By Katie Covino

Tucked into the back corner of Colella’s parking lot is a little red hut selling, as the sign in front reads, “Snappy Dogs.” Started up by two locals, Teresa Boyce and Lisa Volpe Hachey, Hopkinton’s own hotdog stand sells pearl hotdogs, made fresh here in Massachusetts. Because of their peculiar casing, the hotdogs seem to snap when you bite into them, thus the name of the stand and the food, itself, “Snappy.” The dogs, made to order, come in a little size, which is like a regular hotdog, and a bigger size, which is more sausage-like. Always served on fresh-made buns from Colella’s, the “Snappy Dogs” stand also make turkey dogs. The cart boasts an array of homemade condiments like chipolte ketchup, spicy slaw, cranberry relish and even Dr. Pepper barbeque sauce, in addition to some sweet treats like woopie pies and caramel popcorn.
The idea for the Snappy Dog cart came when Lisa Volpe Hachey took a motorcylce trip to Mt. Wachusett and stopped at a hotdog stand. “I was amazed at how many people were in line!” she said. “I thought, ‘I could do this!'” She called up Teresa Boyce, who she had worked with at the short-lived Sauce on Main. Boyce, who had always thought of opening a coffee cart at the nearby train station, was eager to participate. After finding a landscaping trailer on Craigslist, they, with the help of their families, transformed it during the summer into a full-fledged Snappy Dog hut.
Snappy dogs were an instant hit with those who work in Hopkinton. As customer Melissa Hart says, “It’s the best thing that’s happened to Hopkinton. On my days off, I look forward to coming here.” However, highschoolers have yet to discover all that snappy dogs have to offer, as Hachey says that they hardly ever see school-age kids come to buy a hotdog. To gain the attention of HHS, the Snappy Dog cart is offering a special rate to students- 50 cents off Monday through Friday. The grill will turn off for the winter, though, as they’re closing during the last week of November. But these “friendly foods,” as Hachey says, will not be gone for long; they will re-open come springtime in April because, as Hackey notes, “everybody loves a hotdog.”