ST. IGNACE, Mich. (WJMN) – From Detroit to Chicago-style, Dusty Dogz in St. Ignace has gourmet hot dogs to satisfy your taste buds.

“Our hot dogs are local Vollwerth’s hot dogs, but then we do a special lobster roll bun that we toast on each side and then it’s all fresh ingredients,” said Owner Todd Allen. “Even if you order a Chicago dog, everything is shipped here from Chicago: the relish, the celery salt, the poppy seed. Everything that actually makes it a true Chicago dog. Same with our Detroit dog, Brick Chili, which is original coney sauce, sent up and then we break it down.”

Dusty Dogz’s menu also includes smash burgers and street tacos.

“We started off with just doing hot dogs, and then we added the smash burgers which probably jumped our business up 70 percent, so there really wasn’t much thinking when it came to that. But then I wanted to do something, I come from a highly Spanish community in Bonita Springs, Florida and I love street food. Basically, I just brought the same thing here to Michigan and it’s gone over very well.”

Allen started up the business during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to feed his community, as well as support local businesses and animal shelters.

“I had to come up with something that would work for the local community. So, I thought something like this would be beneficial not only to the community, but to small businesses because we try to use as much local product as possible. From our hot dogs to our sodas to our chips. Everything’s local, and we also donate to the local animal shelter, so I thought that was a good thing to help out with the community as well,” said Allen.

The restaurant is inspired by Allen’s pit bull terrier dog, Dusty, who he rescued three years ago.

“I told her the first words that came out of my mouth when I picked her up, I said, ‘I’m going to make you famous’, and now her pictures are all over the place.”

Dusty Dogz also has a food truck and offers catering. Dusty Dogz’s Michigan locations are in Indian River, Petoskey, and St. Ignace. There are two Florida locations: Bonita Springs and Orlando. For business hours and to view the full menu, you can visit dustydogz.com.