This hot dog journey started when Andrea Richard and her mom went to New York City when she was in middle school. New York is known for having a multitude of food carts and when she saw all of them, she thought it looked really fun.

Years later, this spring, Andrea began visiting with her parents about starting a hot dog stand. Her mom even went as far as bringing some Sabrett hot dogs back from her trip to Florida for them to try and discuss flavors and textures.

Andrea said it was funny because while her mom was going through airport security, a TSA agent pulled her carry-on bag aside and saw the hot dogs. She had a fun time explaining that. 

“I have a four-year-old and getting him to eat at food trucks or at events is a pain unless it’s cheese curds or hot dogs,” Andrea said. “Every kid loves hot dogs and selling them at an affordable price with a variety of toppings would be awesome! I talked to my dad about everything and we decided to pull the trigger.” 

So, they tried some ideas and ran some numbers and didn’t really think anything of it at first. But after a ton of research, Andrea decided she could make this work. 

Having worked overnights with the bar crowd, Andrea is familiar with how to run food service during those time periods. And, after taking a trip to Columbus, Ohio to a restaurant called Dirty Frank’s Hot Dog Palace in May, it really pushed the idea to make a career out of this. 

Andrea met with her dad, Frank Richard, and since he’s retired, he decided to jump on the idea, too. That’s when To Be Frank was born.

This father-daughter duo is working very hard to get ready for their first event. They are going to serve affordable hot dogs and chili dogs along with chips and non-alcoholic beverages mainly during evening/bar hours on weekends as well as events as they come up.

They will be ready to sling dogs by Applefest on September 21-22. 

Make sure to follow their Facebook page to get notifications about their whereabouts and any events coming up along with any specials.