Weenie Beenie
The Weenie Beenie hot dog stand is the last link of the once thriving local restaurant chain, known for non-discriminatory hiring practices.
The Weenie Beenie hot dog stand at 2680 Shirlington Road in Green Valley is the last location of this local restaurant chain. It was built by Bill Staton, a world-renowned billiards player who won $27,000 seed money for the venture in Arkansas in 1960. The Weenie Beenie is known locally as one of few white-owned businesses that had non-discriminatory hiring practices during the segregation era, hiring African-American workers when other businesses would not. The one-story brick building has a distinct overhanging faux mansard roof with a large cursive script, “Weenie Beenie,” on the front signage.
The Weenie Beenie menu is displayed below the roofline and above the service window across the front of the building. They serve half- smokes (a local sausage made famous by their rival, D.C. restaurant Ben’s Chili Bowl), North Carolina-style barbecue, breakfast all day, and a variety of other sandwiches and sides.
In addition to being the Weenie Beenie proprietor, Staton was so well-known as a pool player that he performed several trick shots in movies and TV shows, including “The Color of Money” and “I’ve Got a Secret.”
He passed away in 2006, but the Weenie Beenie remains an iconic Arlington institution.
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