{{Short description|Hot dog restaurant chain based in the East Bay, California, U.S.}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox company | name = Caspers Famous Hot Dogs | logo = Caspers Famous Hot Dogs Logo.jpg | type = Private | genre = Fast food | foundation = {{start date and age|1934}} in Oakland, California | founder = {{ublist|Steve and Ardam Beklian|Paul and Rose Agajan}} | location = Lafayette, California<ref>{{cite web | url=https://caspershotdogs.com/pages/contacts | title=Contact Info | website=Caspers Famous Hot Dogs | access-date=2025-12-14}}</ref> | key_people = {{ublist|Steve and Ardam Beklian|Paul and Rose Agajan|Kasper Koojoolian}} | area_served = {{ublist|Eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area}} | locations = 5 (2026)<ref name="locations"/> | industry = Restaurants | operating_income = | net_income = | num_employees = | parent = | subsid = | owner = {{ublist|Ron Dorian|Paul Rustigian}} | homepage = {{URL|caspershotdogs.com}} | footnotes = }}

'''Caspers Famous Hot Dogs''' is a San Francisco Bay Area-based chain of hot dog restaurants established in 1934. Caspers’ hot dogs are reminiscent of Chicago-style hot dogs, in that they are dressed with sliced onions, sliced tomatoes, mustard, and relish.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://caspershotdogs.com/pages/menu-new | title=Menu | website=Caspers Famous Hot Dogs | access-date=2025-12-14}}</ref> This reflects the founders’ experience selling hot dogs in Chicago.<ref name="sfgate-2023">{{cite news | url=https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Bay-Area-Caspers-hot-dogs-17038101.php | title='It's a great American story': Bay Area's Caspers Hot Dogs is a bite of old-school nostalgia | first=Susana | last=Guerrero | work=SFGate | publisher=Hearst Communications | date=2023-01-06 | access-date=2025-12-14}}</ref>

Caspers operates 5 locations in the East Bay: Dublin, Hayward, Oakland, Pleasant Hill, and Richmond.<ref name="locations">{{cite web | url=https://caspershotdogs.com/pages/locations | title=Locations | work=Caspers Famous Hot Dogs | access-date=March 22, 2026}}</ref>

==History== The origin of Caspers Hot Dogs can be traced back Kasper Koojoolian, who first started selling hot dogs in Chicago in the 1920s after fleeing the Armenian genocide.<ref name="sfgate-2023"/> He then moved to Oakland because of its warmer climate and in 1930 opened a hot dog restaurant called '''Kasper’s Hot Dogs'''.<ref name="sfgate-2023"/> The success of his restaurant drew his friends and family from Chicago, including his brother Paul Koojoolian, and his cousins Steve Beklian and Paul Agajan. Together, they opened more locations of Kasper’s.<ref name="sfgate-2023"/><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2013/01/10/origins-of-caspers-hot-dogs-a-tale-of-immigration-and-success-out-west/ | title=Origins of Caspers Hot Dogs: A tale of immigration and success out west | first=Robert | last=Rogers | work=Mercury News | location=San Jose, California | date=2013-01-10 | access-date=2025-12-14}}</ref> Beklian and Agajan opened their first location of Kasper’s in 1934.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/caspers-walnut-creek-closing-17813410.php | title=Classic East Bay hot dog shop closes after 40 years | first=Mario | last=Cortez | work=San Francisco Chronicle | date=2023-03-01 | access-date=2026-03-22}}</ref>

As the chain expanded, different family members had different ideas on how to expand. Beklian and Agajan split off in 1939 and named their restaurants '''Caspers Hot Dogs'''.<ref name="sfchron-1998">{{cite news | url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/johnson/article/dog-eat-dog-world-of-fast-food-casper-s-sues-3011260.php | title=Dog-Eat-Dog World of Fast Food: Casper’s sues Kasper’s — it’s all in the family | first=Chip | last=Johnson | work=San Francisco Chronicle | date=1998-03-12 | access-date=2025-12-14}}</ref> Meanwhile, Kasper’s Hot Dogs continued to operate until its last location closed in 2025.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/95-years-bay-areas-kaspers-hot-dogs-closed-21116547.php | title=95-year-old Bay Area hot dog chain has closed its final restaurant | first=Madeline | last=Wells | work=SFGate | publisher=Hearst Communications | date=2025-10-23 | access-date=2025-12-14}}</ref> Separately, Kasper Koojoolian’s son-in-law Harry Yaglijian gained ownership of a Kasper’s location in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland, which was dubbed '''Original Kasper’s Hot Dogs''' and operated until 2003.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://oaklandside.org/2026/01/27/winky-dinky-dogs-temescal-tyranny-allen-kaspers/ | title=Hot dog days return to iconic, triangular Temescal building | first=Risa | last=Nye | work=The Oaklandside | location=Oakland, California | date=2026-01-27 | access-date=2026-01-28}}</ref> The separation has been characterized as both hostile<ref name="sfchron-1998"/> and amicable.<ref name="sfgate-2023"/>

When Beklian and Agajan eventually passed away, their wives Ardam and Rose took over, and other family members eventually got involved in the business.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/bay-area-caspers-hot-dog-hayward-store-closure-19539706.php | title=Historic Bay Area chain Caspers Hot Dog to close 75-year-old storefront | first=Susana | last=Guerrero | work=SFGate | publisher=Hearst Communications | date=2024-06-25 | access-date=2026-03-22 }}</ref> The current owners, Ron Dorian and Paul Rustigian, are the company’s third-generation family owners.<ref name="sfgate-2023"/>

In 1989, the owners of Caspers Hot Dogs started its own sausage manufactory called SPAR Sausage Company, now in San Leandro, California.<ref name="spar">{{cite web | url=https://www.sparsausage.com/about-us | title=About Us | website=SPAR Sausage Company | access-date=2025-12-14}}</ref> The name is derived from the first names of the founders of Caspers.<ref name="spar"/> Several years later, Kasper’s Hot Dogs also started producing its own sausages, prompting a lawsuit from Caspers in 1998.<ref name="sfchron-1998"/> SPAR Sausage Company eventually produced sausages for Kasper’s Hot Dogs as well, albeit with a different recipe from Caspers.<ref name="sfgate-2023"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.caspershotdogs.com/ Caspers Famous Hot Dogs] *[https://www.sparsausage.com/ SPAR Sausage Company]

Category:1934 establishments in California Category:Hot dog restaurants in the United States Category:Restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area Category:Restaurants established in 1934

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