Akron Hot Dogs from Stray Dog

When Charly Murphy travels to a new city, he finds a hot dog cart first.

“It’s a thing I’ve always identified as the backbone of the city,” says the founder and CEO of Stray Dog.

He wanted to bring that experience to Akron, so he started Stray Dog in 2009 as a single downtown hot dog cart. Now Stray Dog is a small empire with five carts, three food trucks and cafes in the main Akron-Summit County Public Library, Bounce Innovation Hub and AES Building. Business took off after he crafted the signature Stray Dog mustard in 2016.

“We use a black mustard seed, and it gives us a unique horseradish-type flavor,” Murphy says.

Since its humble streetside beginnings, its quintessential dish has been a grilled quarter-pound all-beef hot dog ($5) slathered with Stray Dog mustard. While the chili dog is popular with Coney meat sauce, onions, cheese and Stray Dog mustard ($7), the pickle dog is truly an original. Bite into a grilled dog with shredded cheddar, house mustard and a grilled house-made Akron Pickle ($6).

“It’s super juicy with the salty pickle and savory hot dog,” he says.

That Akron Pickle was originally just a plain local crispy cucumber condiment, but it has grown into Murphy’s second food truck and product line, with 30 flavors, ranging from bloody mary to ginger wasabi, and relishes in flavors like jalapeno and local ramps.

Taste these products in Stray Dog cafe menu items, like the roasted pork Cuban ($8) with ham, Swiss, Stray Dog mustard and Akron pickles. From the truck, try a medium-hot custom-made Hungarian sausage, with a pinch of spice from paprika and garlic, as a part of the Hungry Boy ($9) that’s served with Rust Belt potato wedges, coleslaw and smoky maple mustard, or plain ($7) with Stray Dog mustard.

“It’s just enough flavor but cuts through the spiciness of the sausage,” Murphy says.

Now, thousands of Stray Dog mustards and Akron pickles are sold in its cafes and 20 retail locations from Sugarcreek to Toledo, along with its sodas. And more products are coming since Murphy recently launched the Stray Kitchens production facility in Canal Place, where he plans to make Coney sauce, ketchup, hot ketchup and more. Like everything he does, Murphy, who took over both Akron locations of Bob’s Hamburg, wants Stray Kitchens to become a place where he can help other food entrepreneurs define the flavor of Akron, too.

“I love this place. I’ve been here my whole life,” he says. “At some point standing outside with a cart, I decided to make this place a better place through food products.” KP

Find It: 526 S. Main St., 388 S. Main St., 75 S. Main St., Akron; straydogakron.com