

PRICES: Most hot dogs are $2.95; the Junkyard Dog is $9.95; sides are $1.95.

HOURS: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; Closed Sundays.

INFO: (803) 520-7715; www.buddyssaucydogs.com.

https://www.facebook.com/buddyssaucydogs

Janet Jones Kendall, Special to Go Columbia

This story was originally published May 27, 2015 at 1:32 PM.