Hot dog food truck owner plans 2nd mobile eatery

Less than a year after opening his first food truck venture, Jeremy Mathis has another mobile eatery concept on its way this spring.

Mathis, the co-owner of Doggy Style Food Truck LLC, which opened last April, is targeting that same month this year for the launch of Nuke’s Italian Beef and Chicago Dogs. He said it will likely cost around $6,500 to start the new food truck, with a goal to have the eatery split time evenly between the Springfield and Joplin areas.

“I wanted to venture out into something new,” Mathis said, noting “Nuke” is a nickname he received when playing high school football in Baxter Springs, Kansas. “I had a friend originally from Chicago and he brought it to my attention that we should do something like this. I had my mind kind of going that way anyway.”

That friend, Vince Valenti, will manage Nuke’s with wife Nichole, Mathis said, noting he will maintain focus working at his mobile hot dog eatery. The majority of Doggy Style’s menu of over 15 hot dogs – many of which have unique toppings such as pulled pork, shrimp and peanut butter and jelly – are named after dog breeds, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. Mathis and wife Tambera co-own both Doggy Style and Nuke’s.

“Doggy Style was huge last year,” Mathis said, declining to disclose revenue. “We were booked almost every day.”

The menu for Nuke’s will serve a half-pound of Italian beef for its four types of sandwiches, including one with au jus and another with cheese, grilled onions and peppers. The half-pound Chicago dogs will be served in the traditional style on poppy seed buns with relish, mustard, tomato, onions, celery salt, a pickle spear and sport peppers. Sides will include macaroni and cheese, chips and whole pickles. Sandwich and Chicago dog prices will range $8-$10, Mathis said.