Make TBO Your Home Page| Subscribe To The Paper| Advertise With Us| Contact Us| Login| Edit Profile| Register
Suncoast Pasco News
Email
Print
Hot Dog Vendors Has Seen "Lot Of Strange People'
Cheryl Bentley/SUNCOAST NEWS
Hot Dog Man Joe Esposito is a familiar presence on New Port Richey's Bank Street. Esposito's hot dog cart has been there more than four years.
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: February 20, 2008
(Editor's note: This article is the first of an occasional series on people with interesting or unusual jobs.)
As a child growing up in Queens, N.Y., Joe Esposito loved Sabrett frankfurters and Yoo-hoo soft drinks.
"Sabrett and Yoo-hoo were about the biggest things in those days," recalls the 69-year-old Esposito.
He still loves them.
But now, there is another element to his love. Yoo-hoo and the frankfurter that Sabrett's Web site calls "the hot dog New Yorkers relish" put dollars into this former New Yorker's pocket.
Esposito is the hot dog man everyone in downtown New Port Richey knows. His silver cart with its blue and yellow umbrella has been a familiar presence on Bank Street, across from the old Hacienda Hotel, for more than four years.
From there, he knows all the neighborhood people, most of who wave when they pass.
On a recent blustery day, with the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" playing on the radio to keep him company during slow times, he lamented the strong breeze, noting it had kept people away.
He spent the last part of his 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift with only one customer. His is a business dependent on the whims of the weather.
"Cold months, it's busy. Summers, it gets a little rough," he explains.
The Chasco Fiesta and Greater New Port Richey Main Street events help him make up for the slow times.
He has about 40 regulars who stop by for those Sabrett frankfurters with the celebrated snap from their casing.
But others, such as Clinton Youland of Spring Hill are new. A Spring Hill resident, Youland was in New Port Richey on business and remembered he hadn't had lunch when he spotted Esposito's cart.
Strangers like Youland are common, says Esposito.
"I meet new people all the time," he explains and then adds, "I meet a lot of strange people."
Ever the man of few words, he refuses to elaborate. "I don't want to insult anyone."
During slow times, a couple of friends usually stop by to keep him company.
He is use to working outdoors, Esposito says, because he was often outside in his former work as a truck driver in New York City.
After retiring, Esposito moved to New Port Richey in 1992. He had been coming to this area even before retiring and bought a house on the Pithlachascotee River in New Port Richey in 1987.
After retiring, the man who says he is too active to sit around at home all day needed something to keep him busy.
Esposito bought his hot dog cart on impulse six years ago, inspired by a friend who had a similar business. He took over the Bank Street site when the friend moved back to Michigan.
Although he first envisioned working only a few days a week, he now puts in six five-hour days a week.
How long will Esposito keep going as the hot dog man?
He has no plans for a second retirement.
The fans of his hot dogs won't let him.
"People tell you how much they like them. That makes you feel good."
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online ©2009 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. A Media General company. Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
