{"id":156701,"date":"2026-01-30T16:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T16:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/156701\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T16:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T16:16:08","slug":"winky-dinky-dogs-opens-in-temescal-with-wings-gumbo-hot-dogs-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/156701\/","title":{"rendered":"Winky Dinky Dogs opens in Temescal with wings, gumbo, hot dogs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis is not your average hot-dog stand<\/a>. You know what this is? This is Winky Dinky Dog!\u201d<\/p>\n

This line from the classic 1980s comedy \u201cHollywood Shuffle<\/a>\u201d has become reality in Oakland\u2019s Temescal neighborhood. On Jan. 24, Winky Dinky Dogs<\/a> opened its long-awaited spot at Telegraph Avenue and 46th Street, turning a historic and curiously shaped building into a dispensary for hot dogs<\/a>, fried ribs, gumbo and \u201cwangs.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the second Winky Dinky Dogs in Oakland<\/a> \u2014 and perhaps just one in an impending avalanche of Winky Dinkies to hit the Bay Area, more on that in a minute \u2013 for owner and local entrepreneur Tyranny Allen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a long process, but we\u2019re finally open, and the community has embraced us,\u201d Allen said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been pushing a thousand hot dogs a day, even right now as we speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WinkyWinky Dinky Dogs opened in January 2026 in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland. The restaurant is located in a historic building and owned by Tyranny Allen, a local entrepreneur who was in the hip-hop group Digital Underground. (John Metcalfe\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Allen is known in the community as being part of the legendary hip-hop group The Digital Underground. His second career as a restaurateur appears to be taking off. Aside from his Winkies, in late 2025 he also opened the Bread Winners sandwich shop<\/a> in Oakland\u2019s Swan\u2019s Market. (He also owns the city\u2019s Lucky\u2019s Barber Shop.)<\/p>\n

For Allen, selling hot dogs is almost a muscle memory. \u201cWinky Dinky Dogs started off right here in Oakland,\u201d he said. \u201cI started off like my Mexican brothers, pushing a (hot-dog) cart. I still got, like, eight carts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The eatery has moved into a building that fittingly has a tubular past. Since the 1940s, it was home to Original Kasper\u2019s Hot Dogs<\/a>, a local institution that moved out in 2003. The triangle-shaped structure, which viewed from above looks like a pizza slice, attracted graffiti and even an art show devoted to its ever-changing facade<\/a>\u00a0before Allen bought it in 2025.<\/p>\n

Whereas Kasper\u2019s sold Chicago-style dogs, Winky Dinky\u2019s \u201cOriginal Dog\u201d is a choice of a beef, chicken, pork or vegan filled dog with peppers, onions and mayonnaise. There\u2019s a chili dog, a \u201cMistah F.A.B. Mac N Chz Dog\u201d named for the Oakland rapper<\/a> and a \u201cWorld Famous\u201d with bacon and cherry peppers. That\u2019s just the tip of the menu offerings, though.<\/p>\n

\"WinkyWinky Dinky Dogs recently opened its second location in the building that was home to Original Kasper\u2019s Hot Dogs between the 1940s and early 2000s. (John Metcalfe\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are chicken sandwiches with red-hot ranch, a smashburger called the \u201cMC Hammer,\u201d \u201cBeastmode Loaded Fries,\u201d fried pork ribs and \u201cWinky Dinky Wangs\u201d in flavors of sweet-hot, garlic-pepper or Parmesan. Later this winter, the location is expected to receive its liquor license and will sell wine and draft beer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd don\u2019t forget we got the best gumbo and oxtail in Oakland,\u201d Allen added.<\/p>\n

All this comes from a restaurant that barely looks big enough to hold its kitchen staff \u2014 it\u2019s perhaps five hot dogs wide at its narrowest, to use a relevant measure \u2014 though diners have the option to eat outside on a sidewalk patio. And sports fans should take note: This patio will be the site of a Super Bowl celebration on Feb. 8 featuring two 90-inch screens.<\/p>\n

The Bay Area soon will be saying \u201cWinky Dinky Dogs\u201d a whole lot more, if Allen gets his way. His team is planning to expand within the year to Walnut Creek, and beyond that he believes the world\u2019s his oyster \u2026 er, processed-meat tube.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be doubling. Every four to six months we are planning to sign a new lease in prospective cities,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at Walnut Creek for our next goal. And we\u2019re already negotiating to go out to Dublin, Sacramento and San Jose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Details: Open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. daily (hours might change upon receipt of liquor license) at 4521 Telegraph Ave., Oakland; winkydinkydogs.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThis is not your average hot-dog stand. You know what this is? This is Winky Dinky Dog!\u201d This…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[76681,143,145,144],"class_list":["post-156701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-best-new-restaurants-2026-san-francisco-bay-area-temescal-oakland-berkeley-dining-yelp-winky-dinky-dogs-hollywood-shuffle-restaurant-digital-underground-tallboy-martini-macarthur-bart-station-menu","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}