Dat Dog, a New Orleans restaurant chain, announces its newest three-year partnership with Vienna Beef to bring sausages to its customers, but to also give back to local nonprofit, Son of a Saint.
                    
“As business leaders, we have an obligation to give back to the communities in which we live, work and play,” says Paul Tuennerman, CEO of Dat Dog. “I know firsthand the challenges young men face without having a father or father figure present in their lives. The fatherless situation in our inner cities is a crisis across the nation. That duty falls on us as business leaders to rise to the challenge and be role models for the next generation of young men.”
                    
Since 2017, Dat Dog has featured a “Son of a Saint Dog” of which the restaurant donates $1 of each dog ordered directly back to the organization. Each summer, Saints players compete for the best combination of sausage and flavors to be crowned the Son of a Saint Dog title. That dog’s combination is featured for one calendar year on the menu. This year’s dog was created by New Orleans Saints’ linebacker A.J. Kline. In less than two years, Dat Dog has donated more than $24,000 to Son of a Saint.
                    
“Dat Dog has been committed to Son of a Saint for several years, and the enthusiasm to help our mission has been unwavering,” says Bivian “Sonny” Lee, III, president and founder of Son of a Saint. “We are deeply grateful to Dat Dog’s team, led by our friend Paul Tuennerman, for leveraging their relationship with Vienna. We hope others follow the lead of Dat Dog and consider supporting us in similar ways.”
                    
Dat Dog and Son of Saint will again come together to host the competition for the next great “Son of a Saint Dog,” on National Hot Dog Day, July 17, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Dat Dog on Freret Street.
                
Dat Dog was founded in 2011 and has grown from a single, 475-square-foot “hot dog stand,” into a New Orleans culinary destination with a devoted following. Dat Dog currently has three locations in New Orleans, one in Lafayette, Louisiana, and a franchise location in College Station, Texas.