PALMER TWP., Pa. - Jimmy’s Hot Dogs has been sold.
Owners Frank and Polyxeni “Polly” Bounoutas closed on the sale Friday, capping their 33-year run in the 25th Street Shopping Center for a business whose history goes back almost to the turn of the 20th century.
New owners Raj and Priya Muddu are no strangers to Easton. They’ve run Tandoor Grill the past six years at 9 N. Third St. – a popular Indian restaurant known for its affordable takeout.
They bought the iconic business and its name as an investment for their 18-year-old daughter, Meena, who will graduate May 30 from Wilson Area High School.
"Now the pressure is on us. We want to enhance the brand and grow it.”Raj Muddu, new co-owner of Jimmy's Hot Dogs
She’s already pursuing a bachelor’s degree in marketing and business management at East Stroudsburg University, where she will be a senior starting in the fall.
“She doesn’t want a desk job. She wants to be an entrepreneur,” Raj Muddu said. “My daughter was very passionate about taking over, especially with the history of the place.”
The Muddus say they have no plans to change the name or the hot dogs sold by the thousands each year.
A Jimmy’s hot dog “with everything” — chopped onions, yellow mustard and a pickle spear — is rooted in Easton culture with mainstays like Thanksgiving Day football and heavyweight boxing champion Larry Holmes.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Just like the recipe,” Raj Muddu said jokingly.
Preserving the brand
For the past two days, the Bounoutases and Muddus have worked together behind the counter as one family trains the other in the secrets and successes of the trade.
Raj Muddu said if he’s been told by one customer he’s been told by 500 not to change a thing about the hot dogs — and he’s assured each one there are no plans to do so.
“I believe in brand recognition,” said Muddu, a former banking and finance executive who’s on the board of the Greater Easton Development Partnership.
“For me to buy an iconic, landmark place and change something about it, when nobody wants us to change a thing, it would be stupid to even invest in it.
“Polly and Frank did all the hard work for all those years to build that brand. Now the pressure is on us. We want to enhance the brand and grow it.”
Saying goodbye
Polly Bounoutas acknowledged it’s been a bittersweet week.
Her children are thrilled they’ll be able to visit with their families and not have work in the way.
But she shed tears behind the counter Saturday as she spoke of the impending end.
“I’m going to miss the customers,” she said. “We love the store. We’ve loved it all these years. And the customers have been great to us all these years.”
Frank is 84 and Polly 74. They’ve worked at the 25th Street location since it opened in 1991.
"We’ve loved it all these years. And the customers have been great to us all these years.”Polyxeni "Polly" Bounoutas, on saying goodbye to Jimmy's Hot Dogs
That’s the year Frank partnered with the late John Apostolopoulos on the shop. Both were Greek immigrants who worked decades earlier for Jimmy Makris, owner of the original Jim’s Doggie Stand at Union Square in Phillipsburg, just across the free bridge from Easton.
Asked how he felt about it all Saturday, Frank Bounoutas had one word and a smile: “Relaxed.”
“I’m way too emotional,” Polly said. “I’ve been crying all week. The customers — they give me cards to call them and we can have lunch. We’re going to miss it. But it’s time to retire.”
Customer loyalty
At the counter Saturday, everyone had a story. As customers learned of the changing of the guard, they began reciting their years of loyalty.
“Sixty years,” said one man. “Since they were at the bridge.”
“Forty years,” said another. “Since I just got out of high school. That’s when the drinking age was 18 in New Jersey. This was our last stop.”
Cracked another to Polly as she slathered mustard on a bun: “You already look more relaxed.”
Raj Muddu said he’s lived 16 years in the Lehigh Valley. He became familiar with Easton when he and Priya worked in New York City and lived in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Priya’s parents live in Lebanon, Pa., and the Muddus would pass through town on visits to his in-laws, Raj said.
He’s been a customer of Jimmy’s for years but said he never imagined he’d someday own the place. He had heard it was for sale last November, and in a stop at Jimmy’s in March, inquired if it still was available.
“I never thought I would stand a chance to make an offer, let alone buy it,” he said while manning the hot dog fryer and bun steamer Saturday.
“It’s been about a month and a half since we’ve been working on it.”
Some changes in store
While there are no plans to alter the core business or suppliers, some subtle changes may be in store.
Jimmy’s is a cash-only business and will remain so for now, but it may take other forms of payment such as credit cards and digital payments, based on customer feedback, Raj Muddu said.
He also said eventually Jimmy’s may accept catering orders and participate in some of the Lehigh Valley’s many food festivals.
He noted the irony of the two food businesses he now owns just a few miles apart. Tandoor Grill has about 150 dishes on its menu — the largest in the Lehigh Valley, by Raj’s estimation.
At Jimmy’s?
“There’s just one item,” he said as a line stretched from the counter to the entrance door. “At Tandoor, I can cook those 150 items. This? It’s completely different.”
Polly Bounoutas said it was important to her and her family that the new owners carry on the business’ tradition and service to customers.
She was asked to assess the Muddus’ first couple of days on the job.
“So far they’re doing great. It’s only one day,” she said with a laugh. “We had a lot of people interested [in making offers on the business]. We had to pick the right one.
"They’re hard workers, just like us.”
