Jersey Girl Hot Dogs

By Laura Calverley

Jersey Girl Hot Dogs, a new business coming to Ramona in mid-October, is sure to be a hit with Easterners and Westerners.

Located at 1158 Main Street next to the Crazy 8 quilting store in the former one-hour photo location, Jersey Girl Hot Dogs offers frankfurters any way you like ’em, as well as soda and chips. Available toppings will include mustard, ketchup, red onions, sauerkraut, chili, relish and cheese.

Jersey Girl will feature Sabrett hot dogs, which are all beef, without fillers or additives. Sabrett is a popular brand in New Jersey and New York and is the preferred hot dog of push-cart vendors in New York City and on the New Jersey boardwalks.

Americans eat 20 billion hot dogs every year, according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, a fact not lost on owners Linda and Pete Silva.

Linda Silva is a real Jersey girl, having grown up in Secaucus and Toms River, N.J. She’s no stranger to the hot dog business either, having owned a small hot dog stand with her brother Tim in Bricktown, N.J. for many years. Her brother still owns it.

“It’s always been my dream to open a hot dog place here,” Linda Silva said. “The store on Main Street is a little smaller than we wanted, but we knew we could make it work.”

The Silvas are renovating the store with new paint, tilework, doors, a custom-made cart, and of course, cookers.

The couple moved here about seven years ago, then went back to New Jersey for a while and returned to San Diego two years ago. The Silvas, who just bought a house in Ramona, have their hands full between starting a new business and unpacking and settling into a new home.

Linda Silva said that sometimes she misses the boardwalk in New Jersey.

“Our favorite was in Seaside Heights,” she said, an area where the boardwalk is a mile long.

Her personal favorite hot dog, she said, is a chili cheese dog.

“We’re looking forward to starting the business,” she said. “We just moved to Ramona and we really like it here. It’s a great community and the people are very friendly.”

Jersey Girl Hot Dogs will be open seven days, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.