Published: Monday, May. 25, 2009

Updated: Monday, May. 25, 2009

Relishing the good days

BRADENTON — Doug Menser sat beneath a large tree on a drizzly morning, tending to his business.

For about the past four and a half years, Menser has operated a hot dog stand at the corner of 12 Street West and Barcarrota Boulevard in downtown Bradenton.

Menser moved to the area from Baltimore to take care of his mother and a sister with special needs. When he moved down, he made a trip to the beach and saw a person renting chairs and umbrellas.

Menser got the idea to sell hot dogs at the beach. Trouble was, because of ordinances, he couldn’t do that. So he opened a hot dog stand downtown instead.

Menser says the job is a nice departure from his former position as an engineer for a manufacturer of gas tanks and panic rooms.

“All you do is talk to mad people all day with problems,” Menser recalls of his former job. “Now, if I don’t run out of ketchup, I have a good day.”

Menser says one can make a fair living at running a hot dog stand, depending on the location and how much time he or she is willing to devote.

“If you go to the right places, if you go to special events, you can do pretty good,” he says.

Rain definitely doesn’t help business though, he says.

“Today will probably be a bad day,” he says, watching the drizzle. “I’ll probably sell a dozen hot dogs. A good day, like the Fourth of July, you can probably sell a couple hundred hot dogs.”

Before moving to Ellenton, Menser sold the sailboat he was living on in Baltimore. Ironically, now he stares each day at a harbor full of sailboats along the Bradenton riverfront.

“Now I look at boats all day so I really miss it,” he says. “But I’ll get another one someday.”

He works on a Sudoku puzzle book while waiting for customers. Occasional customers wave as they pass by, indicating they will be back to pick up a dog later.

Menser is laid back, and some of his customers take a seat next to him and talk about the events of the day.

Menser adds his own flourishes to his dogs and sausages.

For instance, he has a sweet-hot relish he makes himself. He also offers jalapenos, which a lot of people locally seem to like.

“I keep the celery salt for the Chicago people and slice the onions long-ways,” Menser says.

And because of a special request from a customer, Menser also carries barbecue sauce.

“I didn’t think about barbecue sauce on a hot dog but he was right on,” Menser says.

Menser says there is no such thing as a bad day at his job.

It definitely beats a day at the office.

“How bad can it be?” Menser says. “The worst thing that can happen to you is you didn’t sell any hot dogs.”