After 40 years, a Toronto-based hot dog company with a cult following is back

For hot dog enthusiasts, nothing says summer like throwing an all-beef Hebrew National or Chicago 58 on the grill, then biting into it and getting that Proustian snap. And while most street meat still screams summer in the city, true frankfurter fiends (the ones who remember the days when Kwinter’s was pumping out 20,000 all-beef hot dogs a week from their North York factory) can only daydream when they hear that sentimental sizzle. Until now, that is—because Sean Kwinter, grandson of Sam Kwinter—the Toronto-based brand’s hot dog king—is hoping to bring back that inimitable snap by relaunching Kwinter’s just in time for Canada Day.

“My grandfather’s hot dog business was around from 1946 to the late ’80s,” says Sean. “It began as a meat wholesale company before it grew into a string of beloved midtown delis and legendary booths at the CNE, where it was best known for the iconic Dixie Dog—a properly done corn dog that became a cult classic.”

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Much to the dismay of Kwinter’s fans, by the late 1980s, Sam got deep into the egg business and put the cows—and consequently, the dogs—to pasture. But Sean, who has always been known to his friends and neighbours as “the hot dog guy,” is bringing the brand out of retirement. “I knew one day I would want to start up my grandfather’s business again,” he says. “Now just feels like the right time.”

With production starting today, Kwinter’s hot dogs will land in the refrigerated cases of select Toronto grocery stores—including McEwan, Fiesta Farms, Nortown, Olive Branch and Rosedale’s Finest—later this week. The Toronto tube steaks will also head out of town to stores in Muskoka and Port Carling, destined for cottage barbecues.

Sam Kwinter passed away in 2008, long before the Kwinter’s brand’s revival. But we can only guess how chuffed he would be to see his own grandson relaunching his legacy. “Kwinter’s is personal for me—I grew up with it, and my name has always been tied to the brand,” says Sean. “Relaunching it is a meaningful way to honour my grandfather and bring a piece of that legacy back to Toronto tables—and grills!"