What's the Snappy Dogs Secret?

By Joshua Vincent

Not many retirees prefer to work, much less start their own businesses.

For Santa Cruz resident, Gary Willett, there’s nothing else he’d rather be doing. 

Willett, 72, started selling Gary's Old Fashioned Snappy Dogs out of his hot dog cart five years ago next to U-Save Liquors on Mission Street. Initial business was slow, he said, but as it picked up, he was able to expand, often setting up shop at the Swift Street courtyard on the Westside during local events.  

Willett has also made himself available for parties—from a shindig for an 80-year-old at Callahan’s Irish Pub to a birthday for a 6-year-old girl who asked him to sell hot dogs at her party. 

“You couldn’t say no to her. Just impossible,” Willett said of the request. 

His business partner, of sorts, is his cocker spaniel of four years, Snappy. His granddaughter wanted a dog and had seen one for adoption that looked just like Lucy, a cocker spaniel Willett had when he farmed grapes.  

“I drank too much red wine one night and went and got him," Willett said. "He’s been with me ever since.”  

The Snappy Dog owner is conscious and proud of the quality of his hot dogs, links and sausages, all of which come from various parts of California. He is also quick to point out that all his condiments are free. 

“On the Italian," he said, "I put a Tuscan tomato basil sauce, green olive tapenade, peperoncinis. I grate some asiago on it. And I think that works.”  

One customer recently requested that he dip a Snappy Dog into his homemade chili sauce, which Willett describes as a mole without chocolate. 

The Snappy Dog, Willett admits, is the hook of his business. It’s an all-beef hot dog in a lamb casing that plumps when steamed.  

“It’s the secret; it’s what makes it snappy,” he said. “When you bite it, it snaps like a New York snap dog.” 

He won’t say exactly where he gets his dogs but did divulge that they are made by a family in Sacramento. 

Willett has lived in Santa Cruz for seven years, though his family has visited the area for six generations, having owned a beach cabin near Seabright Avenue.  

“Santa Cruz has been a second home to me all my life. Now it’s primary,” he said. 

Before moving to Santa Cruz, Willett worked in the wine business, farming 100 acres of grapes in El Dorado county, as well as 300 acres for Lorimar Vineyards. He also operated several hot dog carts in the Sacramento area. 

The cart he uses now even made an appearance at the state Capitol for former Gov. Pete Wilson’s birthday party. Willett pushed his cart into the Capitol and served hot dogs to staffers and visitors for the event. (He jokes that it was the best thing Wilson did in office).  

Now his favorite part about selling Snappy Dogs?  

“Regular customers and meeting new people. It’s fun.”  

Customers rave about Willett’s Snappy Dogs; he even has a glowing review at Yelp.com from a local competitor.  

Jan Davenport, who bought two hot dogs, told a story of how Willett helped her during a fundraiser to send her daughter to a weekend camp. 

“We had this huge yard sale at my house," she said. "Gary moved his cart down to my driveway, and he sold out of my driveway and donated everything he made from the hot dogs to my daughter's fund. 

“He’s a really good guy. He takes care of a lot of people in the neighborhood.” 

And he seems to be enjoying every minute of it. 

“I was in the wine business 42 years," Willett said. "This is my retirement.”