Brittany McCulley grew up in a family that loves cooking. Her family operated the Three Little Pigs stand at the West Virginia State Fair, which then grew into a catering business, and then a restaurant. When the family retired their business, Brittany continued to hone her cooking skills and creativity in the kitchen. 

She and her boyfriend, Lee Carter, started their business, The Dawg House, with a hot dog cart, partially from a desire to help families have an affordable way to dine out without sacrificing quality. Their love for their dogs and family members’ dogs provided some of the inspiration for their delicious hot dog creations. 

In addition to traditional hot dogs, The Dawg House offers some tasty creations named after beloved family pets. Lee, a cancer survivor, had a black Labrador named Ebony who stayed by his side during treatments. In honor of Lee’s faithful friend, Brittany created the Ebony: a hot dog topped with chili and beer cheese. Another hot dog is wrapped in bacon, smothered in baked beans and other toppings, in honor of Jojo, another Lab who may have had a bit of a struggle with her weight. The Harper, a Dawg House top seller, is named after Brittany’s sister’s Yorkie who, as he began to enter his golden years, was a sweet dog, but he developed a bit of a sassy attitude (same, dear Harper, same.) The Harper is topped with homemade coleslaw and honey siracha sauce. 

Brittany touched upon some of her favorite memories over the past year since opening The Dawg House: from a windstorm and hail last April when they first opened their cart for business on the sidewalk in Ronceverte, to serving at T.O.O.T. But one memory has an extra special place in the couple’s hearts.

“This past year, we had the honor of doing the catering for Healing Appalachia. When I reflect back on this year, that was the best part of any of it. Not just because we get to serve a lot of people at one time, and were able to connect with a lot of people at one time, but they were volunteers who had had their addiction issues,” Brittany reminisced, while touching upon the loss of Lee’s son, Jon, in late 2023. Jon was a special young man in recovery for a significant amount of months at the time of his passing. He had touched many lives through his struggles and his story. “That is why this will always hold a special and large part of my heart. Just to connect with those people, to hear their stories, it’s like they’re all the same, but they’re all so different,” she said.

Their ultimate goal is to have a restaurant with a bar and a stage. Lee and Brittany love live music, especially the Blues. They frequently travel to see some of the best Blues artists in the land, and they hope to eventually bring that genre to this area. “Last year’s Blues Artist of the Year is one of our best friends,” Brittany said. “A lot of the artists are our friends. We talk to them frequently. They’re just like family.” 

The couple seem to be moving ever closer to that goal. They have offered their hot dogs at Greenbrier Valley Brewing and for several months, they have been serving their delicious menu in The Sportsman Tavern in Ronceverte. Now, they are soon moving into the former location of Flavor Mutt on Edgar Avenue. They recently provided the mouthwatering menu for the Oscar Night in the Hollywood Hills event at The Sportsman Tavern to honor Doug Hylton and raise funds for Miniature Golf by Jardin. They’re also serving at a permanent food concession stand every Sunday at the Pence Springs Flea Market, reopening soon for spring.

When asked the main thing she’d like readers to know about the Dawg House, Brittany said, “We’re a family owned business. We started this wanting families to be able to come out and have some normality, and not break the bank to be able to eat out. When you see us at The Sportsman, they welcome everybody. You can bring your family, and we’re still going to be doing our food cart. Anybody can come there too.” 

You can find The Dawg House on Facebook. To reach them for hours and locations, you can call (304) 661-1601, or email at: thedawghouse24901@gmail.com.