Tyrone Clements never dreamed he’d be known as “Big Dawg.”
Clements, 44, owner of Big Dawgs Memphis LLC restaurant, got interested in selling hot dogs while working in field nursing at Methodist Hospice.
“I met a guy in Whitehaven named Jimmy,” Clements says. “He had a hot dog stand. I used to drive through there in between patients. I’d stop and grab a couple of hot dogs.”
They began talking about the business. Clements said, “That’s not my thing.” Jimmy responded, “You’ll enjoy peace of mind and make money at the same time.”
“I need peace of mind,” Clements said. “Let’s do it.”
Jimmy gave him tips on what kind of hot dogs to sell, what brand. Clements paid $5,000 or $6,000 for a cart online. He never received it from the company, which he says was a fake. “They did good at screwing me on that deal. That was money I was trying to invest in my son’s future.”
He then told his cousin Lew Winston, who owned Lew’s Blue Note Bar & Grill on Beale Street, “I’m trying to get a hot dog cart.” Winston responded, “I’ve had one back there behind the restaurant forever. [Have] not used it. You want to buy that?”
Clements sold hot dogs as a hobby “corner to corner” before moving to Beale. He and his son, Tyrone Clements Jr., took the cart to birthday parties and other events.
His first restaurant, Big Dawgs Food, Fun, & Games, was on Austin Peay Highway, but it was too far away from his customer base.
While making his Methodist Hospice rounds, Clements kept looking at a building on Thomas Street. He asked the owner if he wanted to rent it, but the man said he wanted to sell it.
They talked for two weeks before the man asked him to come by his house. “He set me down in front of all this paperwork. He said, ‘The Lord told me this building belonged to you.’ I said, ‘If the Lord said it, then I accept it.’ I’m a true believer that God works in mysterious ways.
“He said, ‘Let me get with my attorney and we’ll go ahead and deed this thing over to you.’ I had to come up with some money, but he basically gave me the building.”
Clements had prayed for a building the same size. And he prayed, “I want four deep fryers. I want a nice stove.”
“When I unlocked the door to this building, everything I prayed for was right there. I’m not exaggerating. God had already set it up. And it was just like I asked for. When I unlocked the door, I had tears in my eyes.”
Clements opened during the pandemic. “I’m there to open this place up and the world shut down. But I trust God. He said it belongs to me, so it is what it is. He didn’t bring me this far to fail.”
Clements says business is now going great. He also sells hot wings, fish, barbecue, and hamburgers, including his Big Burger. For the dogs, he steams Nathan’s hot dogs, which have “a better texture. Do not boil it. It’s going to take the flavor out of it.”
His specialty dogs include the Big Dawg with chili, cheese, jalapeño peppers, pulled pork, mustard, and slaw.
“I even do a chili cheese with hot dog soup-like thing, like a Beanie Weenie. It has cheese, sour cream, and onions with a hot dog chopped up.”
Clements hopes to open more Big Dawgs Memphis locations. He uses his cart for events but wants to start setting it up again in different places.
This past Thanksgiving, Clements served “giveaway food” — about 125 free meat-and-three meals to the community — at his restaurant.
“The reason I did it was it was God’s gift to do it,” Clements says. “And it was a blessing to be a blessing to somebody else.”
Big Dawgs Memphis LLC is at 3057 Thomas Street; (901) 729-6513.
