KANSASVILLE, WISCONSIN — Pull up to the roadside hot dog cart near the intersection of highways 11 and 75 and the proprietors will bend your ear. Jim Peddle and his business partner Van Ahlberg sling lunch here daily for passersby and they like to chat with their customers.

Peddle and Ahlberg are the kind of characters who might buy you a drink and chew the fat should you meet them in a bar. Instead, they’ll sell you lunch at their modern-day chuck wagon. They’ll still chew the fat.

You can find them parked outside from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (their hours might vary depending on the day) cooking up Nathan’s all-beef hot dogs, Klement’s brats and, weather permitting, Italian beef.

You can get pop and chips, too. Both men call Kansasville home, by way of Illinois. So it’s pop, not soda. Selling good food is their aim, but spending a few moments with customers who stop for a quick bite is half the fun.

Jim Peddle browns some hot dogs and brats on the grill for customers Tuesday, June 16. Peddle started his business, Our Dogs Don’t Bite, as a way to make some money during retirement. He and his business partner, Van Ahlberg, set up their mobile hot dog cart daily near the intersection of highways 11 and 75 in Kansasville.

“It’s a fun business. That’s why we do it. The customers are what make the business,” Peddle said.

With their yellow and orange umbrella, they’re hard to miss if you’re driving east or west on Highway 11 through Kansasville. But if you should, there are signs that lead the way to Our Dogs Don’t Bite, the business Peddle started two years ago, cheeky signs, too. If you stop, be prepared for a little playful ribbing, especially if you ask for ketchup on your hot dog.

Sure, they’ll put it on your dog, but they won’t let you off the hook that easily, that’s part of the fun and it’s what keeps regulars like Mike Ciecko coming back as often as they can. Peddle and Ahlberg have been setting up their cart lately in front of Chico’s, the Kansasville business where Ciecko works.

Peddle moved to Kansasville nine years ago and eventually retired from the Kansasville Post Office. Ahlberg is a newcomer. He retired from security work. In retirement, both men wanted to find a way to earn some money and have fun doing it.

“Social Security only helps so much,” Ahlberg said. “We can always use the extra money.”

His first year in business, Peddle set up his cart near the intersection of highways 75 and 142, where he served mostly truck drivers who could stop a grab a quick lunch before getting back on the road. Peddle said he considered a location like Racine, but he opted to stay out west.

“What are you doing out in the country?” Peddle said people ask him.

“People like hot dogs out in the country,” he explains.

Stop for a bite

If you’re hungry in Kansasville, stop by Our Dogs Don’t Bite:

Hot dogs — $2.50

Brats —$3

Italian beef —$5

Pop and chips are extra.

Owner Jim Peddle will also cater birthday parties and other events.

original article at Journal Times

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