SAN FRANCISCO — The founder of a San Francisco Bay area hot dog chain as famous for its giant fiberglass dachshund heads as for its food has died.
Al Ross, whose first Doggie Diner opened in Oakland in 1948, died in Palm Springs of natural causes. He was 93.
A former amateur boxer who moved to Alameda from the Bronx, Ross opened 30 Doggie Diners in the Bay area.
The diners were among the first fast-food restaurants in this country after World War II.
In 1979, Ross sold the diners and eventually retired. The diners closed for good in 1986.
In 2000, fans of the doggie heads that rotated above the restaurants led a campaign to save the last surviving one. It received a $25,000 facelift and was moved near San Francisco’s Ocean Beach.
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