Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Smith.
Hi Brian, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Growing up on the Southside of Chicago, food security wasn’t always a given. Raised by a single mom, my siblings and I had to learn how to become creative with the food items we had on hand. Although these times were tough, some of my youngest memories as a kid were going down to Maxwell Street for a famous polish sausage or hot dog. Maybe this is where my hot dog dream truly began!
When I left Chicago at 17 years old and moved to Oceanside, California with my mother where I started getting my feet wet in the culinary field. I worked as a dishwasher and prep cook at a variety of hospital cafeterias, restaurants, etc. I even tried my hand at serving, unfortunately, this ended with a tray of lemonades spilled all over the customers at my table… sorry ladies! After meeting my wife in 2011, my adventure in the culinary world continued to grow as I had the opportunity to work at some well-known restaurants with some extremely talented chefs. I went on to attend a culinary program in San Diego where I learned about perfecting my craft.
With my wife originally from New York, and me from Chicago, we began talking about starting a business that would reflect our roots. With some long nights, hard work, and dedication, Big City Dogz was born! We blended both New York and Chicago’s iconic skylines to create a brand, logo, and business that would also give others a taste of “home”.
Using “Big Cities” as our inspiration for creating unique flavors and topping combinations, we offer a rotating menu mixed with classics like the Chicago Dog and the Yorker with some of our own fun creations like the Mac Daddy and the Nacho Mama’z Dog.
We hope our customers walk away with more than just full bellies. We hope they can taste the love and passion in each bite as they’re transported to their little slice of ‘home”… wherever that may be.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Learning the ins and outs of the business world took some long hours of research and making some great connections in the community.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Big City Dogz?
We pride ourselves in being a family-oriented business, offering classic, spiral-cut hot dogs and sausages along with some new twists and topping combinations. We continue to create new menu items, using our community and our customer’s suggestions as inspiration. When serving at local breweries, we offer our “Pub City Classic” as one of our menu items- a beer brat on a pretzel bun topped with grilled onions, crispy onions, everything bagel seasoning, and homemade beer cheese–made specifically with that brewery’s most popular beer!
We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Although we strive to be an “open book”, people may not know I now officially dream about hot dog creations… regularly. I keep a notepad and pen on my end table to jot down my middle-of-the-night recipe jambles!
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Anthony Green
