Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to DJ Luongo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

DJ, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Growing up in Northern NJ, my Dad used to take my sister and I to one of the many hot dog trucks scattered around the area every once in a while to grab a bite to eat. We didn’t really have much, so this was always so exciting, and a little magical. I’d always get two plain hotdogs and either a Yoo-Hoo or a Chocolate Cow. To this day I have never seen another place that sells Chocolate Cow.

We moved to MD when I was 10 and with that, my hot dog truck lunches were over. I didn’t realize how much I actually enjoyed going the the trucks until we couldn’t go anymore. You always want what you can’t have, right? Maybe it was the hot dogs, maybe it was the nostalgia, but I found myself sometimes thinking about those lunches back in NJ.

As I grew up, I always thought it would be cool to have a little hot dog cart one day and maybe bring the same joy to other families as those hot dog trucks did for me. So in 2016, I took some money I’d been saving and decided to go buy a hot dog cart and see what I could do. I found a used one online, spoke with the guy selling it and setup a time and place to meet and agreed on a price. As I was driving there, he called me and told me he sold it. Of course I was livid. When I got home my wife asked where the cart was and I told her the story and I basically said that I’ll take that as a sign to not buy a cart.

Within minutes she had found another one online and told me I was going to buy it. She knew I needed a little nudge and this was her way of telling me that everything was going to work out.

I went and bought that cart and Don’s Dogs was born.

DJ, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We are a food truck that serves speciality hot dogs, burgers, sausages and tater tots. There are no other food trucks like us in our area and we pride ourselves on customer service, consistency and speed. We also do private catering for any type of event. We’re able to meet our clients needs with menu customization and working with all budget options. We are able to put a package together for almost any situation.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Starting in 2016, everything was going well for the first 4 years. We were growing year after year, building relationships and really dialing in our approach as a business. Then in March of 2020 we all know what happened. Since we were primarily an events oriented business, and almost all events got canned, we lost about 95% of our business for 2020. The pandemic had essentially put a stop to us as a company. Unfortunately, at the exact same time my wife also lost her job due to Covid.

As the months went by, and no one knew what was going on, we noticed that food trucks were thriving. There were no restaurants open and there were never any restrictions put on food trucks. We had kicked around the idea of getting a truck in the past but decided that it would be a little too difficult with each of us working a full time job. Now, with only one of us working it came up back up in conversation. My wife actually brought it up first. I thought she was crazy to even think about investing in a new truck with only one income coming in. She made a compelling argument saying that I could still work my job and she could run the food truck. We decided to go for it and bought our food truck in August of 2020.

Sitting here now in 2022, I can say that we were in the minority of businesses that the pandemic actually indirectly helped.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

We try to make it feel that when guests come up to our truck, they feel like they are the only person in line. We try to always have someone outside of the truck taking orders and chatting with the guests. We build that one on one relationship, even if it’s just for 30 seconds. That goes further that most people think. We take the time to ensure each guest gets exactly what they want. We realized very early on that we aren’t in the food business, we’re in the people business. Having great food doesn’t hurt though!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @donsdogcart
• Facebook: Facebook.com/donsdogcart