970823 Nathan's Hot Dog Heads to Israel
August 8, 1997
Nathan's Famous is taking its Coney Island hot dog to the land of falafel.
The hot dog chain, which was launched when a Polish immigrant, Nathan Handwerker, set up a stand in Brooklyn in 1916, will open two Nathan's restaurants in Israel next year.
Israel was chosen for Nathan's first overseas venture partly because it has "that type of on-the-go eating that we think is suitable" for hot dogs, said Wayne Norbitz, president of Nathan's Famous.
"A hot dog is a very portable product," he explained. "In Israel, people eat very quickly, on the run, eat at outdoor cafes, eat on the streets where there are a lot of carts and kiosks."
The expansion is the result of a deal between Nathan's and a group of investors, who include Susan Lasher, whose husband, Howard, is a New York City councilman, her two brothers and an Israeli restaurateur.
"We were interested in making an investment in Israel," said Mrs. Lasher. "And we could not think of a better vehicle than opening Nathan's in Israel."
Nathan's and Mrs. Lasher's investment group plan to open two Nathan's restaurants in Israel in each of the next five years. The first will be in Jerusalem and the second in Netanya, near Tel Aviv.
Both are slated to open sometime next year, Norbitz said.
The hot dogs made and sold in Israel will be the same all-beef frankfurter that Nathan's has sold ever since Handwerker opened his first Coney Island stand. But it will be kosher, meaning it will be made under rabbinic supervision.
Nathan's, sold by the Handwerker family in 1987, went public in 1993. Last year, it had sales of almost $116 million. Recently, it has expanded across the United States into airports, food courts and hotels.
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