ORDES of residents flock to Woodlands Road each Saturday, their trek driven by hotdogs marketed under an unforgettable name.

Winky Dinky Dog began operating out of the Butterfield & Vallis parking lot a couple of years ago. The company has since built a loyal following of customers who swear by the hotdog ? some travel into Hamilton from as far as Somerset for their weekly fix.

The business is owned by Carlos Lopes and Leroy Turini. The pair work in sales full-time, for wholesale distributor Butterfield & Vallis, and on weekends sell their own wares to the public.

"I was looking to get married and so I wanted some extra funds," said Mr. Turini, in explaining the business' origin. "My partner was initially interested in starting a wholesale business. I talked him out of that, explaining that there is one of those in every parish."

Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, the entrepreneur said he used to frequently enjoy hotdogs from sidewalk carts there.

"When I was growing up in the States I always went to the hotdog carts. I have always loved a hotdog. There's a place in Jacksonville, Florida, where I grew up, where I go every time I visit and have six hotdogs at a time."

According to the Hot Dog Cart, one of America's leading US retailers of such machines, there is a great deal of disagreement as to who the actual creator of the hot dog was.

"People in Frankfurt um-Main, Germany, claim they discovered the hotdog in 1487. Others argue the sausage, sometimes called the dachshund for its shape, was created in the late 1600s by Johann Georghehner, a butcher from Coburg, who is said to have travelled to Frankfurt to promote his product. Others in Vienna, Austria claim originating the hotdog as they point to the name Wiener as evidence of the hotdog's true heritage."

What is known as fact, is that a German butcher, Charles Feltman, opened the first hotdog stand on Coney Island in 1871.

"He sold 3,684 dachshunds in his first year. In 1893 Chris Ahe, the owner of the St. Louis Browns, started selling hotdogs at the ballpark. In 1901 the phrase hotdog was coined. On a cold April day concessionaire Harry Stevens was losing money, selling ice cream and soda. He ordered his salesmen to buy all the long, skinny sausages they could find and sell them from portable hot water tanks while shouting, 'Get your red hot Dachshund sausages while they last'!"

The web site continued: "Sports cartoonist Ted Dorgan could not spell dachshund so he used the term hotdog instead, in his strip. Hence the name stuck and is the term we still use today. In 1914, the idea of the hotdog bun was born ? Anton Feuchtwanger would loan his patrons gloves to handle the hot little items.

"When he realised that his customers were little inclined to return the gloves, he got together with his brother-in-law, a baker, and hence the concept of the hotdog bun was born. In 1936, Oscar Mayer rolled out the first portable hotdog cart ? they called it the wiener-mobile ? and the rest, as they say, is history."

It was such an idea that Mr. Turini put forward as a business venture to Mr. Lopes.

"I gave him the web site for the Hot Dog Cart. I said, 'Have a look at what we can do here'."

Their initial cart was an Oscar Meyer one, borrowed from Butterfield & Vallis. They later purchased their own machines from a company in San Diego, California.

The name, he explained, was coined from a Robert Townsend movie. In , however, the Winky Dinky Dog restaurant sold hamburgers.

"I just wanted something catchy. People wouldn't remember Leroy and Carlos' Hotdog Shop but they remember Winky Dinky Dog," he said.

The pair first sold the hotdogs along Front Street during Harbour Nights. They took a break the following year, while Mr. Turini enjoyed life as a newlywed.

"We started again in May of 2004. Once I got the hotdog cart and went through the red tape of TCD and received the go-ahead from the health inspector, I needed a location. I happened to hear on the radio about a church fundraiser that was being delayed due to inclement weather. It was being held at Butterfield & Vallis on Woodlands Road. I thought: 'Out of town. Plenty of parking. Great'."

Bermuda, it seems, has greeted the concession with enthusiasm. According to Mr. Turini, however, the hotdogs are actually no different to those readily available in local grocery stores. The secret, he believes, is in the toppings.

"If anything it's the toppings we put on the hotdog. I've found Bermudians are loyal to mayonnaise and relish but we have chilli and cheese, onion and coleslaw ? which we put on top and call a slawdog. I think people just think it's different because we're outside. We use Hebrew National hotdogs and Oscar Meyer hotdogs. We do turkey dogs too, we use Louis Rich.

"They think our hotdogs taste different, better, but I think it's just that we're out on the street. We often have people tell us how they buy the same hotdogs and they don't taste the same at home. They say we buy them and they don't taste like this.

"Typically, I ask if they want to know our secret and then I respond by pretending to listen to a monitor in my ear and tell them there's a sniper on the roof of the (Butterfield & Vallis warehouse) who says he'll shoot if I give the secret away.

"But it's just a regular hotdog. They can buy them from the store."

Asked if his cooking method could possibly be behind the difference in taste, Mr. Turini said he wasn't sure.

"We boil the dogs. Most people look for a grill when they come to us but we find it's better to boil or steam and our machine is designed to boil although we are looking to get a grill. It could be our buns. We use Cake Shop buns. Most of our customers ask about the rolls and swear they're the best on the island."

Two employees are needed to help meet demand each Saturday.

"Carlos and I try to rotate our times so we can spend time with our families," Mr. Turini said. "We're helped out on Saturdays by two young ladies, Trina Smith and Andrea Warren."

In addition, the pair run a catering company, serving hotdogs at private functions on request.

"We do parties for kids. Some of our clients say they're tired of having pizza, that once it's been delivered and cooled down, it loses its appeal. They like the stand and they think our name is catchy. Tourists seem to like it too."

weekend saw the second annual Winky Dinky Dog hotdog eating competition. The winner, Lamar Ible, was able to finish five dogs within six minutes. Mr. Turini said the event was a success, but that he hoped next year's would draw greater participation.

"One thing I've realised is that Bermudians sometimes take a while to get out of the box in terms of people participating in new things. We had four participants ? hopefully next year that will increase. But it was a good event. Bruce Barritt was the emcee and we really appreciated his effort.".