American Coney Island in Las Vegas

American Coney Island has been a Detroit institution since 1917. It's one of those Greek owned hot dog joints that has been serving a spiced hamburger sauce, called Coney Island Sauce, on hot dogs for a long time. If you go to Detroit, and you want a hot dog, this is the place to have it.

I have visited American Coney Island in Detroit, many years ago, in an "unofficial" capacity. In January, I'll be visiting the American Coney Island Las Vegas location for Hot Dog Stories!

American Coney Island is the next 3rd generation hot dog joint to take its act "on the road" and bring some old school, hot dog flavor to a melting pot city. They opened up a Vegas location recently. Las Vegas is a tourist town that allows people to experience cultural phenomena from all aspects of life: the hot dog is no different!

Since I will be in Las Vegas, speaking at Affiliate Summit West, from January 12-15, I decided to plan a visit to American Coney Island to do a Hot Dog Story. 3rd Generation owner Grace Keros gave me a call and rolled out the red carpet for the Hotdogman!

I will be visiting the location and "doing my thing" there in a few weeks. 

Details will surely follow!

Tiffany Krumins Answers THE QUESTION

I interviewed Tiffany Krumins for the Shark Tank Blog today. She was on the very first episode of Shark Tank and partnered with Barbara Corcoran on her medicine dropper for kids called AVA the Elephant.

Tiffany is a Georgia peach who adores working with special needs kids and kids with cancer. She's a true bright light!

We talked about her upcoming update segment on Shark Tank and what she's been up to for the past few years.

I asked her THE QUESTION: "Do you put ketchup on your hot dogs?"

Her answer: "Mustard and Chili. Something about ketchup on a hot dog doesn’t work well."

I hope you pass that bit of advice on to all the wonderful kids you work with, Tiffany!

Scotty Claus from Shark Tank Answers THE QUESTION

I caught up with Scot Martin, aka Scotty Claus from The Living Christmas Company today. His business was funded by Mark Cuban on The Shark Tank Holiday Special.

The business concept is pretty straightforward: he rents and delivers live Christmas trees in the greater Los Angeles area. When Christmas is over, Scotty and his elves collect the trees and care for them until the following Christmas. It's about as green a business as, well, a Christmas Tree!

We talked about his time in the Shark Tank and he had a lot of good insights on how to pitch the Sharks successfully. Near the end of the conversation, I asked THE QUESTION:

"Do you put ketchup on your hot dogs?"

Scotty Claus replied:

"If I don't do chili and cheese, I just have mustard."

EXCELLENT ANSWER! There won't be any coal in Scotty's stocking this Christmas Eve!

Donna McCue from Fat Ass Fudge answers THE QUESTION

I recently spoke to Donna McCue, the very funny lady who pitched her Fat Ass Fudge on the Shark Tank Holiday Special. Donna's fudge is made with organic goat milk, organic goat milk butter, organic sugar, Belgian chocolate, and lots of LOVE! She claims her fudge (unlike men) never disappoints.

We talked about the usual Shark Tank stuff: her edit, stuff from behind the scenes, sales made after the show, and so-on. She also told me about some new products she has rolling out like her chocolate martini mix (I like just about anything that has "martini" in the title).

I also asked her the question:

"Do you put ketchup on your hot dogs?"

Donna, an Easthampton, NY resident, answered like a true New Yorker:

"I put mustard on my hot dogs. I like the natural casing dogs that crack open when you grill them. I'd never put ketchup on a hot dog!"

All I can say is "YEEESSSSSSS!"

HOORAY for Hoo-Rag

The good folks at Hoo-rag sent along a few samples for me to take a look at. What's a Hoo-rag, you ask? Well it's kind of a Do-rag/Survivor Buff/bandanna that has a whole bunch of uses. If you look at the cute cartoon below, you'll see it can be used as a pony tail tie, neck warmer, balaclava, head band, bandanna, face warmer, or stylish choker. I would have liked to have one of these in the Hot Dog Truck to hold a bag of ice on my head on a hot day!

The Hoo-rag is a stretchy nylon tube, about a foot and a half long. It fits over my fat head, so it will stretch out over just about anything. It was pretty chilly out today, so I tried it out as a neck warmer and as a liner under my wool "took" (wool is warm but it makes my head itchy). I must say, it's a pretty versatile little, erm, Hoo-rag! I'm wearing it "pirate style" around the house tonight, just to horrify my teen-age daughter (I keep threatening to wear it like this the next time I have to drop her off somewhere).

Hoo-rags come in a whole bunch of designs and colors. You can even get them made with your own logo on them. I tried it out as a complete cover up. This will be a nice extra little layer for the coming COLD New England winter.

 I'll definitely be using it the same way next summer while fishing. The sun is sometimes unbearable and I put on my hoodies so I don't completely fry. Hoodies get hot though, especially when it's 90+ degrees out!

Little Miss tried it as a head band. She wants one!

Check out the Hoo-Rag website for ordering information, or just go look at their Facebook page. I'll be doing a little video about the Hoo-rag soon. In the mean time: HOORAY FOR HOO-RAG!!!

PartiePoche Pair Answer THE QUESTION

Connor Pastoor and Jillian Jaccard pitched their fashionable PartiePoche cell phone holder on the Shark Tank Holiday Special recently. While things didn't go well for them on air, they ended up selling their company for a tidy profit.

We spoke the other day about their pitch and their product for the Shark Tank Blog.

I eventually got around to asking them THE QUESTION:

"Do you put ketchup on your hot dogs?"

Connor's answer: "Well, I have been a vegetarian since the age of four, so I haven't had hot dogs for a long time. I have just started eating meat again. I consider myself somewhat of a foodie, so I was missing out on 70% of foods. Jillian has been helping with my 'conversion.' As for the original question, I recently went to Wurstkuche in Los Angeles and I had ketchup on my hot dog."

After commending Jillian on her encased meat missionary work with Connor, I asked her THE QUESTION too.

Jillian's answer: "Well, if it's a chicken-apple hot dog, I won't put ketchup on it, but for a 'classic' hot dog, yes, I do put ketchup on those."

A CHICKEN APPLE HOT DOG?!?!?! Only in LA! The young entrepreneurs may have it all together when it comes to business, and Jillian's efforts with Connor's re-indoctrination to carnivorous ways is a noble endeavor, but let's get serious guys! Putting ketchup on a hot dog is like using EBITDA to represent cash earnings: it might make things look pretty, but it's gonna leave a bad taste in your mouth!

Scott Jordan from Shark Tank answers THE QUESTION

Scott Jordan likes to call himself "The Sixth Shark" for the way he handled himself in the Shark Tank. In fact, he even wrote a few articles for SharkTankBlog as the "Sixth Shark."

Scott's infamous online feud with Billionaire Mark Cuban made quite a buzz in season three. The two squared off on the patent issue.

Jordan pitched his Technology Enabled Clothing, the licensing arm of his business. He makes most of his money selling ScottEvests, a line of outer wear designed to safely carry and protect various technological gadgets.

We talked about life since Shark Tank and we eventually got down to the question:

"Do you put ketchup on your hot dogs?"

He answered:

"No. No ketchup for me."

It's a good thing mustard isn't patented!

Melissa Kiernan Last Lid Entrepreneur from Shark Tank answers the Question

I spoke to Melissa Kiernan today about the Last Lid, a universal replacement trash can lid she and her husband pitched in the Shark Tank last spring. Their episode re-airs this Friday. 

The New Jersey couple got Daymond John to invest in their business! We spoke about life after Shark Tank and the progress of the Last Lid since the show aired.

We eventually got around to the Question:

"Do you put ketchup on your hot dogs?"

Melissa answered:

"No. Mustard and Kraut for me. Who puts ketchup on a hot dog?!?!?"

I always loved Jersey gals, they're so practical! She's a keeper, Kevin!