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Frank's Hotdogs, 800 Harden Street: early 2000s   18 comments

Posted at 11:13 pm in Uncategorized

This corner building, now the site of The Pour House was the long-time location of Frank's Hotdogs, yet another of the many Columbia restaurants I was going to "get around to" and never did before it was too late.

From what I could gather in years of walking and driving past, the place was open late-nights and had a diner-like setup with a serving counter and tables around the walls. It appeared that the owner took a certain pride in the "basic" nature of his setup, and for many years, a window slogan proclaimed "No Reservations Required". Curiously, given how uncommon non-Sandy's hotdog places are, Frank's was just down the street from Lum's Hotdogs. I don't know if their years of operation overlapped at all though.

Written by ted on December 6th, 2008

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18 Responses to 'Frank's Hotdogs, 800 Harden Street: early 2000s'

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  1. Franks ran an outside hot dog stand across Harden St at the intersection of Greene. It was extremely popular in the 90's for anyone in 5 points. I used to think it was the best food ever, but when you're drunk at 2 am anything tastes good. I think they closed down the stand my last year at USC (1997). A sad moment for 5 points, 2nd only to Rockafellas shutting down.

    Alex

    6 Dec 08 at 11:21 pm

  2. After Frank's closed it became a rather shady place that was eventually closed down when it was busted for drug dealing. After that two friends of mine bought the place and turned it into Minglewood Bar and the Five Points Diner. The bar was a great place to see friends and sometimes catch a live band. The diner (a fantastic greasy spoon) was open all night and served the best hamburgers in town. After owning the place for several years, my friends decided they wanted to start keeping "normal" hours and maybe have some kids. So, they sold the place. I think this was sometime in 2005. Unfortunately the owners of what's now called The Pour House totally killed the atmoshphere of the bar. I have no idea if they serve food anymore.

    aqua-girl

    11 Dec 08 at 7:19 pm

  3. If you want some pictures of it as Frank's, you could rip them from the dvd of the following documentary which features Frank's:

    http://www.netflix.com/Movie/A_Hot_Dog_Program/70025860?trkid=504326

    Nobody

    12 Dec 08 at 10:52 am

  4. Looks interesting, but I can't just lift copyrighted pix and put them here..

    ted

    12 Dec 08 at 2:34 pm

  5. Well, it was a documentary made for PBS. It's one of many by Rick Sebak, who made it for the affiliate WQED. I found his e-mail on their webpage: magsebak@wqed.org. Considering that he is a documentary film maker, and his specific style of film making, it's highly likely he'd give you the okay. Even if not, it's worth watching, and I wanted to at least let you know about it.

    Nobody

    12 Dec 08 at 10:13 pm

  6. Sure, and thanks!

    ted

    13 Dec 08 at 12:32 am

  7. Frank's Hot Dogs was named after it's owner, Frank Barco. Frank also owned the bar across Harden Street, The Bar Co. Quite the play on words. Frank's had a great breakfast menu too.

    Terry Edwards

    15 Jan 09 at 9:51 pm

  8. A storm blew out the sign Frank's Hot Dogs one day, possibly the major storm of June '89, three months before Hugo.

    The sign just said "Franks" with a logo that was presumably resembled a banner unfurling,but with the business name, had a somewhat suggestive appearance. Too bad no surving pictures of it.

    badger

    16 Jan 09 at 12:10 pm

  9. Ted (and readers), I was thinking about Frank Barco tonight and decided to look for some photos. I discovered that he had passed on August 16, 2012.

    I used to eat at Frank's Hot Dogs while I was a USC student in the mid to late 70s and returned when I was visiting the area in the 80s. They had the best hot dogs in my opinion. Their claim to fame was the natural casing hot dog.

    Here's the article I discovered. There are a couple of archived articles in the sidebar.

    http://www.thestate.com/2012/08/21/2407221/the-grumpy-old-man-we-all-loved.html

    Becky Pittman

    23 Aug 12 at 12:49 am

  10. Well, that's a shame to hear..

    Interesting articles though, thanks!

    ted

    23 Aug 12 at 1:21 am

  11. aqua girl- The Diner did have the best burgers in town in the early 00s

    chris

    23 Aug 12 at 8:10 pm

  12. As good as the hot dogs were, the chili was even better. Loved that place.

    JOHN

    18 Dec 12 at 11:54 am

  13. Franks...another place besides the Golden Spur with cheap beer. I remember they had nickle beer. Seems like it was on Wednesdays.

    And the best pinball machines around. All the machines that are classic now.

    JHT

    21 Mar 13 at 9:26 pm

  14. I remember Franks Hot Dogs from my school days at USE in the early 70s. The hot dogs were very different and very good. My friends and I would make a trip to Five Points--going to the Joyful Alternative for our hippie shopping and to Franks for a good hot dog

    Scoe

    24 Mar 13 at 8:21 pm

  15. Hi all,
    Frank's was just shown on a Georgia PBS tv show from 2008. I started dating a lady in 2008 who is from Cola-town, and I've spend many a days since in Columbia. I'd not heard of Frank's and looked forward to enjoying a dog there. I am sorry to hear of another landmark disappearing, it must have been soon after the show was filmed. My girlfriend's & her parents were raised in the Shandon neighborhoos, and I've grown to love the city & the 5 Points stores (go Oops!). I've felt the loss of Hiller's Hardware store... too too sad!!!, replaced by just another bank.
    I love the family traditions. my girlfriend worked at Groucho's while at USC in the late 80's.
    I only wish that I could have enjoyed Frank's!!

    Joe

    30 Jun 13 at 4:02 pm

  16. Joelc

    18 Aug 14 at 2:58 am

  17. Thanks Joelc. You determined what I ate tonight.

    I ate there once in the 80s but then my group seemed to prefer Sandys downtown (during the time they had a bunch of video games)

    Speaking of dogs, my favorite is this one; http://www.homestyle-foods.com/prod-pork-mild.html

    You can still find the hot or the mild at the Rosewood Publix. (and the mild at all the other Publix) This one is very close to an air-cured sausage I would get when heading to the outer banks at a Smith's Red & White in Dortches NC.

    No better dog on a grill in my opinion.

    MrBO

    18 Aug 14 at 5:27 pm

  18. Man, Franks was the place to go for lunch. Dogs that snapped back and a room full of pinball and arcade games. Even in the '80s pinball was 3 games for a quarter, 5 balls a game and the hot dogs were great! Right next door to Group Therapy too! Win Win!

    Erwin Roman

    3 Aug 22 at 3:29 pm

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