Hot dog people are the best people in the world, according to Jane Morell, owner of Highway Hot Dogs.
“They’re the nicest, kindest, just easy going people. I think hot dogs just make people happy.”
In 2019 the Morell family – Jane, her husband, and their two adult sons, found themselves with an empty kitchen. It wasn’t hard to decide what they’d use it for. One afternoon, a few weeks after they started planning, the Morells piled into a car to go do “hot dog research.”
“It was fun and filling. We went to like 5 different places,” Jane Morrell said. She recalled the trip fondly, laughing. “I was driving and every other person in the car was asleep on the way home. It was great.”
Once the research was completed the family moved onto phase 2 – taste testing. Every member of the family came up with their own hot dog ideas – 4 different hot dogs on 4 different buns – and the family went to work once again.
The next family endeavor was planning what the restaurant would actually look like.
“We all got together and redecorated the restaurant as a 50s style interior,” Morell said.
Their one year anniversary was May 1, 2020 – right in the center of the coronavirus global pandemic.
“We were really just hitting our groove,” Jane said. “As to be expected, business is down.”
Her son’s hours at the restaurant were cut, but Jane continued to work through it. She’s excited for what lies ahead as restrictions are slowly lifted.
“We’re just a really good old fashioned hot dog joint. It’s a fun thing for the whole family to do. Sunday fundays – kids would win prizes when they spun a wheel, so hopefully we’ll be able to bring that back.
As one might expect, the restaurant is almost entirely hot dogs. But they do have something called a “not dog-” a chicken finger on a bun with their signature highway sauce and a pickle.
On top of their signature hot dogs there are a few other things that set this hot dog stand apart from the rest – they also carry ice cream and draft birch beer!
“We work with a local ice cream maker – Sip ‘N Swirl – and they’re amazing,” Jane said.
For up to date information about their weekly offerings and hours you can give them a call at 908-617-1203 or view their listing.
If you are a Hunterdon County restaurant owner or manager and would like your restaurant featured on Hunterdon Highlights, please email support@hunterdoneats.com.