When pondering examples of Americana, many notions jump quickly to mind: baseball, burgers, apple pie, rock ‘n’ roll and, of course, hot dogs. Yes, there’s a reason thousands upon thousands flood to Brooklyn, New York’s Coney Island each and every year to watch grown men competitively scarf legions of hot dogs at Nathan’s—hot dogs are indeed a part of American culture.
As luck would have it, the citizens of Chico have been privy to as fine a wiener establishment this side of the Mississippi for the past 31 years: Zot’s Hot Dogs. Located at 225 Main Street in Suite A of the Garden Walk Mall, Zot’s has proudly served customers in the very same location since 1978. And while the business has changed hands three times, Zot’s has been owned and operated by husband and wife Val and Leslie Montague since 1989. In that time, Zot’s has slowly but surely become more than just another dog joint.
“A hot dog stand, if it’s going to survive, has to adapt to a changing population,” said Leslie Montague.
It’s this thought that has seen Zot’s come to offer an array of choice lunch options, including a deli and salad bar. And to the delight of appetites across town, many of the tastiest morsels are homemade.
“We used to buy a lot of things,” explained Montague, “and as prices went up and up and up, we found it more cost effective to make them from scratch.”
Scratch items include soups, chili, deli salads, salad dressings, and baked goods like cookies and brownies. This writer admits both the cream and bean soups to be irresistible, and you simply can’t argue with a chili recipe that runs 20 years strong.
But it has not been without trial that Zot’s has kept its doors open, as the Montague’s have battled through the proverbial lulls.
“The reason we’re here, honestly, is because we’ve adapted and cut back. We used to have five employees, now it’s all
family run.”
On any given afternoon one is liable to see a nephew, niece or daughter behind the counter, not to mention Val Montague’s mother. And though Zot’s is currently going through the same tests as most any small business, there’s little doubt that Chico’s favorite hot dog purveyor will continue to fight the good fight.
“If we were just trying to start this place up in the economy being this bad, we’d have a tough time,” said Montague. “But it’s a lower overhead being downtown; we have a really great landlord, we have nice, reasonable rent. And, sometimes you just dig in and lose money for a while, it doesn’t last, although this last time has lasted a longtime [laughs]. But, we’re making it. We’re not rich, but we’re paying bills.”

By Jacob Sprecher