Doggone it!
Pauly Dogs will not be returning to campus this school year, and it will be replaced by a new hot dog stand opening Monday.
After selling countless crazy franks, Pauly Dogs’ founder and owner Paul “Pauly” Konstanzer is hitting the road and ending a hot dog legacy that has served as a Duke delicacy and campus fixture for 15 years. The food stand will reopen today under the name JB’s Gourmet Dogs & More, operated by Dennis Lane and Eric Burchfield, the owners of Duke’s Loop Pizza Grill.
Personal reasons—not his relationship with the University—led Konstanzer to leave Duke for the time being, he said. He will be moving to Kill Devil Hills, N.C., later this year.
“My mom—she’s 83 and I want to move closer to her,” Konstanzer said. “I’m going to miss the crap out of the students and running Pauly Dogs. It was a very hard decision on my part.”
Pauly Dogs debuted on the Duke campus in 1997 and moved to its familiar location on the Bryan Center Plaza in 2007.
Konstanzer decided not to renew his contract in late July, and Lane and Burchfield acquired the food stand about a week and a half ago. Although Konstanzer sought to keep the Pauly Dogs name in his absence, a contractual agreement could not be reached in the short time between the change of ownership and the beginning of the school year.
Lane said he did not want to pay for the name “Pauly Dogs” because Konstanzer would not be part of the contract or liable to the business, and Konstanzer was unwilling to relinquish the Pauly Dogs name for free.
“Paul is one of my best friends.... He used to wash his dishes and run his business out of my kitchen,” Lane said. “But we can’t be Pauly.... I’m not Pauly. Eric is not Pauly. Pauly is Pauly, so we’ve decided to go our own route.”
Because of the quick turnaround, Lane said JB’s will only be offering about a third of the menu he had initially planned but will be offering additional dishes as the semester progresses.
JB’s mission will differ from Pauly Dogs’ in that the food will be a bit more upscale and will offer items other than dogs, he said. JB’s will make many of their own toppings from scratch—unlike Pauly Dogs—and Guglhupf, a Durham bakery, will provide buns and pretzel rolls for some of the menu items.
“We’d like to try some daily specials such as ‘Wings Wednesdays’ or ‘Two-dollar Dogs Tuesdays,’” he added. “We’re going to have a lot more things than hot dogs and go a more boutique or gourmet route.... And we’re definitely keeping the Mac and Cheese.”
Like Pauly Dogs, JB’s will offer late-night hours, staying open until 3:00 a.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Konstanzer added that Rick Johnson, assistant vice president of housing and dining, assured him that if he ever wanted to return to campus, he would be welcomed back with open arms.
“There were no hard feelings with Duke Dining services,” he noted. “This was not about the new 15 percent commission rate. I was fine paying that [increased] rate all of last year. It’s not about that.... I’m still a Dukie.”
Johnson or a representative from Duke Dining could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
Konstanzer said he will also be undergoing surgery on his shoulder at Duke Hospital to repair a torn labrum this October, which contributed to his decision to exit Duke.
During his tenure at Duke, Konstanzer said he had a large following of dedicated diners—both students and staff. He cited this as the most rewarding part of his experience with Pauly Dogs.
“When I get phone calls from students calling me up and saying, ‘We’re gonna miss you, we love you, thank you,’ I know I’ve touched students,” he said. “It touches my heart. It’s like—damn man, I did mean a lot to some people.”
Among the group of loyal customers was junior Christine Adams. She said she was upset that she could not visit one of her favorite eateries on campus.
“I’m depressed that I can’t get a Pauly Dog,” she said. “I thought I’d be able to come back and get a Mac Dog.”
Luckily for Adams, the Mac Dog—a customer favorite—will be one of the several Pauly Dogs items that Lane intends to include on JB’s menu.
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