Sep 7, 2007

Happy Hound celebrates 36 years in Los Gatos

Owner's simple philosophy keeps customers coming back

By Suzanne Cristallo / MediaNews

Dan Dressler's home phone number is on every receipt from his Happy Hound restaurant in Los Gatos and on every one of his business cards. This month, his famous little hot dog joint is celebrating its 36th anniversary.

Dressler, as did both his parents before him, shares a philosophy about the Hounds they have owned: Don't change the quality or the quantity. "You can change the price to accommodate the times if you want, and your customers won't mind," Dressler says, but changing the quality and quantity to make a buck won't be acceptable to customers. He points to places that charge 80 cents more than the $3.65 he does for a burger of lesser quality that is pretty empty inside.

The Happy Hound seats 23. At lunchtime, particularly on Saturdays or especially on its busiest day of the year - after the Children's Holiday and Christmas Parade - it's hard to find a seat. Customers come from all over the South Bay, some bringing their children just as their folks brought them years before.

"The place is an icon," says David Michaels, a longtime faithful customer.

And it seems to be known around the globe.

"Once I was visiting in Australia and was wearing a Happy Hound T-shirt," Dressler recalls. "A man asked, 'Have you been there? It's my favorite place!'"

The experience was repeated again on a visit to Hawaii.

So why isn't such a successful piece of Americana multiplying in a typically American way?

"I'm shy on franchising," he says. "I sold one in San Jose and the people who bought it lessened the quality, so I took the name away. Now it's a Korean barbecue."

Dressler admits he's getting a little burned out. He's been in the business since he was 10 years old in Danville, where his mother Dorothy ran the first of five stores she started.

His early jobs were hosing down sidewalks and peeling onions. Then when his parents divorced, he moved to Los Gatos with his father Hugh who, with the help of Dorothy, opened the Los Gatos Boulevard store in 1971.

He worked all through high school (Los Gatos High class of 1976) for $1 an hour.

"I know there are a lot of good parents out there who want their kids to earn their own cars. My dad was insistent," he says. Of every dollar he earned, his dad made him put away 50 cents.

The prize came at 16: A '57 Ford Fairlane convertible.

"We called it Windy, 'cause the top wouldn't work," he grins.

The missing floorboards in the back were replaced with plywood to keep feet inside.

"My friends had TransAms, but they always ended up in my car," he says. "I was pretty careful with it, because I had to work on it and put my own money in it. I wish I had it today."

The days of $1 an hour are far away. In 1987, Dressler bought the Hound from his father, after running it for five years.

Today, he pays a beginning wage of $9.50 an hour with benefits after three months and still has trouble getting people to work. He advertises on Craigslist and with posters. "The local high school kids don't respond. It's the same for stores all over Los Gatos," he says.

But when it comes to eating, they're there in droves on their skateboards or bikes, for lunch or after school or after the show, along with the construction workers, gardeners, mothers with strollers, office workers and retired folks.

The burgers are a third of a pound ($3.65 or $4.65 for a double) and the dogs are a good 10 inches long ($2.70). They can be dressed in chili, cheese, kraut "or anything you want that we have in the place," Dressler says.

The only real changes over the past three decades are the addition of grilled chicken and a turkey burger and the increase from a quarter pound burger to a third of a pound. "We have decent food for a decent price," Dressler says.

Hugh Dressler died recently. Dorothy sold all her stores and moved to Hawaii, where she lives today.

Dan says he's good for maybe another five years. Then he can get back to the boating he loves.