Amber Nguyen and Serenity Shakir

Ketchup, mustard, relish, and sometimes chilli with cheese are what most people think of when you say “hot dog”. At Dreamy Weenies they don’t believe in limiting your choices of toppings.

Dreamy Weenies took hot dogs and turned them New Orleans style. They have toppings ranging from A to Z such as avocado, barbeque sauce, barbeque shrimp sauce, beef bacon, curry sauce, cole slaw, creole mix, dreamoulade sauce, feta cheese, grits, jalapeno, and many more. The two owners and business partners Ahmad and Nasr both studied at Dillard university, yet they never really knew each other. They also attended the same mosque. They finally met when they were both in the same committee before Hurricane Katrina, a committee that was looking to build a certain type of neighborhood in the city.

Ahmad told us about Nasr’s first business idea before the hot dog enterprise. He said that Nasr’s business idea was,“Online used clothes for men.” Ahmad didn’t really like that idea, but when he thought he had another good idea, he went to the person he thought was a good partner. On the side of his job teaching middle school, Ahmad wanted to start a hot dog business to please the people of New Orleans.

Dreamy Weenies primarily feeds tourists, and they come from all over the world to see New Orleans. One of the tourism hot spots is right across the street at Louis Armstrong Park. A variety of events take place at the park, such as the red dress run, farmers market, and festivals. When events happen across the street at the Louis Armstrong Park, people come run over to eat at Dreamie Weenies. Naturally, they can’t resist the smell of hot dogs wafting out into the street. Now tourists will have easier access to the restaurant thanks to the new streetcar. This development also has the owners excited; of the 4 years for which Ahmad has owned the business (while still teaching his students from multiple middle schools) 2 of them were very hectic due to the construction of the streetcar.  You can imagine how happy he and Nasr were when it was finally opened. They even catered the event! They are expecting the streetcar to help bring in customers all the way from Rampart to Saint Claude. The streetcar is also significant because it will help the business become more diverse. The streetcar can bring in many different types of people, from a variety of races and from different communities.    

At Dreamie Weenies, the names for their hot dogs are very unique. The names for their custom hot dogs come from different parts of the town, and are also influenced by customers’ own colorful combinations. The Genchilli hot dog is your choice of hot dog topped with their famous in house chilli and Creole mix. If you like that, you should try the house special: a Genchilli dog with cream cheese on the bun and topped with shredded cheese and pico de gallo. The “Pothole”  a dog with potato salad on the bun,topped with shredded cheese and in house chilli. Doesn’t that just make your mouth water.

Whatever you do, don’t pass up a chance to eat at Dreamie Weenies. As Ahmad likes to say, “You are only as good as your last hot dog.”