Legendary NJ hot dog joint has been sold

Well, that didn’t take long.

It was just three months ago that I brought you the story of an iconic hot dog joint in New Jersey that was being put up for sale. Paul Tweedly was a firefighter who rose through the ranks to become a captain in the Trenton Fire Department.

In 2009 he opened Captain Paul’s Firehouse Dogs in Lawrence, a hot dog joint that over 16 years became a local legend.

Paul’s love for fellow first responders and military members quickly became the theme.

For years, menu items have paid tribute to the military and first responders.

The Third Alarm is a chili dog with onions and mustard.

Battleship is a fried hot dog with hot chopped peppers and Carolina Reaper pepper sauce.

Their Thin Blue Line is a fried dog with BBQ sauce, ranch, and bacon bits.

Tweedly’s health suffered in 2024 with three stomach surgeries and one open heart surgery. Doctors told him he was asking for trouble if he kept working so hard. Captain Paul’s Firehouse Dogs was put up for sale, and it was not known if the property would even remain a restaurant of any kind once a buyer was found.

Good news for fans. Strike that. Great news, actually.

Expect the same

Not only has Patrick Jones, a special ed teacher at Mercer County Technical Schools in Pennington, purchased the property along with his mother, it’s remaining a hot dog joint. Even greater, as a special ed teacher, Jones has a deep appreciation for the community commitment the business had made, and they are keeping the entire theme of paying homage to first responders.

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“We are thrilled that Patrick with his background being a special education teacher and his Mom being a teacher that they have said that they are going to keep it the same,” Tweedly told nj.com. “One of their goals is to be a community hub and teach special needs students how to work in a community environment and make money at the same time so one day they can be independent."

You’ll find this one-of-a-kind hot dog joint at 2230 Princeton Pike in Lawrence. They’ve been temporarily closed to handle the changeover and they are scheduled to re-open on April 22.