Oliveira’s Hot Dog

Rio de Janeiro

Oliveira Ferreira da Silva swears he was the pioneer in using corn, peas, and shoestring potatoes in hot dogs. He claims that the latter was his invention in the 1980s: “I was successful with those broken potato chips on top of the sausage, and all the competition copied it. To meet the demand, the factory created the shoestring version.” Oliveira’s credibility in the city makes anyone believe the story. He has been in Humaitá, South Zone of Rio, since 1995, but his life as a hot dog vendor on the street began ten years earlier, in Tijuca. The seller of the most delicious hot dog in Rio began to gain fame in the days when he had a bar in Olaria, almost thirty years ago. “There were so many people on the street in front that the buses couldn’t pass. We made the news in the newspaper,” he says. When the bar’s attendance decreased, he bet on the hot dog: “I saw a new market opportunity in 1985. It was the great move of my life.”

Where and When?

Rua Humaitá, Humaitá , 110

Contact

Phone: (21) 99448976

Photos: Marcos Pinto/ Text: Ines Garçoni