The packed house at Chris’ Famous Hot Dogs was enjoying the downtown fixture’s 90th birthday with the special sauce at a special price — a nickel for the first hot dog.

Gus Katechis, grandson of founder Chris Katechis, said the discount dog was designed to thank a faithful following.

And there were many to thank as the Tuesday lunch crowd spilled out the doors and on to the sidewalk. Many carried fond memories of Chris’ that they’d formed as children or during earlier stays in the Capital City.

Mark Mayberry, a Montgomery resident who moved to Atlanta decades ago, was in town for a speaking engagement. After he spoke, he asked someone about a downtown place he remembered that served hot dogs. He immediately was directed to Chris’.

“I came back after 35 years,” he said, while waiting his turn to put in a lunch order.

State workers Tina Ledbetter and Kelly Watters both said they ate at the restaurant eight-to-10 times a year. They said it was a restaurant their parents brought them to as kids.

“The food’s good, it’s quick and I like the sauce,” Watters said.

Quentin Riggins, senior vice-president of the Business Council of Alabama, said he is partial to the landmark’s hamburgers. His boss, BCA President Bill Canary, said he likes Chris’ because the hot dogs remind him of where he was born and raised — New York.

“I like mine with kraut and mustard,” Canary said. “On a 10-point scale, I give it a 12.”

Theo Katechis, owner of Chris’ and the son of its namesake, said he is merely following in his father’s footsteps. The Auburn graduate in business agriculture said he hasn’t changed much at Chris’ since he started full-time at the restaurant in 1972.

One thing he’s definitely not altering is the special chili sauce. His father developed the recipe in the 1920s, and its ingredients are known by a select few. Theo Katechis said the recipe is purposely not written down and known only by his wife, son Gus and himself.

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