Restaurant Road Trip: Firehouse Dawgs

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. (WBOY) — 12 News is letting the dogs out with this week’s Restaurant Road Trip to Buckhannon’s very own Firehouse Dawgs.

Owner Cole Kelley finally put his dream of owning his own restaurant into action and opened Firehouse Dawgs in April of this year. He previously attended culinary school, wanting to use his knowledge and experiences to help evolve the food items on his menu.

While Firehouse Dawgs is known for its hot dogs, they do carry a variety of other foods like:

• Salads
• “Samiche’s”
• Mac n’ cheese
• Taters
• Homemade desserts

Some of the top sellers are the steak Phillys, Buffalo chicken dip, homemade battered corndogs, and hot dogs with purple coleslaw. Kelley said the purple slaw is inspired by visiting Pickens with his family for fishing trips and getting the item on their hotdogs when in the area.

A high school student who helps lead the team at Firehouse Dawgs told 12 News about the journey of getting the business started, saying she was helping put up trim and decorations before even opening.

The Dawgs’ Team Lead Katlyn Tenney said they make the slaw fresh every day, but the color is what really makes it stand out.

“They’re just kind of shocked that it’s purple because most coleslaw isn’t but everybody really seems to like it,” she said.

12 News’ Makayla Schindler got to sit down and try the unique twist on some of their foods, including a seven-layer bar, homemade strawberry cake, bang-bang seasoned fries with two hotdogs with chili, ketchup, and purple slaw, and then ranch seasoned fries and two corndogs. She said the corndogs with homemade batter are “what’s up, dawg!”

The name for the restaurant was chosen way before the opening at the fire station with Cole and his buddies. Kelley said that they were goofing around with names and since his first name is actually Winston, they thought about “Winston’s Wieners” but they decided on “Firehouse Dawgs” because the firefighters sometimes come in and help work if the restaurant is short-staffed.

All of the firefighters were there for opening day.

If you want to try some of Firehouse Dawgs’ delicious food, you better get there quick, because there are days where they do sell out of certain items early. You can find updates on Firehouse Dawg’s Facebook page .

The restaurant is open Monday through Wednesday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 539 West Main Street in Buckhannon.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com.