GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Bill Lewis first opened popular Eastown hotdog restaurant Yesterdog on July 23, 1976, and has been drawing crowds of loyal customers ever since.
And a lot of accolades. In its April 2010 issue, Esquire magazine labeled it as "among the great spots around the country where (people) eat."
Yesterdog recently received some more national recognition when the website LoveFood.com rated it as the "Most Legendary" Michigan restaurant.
"Pure and simple, Yesterdog serves delicious hot dogs that are not only piled high with toppings and delightfully messy to eat, but are cheap, too," the website exclaimed in an article. "Its retro-style interior (think vintage posters, hand-crank cash register, and antique jukebox) inspired the fictional hot dog joint in 1999’s American Pie (dubbed the 'Dog Years Diner')."
Some of Yesterdog's customers of yesteryear are quite well-known. Before he became president of the United States, Barack Obama stopped by Yesterdog during a 2008 campaign stop in Grand Rapids.
While campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination in March 2016, former First Lady Hillary Clinton visited the famous eatery for lunch. With TV cameras rolling, she ordered six Ultradogs and several bags of Cheeze Kurls for herself and some campaign staffers who had come with her to the restaurant at 1505 Wealthy St. SE, near Lake Drive.
Clinton was greeted there by former Democratic State Representative Winnie Brinks, who is now the Michigan Senate Majority Leader, and by former state Board of Education member Lupe Ramos-Montigny.
"“Hillary Clinton was just such a friendly, personable person. She was no hotshot, just one of the (people). And it was very impressive," Lewis tells WOOD Radio.
Gary Hart, a former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate, also once visited Yesterdog, as did current Democratic U.S. Senator Gary Peters.
Lewis has been a longtime donor to the Democratic Party, but would welcome Republican politicians to his restaurant, too. He said Gerald R. Ford, who grew up just down the road in East Grand Rapids, did not stop there during the time right after Lewis opened Yesterdog in 1976, because he was "busy being the President."
"I haven't had any presidents of the United States come in yet," Lewis said.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has stopped by the iconic restaurant multiple times.
"She just comes and eats; I got to know her pretty good," Lewis said. "One time, she just walked in the door when she was with her daughter. I said, 'Wow, what a wonderful treat.' I asked her, 'Do you want anyone to know about this? Do you want to shake hands around here or something?' She said, ‘No, I’m under the radar today.’"
Lewis said the Governor and her daughter went with him to an area of the restaurant that is normally closed to the public, unless there is an overflowing crowd of customers. It was just the three of them and two guests: Lewis phoned his wife, Susan, and asked her if she would like to have lunch with the Governor, and he also invited an unnamed friend who has worked on Democratic campaigns in the past.
"So, we just sat down there for an hour, shot the breeze and ate some hotdogs," Lewis said.
He has eaten a lot of hotdogs over the years. His love for them motivated him to start his own hotdog business in 1976.
Lewis said he worked at Mr. Fables and Kewpee Hamburgers before then.
"My cousin was part-owner of both Kewpee’s and Mr. Fables, and I worked there (while) in high school. So, I had several jobs that I just wasn’t satisfied with and I decided to open a hotdog stand. And the rest is history," he said.
But how did he come up with the iconic name "Yesterdog?"
"I was sitting on the sidelines at a volleyball (match) and, all of a sudden, this word came to my mind, 'Yesterdog.' I started asking myself what is yesterdog? I said to myself, ‘Well, that would be a hotdog place that was set back in the 1930s, 1940s, whatever. And that would be the décor in the place."
Forty-eight years later, they are in the same building.
"I ended up buying the building because I kept wanting to expand. And I’ve taken up about 80 percent of the main floor, with the restaurant and seating and all that," said Lewis, who is now 79.
In February 2008, some of the building's windows were blown out by a gas explosion that occurred in a building across the street.
Yesterdog still serves five hotdogs: a Cheddar Dog, a Kraut Dog, an Ultra Dog, and a Yester Dog.
"And we have kind of a veggie sandwich in a hotdog bun. It’s made up of cheese and sauerkraut, and then ketchup, mustard, onions, pickle. If somebody comes in and say, ‘I don’t eat hotdogs but I have a soy dog I like to eat,’ We say, 'Bring it in. We’ll cook it and give it to you.' So, we accommodate our customers about the best we can," Lewis said.
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Photo: All photos from Bill Lewis/Yesterdog owner/founder.