Doni’s Coney Island Hot Dogs finds new location at Ellis Pottery | Business
LONGVIEW — Doni’s Coney Island Hot Dogs has found a new home in the parking lot of Ellis Pottery Home and Garden in Longview.
The hot dog food truck, originally launched in Marshall, now has a new spot from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday through Saturday at Ellis, which is located at 3110 N. Eastman Road in Longview.
When it comes to hot dogs, there’s only one that is the real deal said Doni Simmons, and he offers it at his Doni’s Coney Island Hot Dogs food truck.
In 1893, the Vienna Beef hot dog was introduced at the Chicago World’s Fair and since then, it’s made hot dog history as the best selling, authentic “Chicago Dog.”
“It’s actually made out of brisket,” Simmons said. “We are the only ones in a 271 mile radius that sells the Vienna Beef hot dogs. They are completely different than a regular hot dog. They are the most famous hot dog in history.”
Not just anyone can sell the Vienna Beef hot dogs and if you are allowed to sell them, you have to pair them with the correct buns and toppings, Simmons said.
“I started a year and a half a go selling the hot dogs and I had to educate people on what a good hot dog is,” he said. “The Vienna Beef hot dogs have a following — they are the hot dogs that are sold at Wrigley Field. If you sell them, you have to do everything to the recipe and menu of Vienna Beef.”
It only makes sense for Simmons to sell the best. He’s used to working with the top of the line talent in whichever career he’s in.
“I used to do concerts and I’ve worked with Alice Cooper and Frank Sinatra,” he said. “I eventually got into the barbecue business in Conroe but I’m a fourth generation Marshall resident so my wife and I came back here to open a barbecue business.”
Best of Texas Smokehouse is the restaurant the Simmons opened on their acre and a half of land at 323 Bailey Cut Off in Marshall.
“We’re a destination spot,” Simmons said of his barbecue business and location. “We have outdoor concerts here but when the brisket started getting too expensive, I got into the hot dogs.”
Now that we are on the back end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Simmons has re-opened his barbecue restaurant but is still operating his Doni’s Coney Island Hot Dogs food truck two days a week at Ellis.
“The barbecue restaurant is open from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday,” he said previously. “We offer brisket, ham, chicken breast and sausages at our barbecue restaurant.”
Simmons is also now selling the famous Vienna Beef by the pound, along with the famous poppyseed buns that go with the special hot dogs.
