Heavenly Hot Dogs offers old-fashioned food and the comfort of God

Published 10:00 pm Monday, December 21, 2015

Greg and Holly Turner, owners and operators of Heavenly Hot Dogs on W Mills Street in Columbus, opened for business on October 13. The new restaurant is located inside the Texaco gas station and features a menu including old-fashioned hamburgers, hot dogs and pimento cheese sandwiches. (Photo by Michael O'Hearn)

Greg and Holly Turner, owners and operators of Heavenly Hot Dogs on W Mills Street in Columbus, opened for business on October 13. The new restaurant is located inside the Texaco gas station and features a menu including old-fashioned hamburgers, hot dogs and pimento cheese sandwiches. (Photo by Michael O’Hearn)

Visitors and residents of Columbus will notice a new restaurant has appeared in the Texaco gas station on 401 W. Mills St. near the roundabout.

Heavenly Hot Dogs, owned and operated by Holly and Greg Turner, opened their doors for business on Oct. 13.

Holly Turner, a native of Hendersonville, had tried to start a restaurant for five years and finally decided to put the business in Columbus after realizing the need for the kind of food she wanted to sell.

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“We tried for about five years to start a restaurant, mainly hot dogs and hamburgers, because there was nowhere around here that had them, you know, good old-fashioned hot dogs,” Turner said. “We wanted a good, clean and family-oriented type of place.”

Turner’s husband, Greg, who owns Greg Turner Lawn Maintenance in Columbus, expressed the joy his wife has with working at Heavenly Hot Dogs.

“She’s been, actually we’ve been wanting to do this for the past five years and God really blessed us with this opportunity,” Greg Turner said. “That’s my better half and there’s nothing better than that. Her heart’s in it and this has been something she’s wanted to do for quite a while.”

When the space for the restaurant opened up for rent at the gas station, Turner seized the opportunity to start her venue after a routine gas stop.

“We looked at a lot of different locations and none of them panned out for one reason or the other,” Turner explained. “My husband has a lawn maintenance business, and we were getting gas one day and I just happened to wander in here and was looking around while I was waiting for my husband to pump gas when Patricia told me the space was available and how much the rent was. It just kind of went from there.” Patricia Patel and her husband Sam manage the Texaco gas station.

Turner said customers are able to get anything from hot dogs to hamburgers and pimento cheese sandwiches. New items, like special soups and chilis, are slowly being added to the menu for the winter season, according to Turner.

Plans to include breakfast on their menu are being discussed for after the first of the new year.

Turner said the idea for the restaurant also sprouted from her passion for cooking.

“I love to cook for other people and doing parties and stuff like that,” Turner said. “It also relieves stress, too, so that’s just how I went into it.”

Call-in orders have also been placed to Heavenly Hot Dogs, primarily from St. Luke’s Hospital and Tryon Elementary.

“Within the first few weeks it was pretty busy because everyone wanted to come try it out, but I already have normal and usual customers that keep coming back,” Turner said. “We deliver to Tryon Elementary through the staff on Mondays and Wednesdays. We’re hoping to get more businesses and schools who can pick a certain day and we can deliver to them around lunch time.”

McKenzie Rice is an employee with Heavenly Hot Dogs and has been there since the second week the venue was open in Columbus.

“I like it and I like Holly especially,” Rice said. “I like how I can speak openly about God and not be judged for my views or anything Christian-related.”

Turner has two daughters who are six and eight years old who attend Tryon Elementary. Prior to opening shop at Heavenly Hot Dogs, Turner would do PTA meetings, volunteer and go on field trips with the school. Turner said her girls are her life.

“They are my life and I lost my mom recently to cancer and she stayed with us for the past year so this is good for keeping my mind occupied,” Turner said in regards to the restaurant.

A prayer board hangs on the wall beside the cashier’s window and is special to Heavenly Hot Dogs and Turner herself.

“The prayer board is there because if someone has a prayer need or knows someone else in need, they can write the name on the board or have us do it, preferably them do it, so we can pray for them or anyone in the community can pray for them,” Turner explained. “One of the things we had before we had any definite plans or locations in mind was definitely going to be the board. Scriptures are hanging around the place to show we’re about God.”

Turner commented on her feelings towards the business by saying she is excited while nervous and also wanted to thank God for her current position as the owner.

“I am excited and nervous and I hope to help somebody in some way through here and this place because if you look around, we want to put a little bit of God in everyone’s lives. God is the only reason I am where I am today and I have to give him all the credit.”

Putting their girls first, Greg Turner expanded on his wife’s mission by showcasing the importance of the hot dog business.

“Serving good and fresh food in a clean environment is important to us,” Greg Turner said. “We want our girls to grow up and learn the value of work and honesty. That’s about all I can think to add. Most importantly, the credit does belong to God.”