If we didn’t know better, we’d say that the news that Mike Juiliano — A.K.A. Hot Dog Mike — is returning to Little Rock after last month’s tearful farewell is some kind of publicity stunt. This is, after all, the same guy who launched a hot dog to the edge of outer space on a weather balloon, made the world’s most expensive tube steak, and turned the idea of Little Rock street grub from “Food Poisoning is a Risk I’ll Just Have to Take” into something the cool kids do, almost solely through savvy self-promotion.
Whatever the case, Hot Dog Mike is back! Just a smidgen over a month after the sad, official end of Mike’s “Until We Eat Again” tour (yes, that’s what it was called… the guy does have a way with catchy slogans), with Juiliano shipping back home to New Jersey just a few days later, he has sent out a press release saying he’s coming back to Little Rock with plans for what he’s calling “Phase II” — a multiple cart business that will be based for the time being out of NYPD Pizza at Chenonceau Blvd. in far-west Little Rock. According to his press release, he’ll be selling dogs from his cart, and serving ’em developing something called a “signature Hot Dog Mike Pizza” and working at NYPD Pizza on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday Nights. Long term, he envisions up to 25 Hot Dog Mike carts roaming Central Arkansas.
If it was anybody else, our response would probably be something along the lines of: “How can we miss you if you won’t go away?” after some suspiciously flaky business like that. But not him. We wish we knew how to quit you, Mike. Now pick your clothes up off the lawn and come on in.