The very first Snoopy’s started in a gas station, and the food was home-cooked. Now there are five different restaurants, and the little franchise has become a Raleigh tradition.

Steve Webb grew up in Raleigh while his father worked printing the Technician at the State College, N.C ., State’s name previous to 1963. He became a student at N.C . State himself. After he left he started a little restaurant he called Snoopy’s. It first opened in 1978, and as Webb claims, he opened it for only $6,000.

Snoopy’s was completely a home-grown business. Webb started off as the cook using his home utensils, having learned from working at his uncle’s barbeque restaurant.

“Well you see we used home appliances – I had a house refrigerator and a chest freezer,” said Webb.

The restaurant was an immediate success.

“The first day they lined up to the street for the hotdogs,” said Webb. The prices were originally less than 75 cents a hotdog, their special being three hot dogs for a dollar. He still has the promotional sign.

“Pretty much we just ran it ourselves, and we were just very fortunate that we had a good location,” Webb said.

His wife, Sarah, described the secrets behind their cooking: They try to keep their menu one of an eastern N.C. style restaurant their specialty being beef pork hotdogs with mustard-onion chili.

“We put it in the bun and steam it – that’s the secret to why [our hotdogs are] so wonderful. The steaming blends all the flavors together,” Sarah Webb said.

Now Snoopy’s has a point-of-sales system, one where the cook can see what the customer has ordered on a printed-out ticket. But Brenda Johnson, who worked with the restaurant since 1982, and Sarah Webb remember when they first started working together; they would call the orders back to the kitchen- Webb would call and Johnson would cook. They still call the orders out, but the ticket system is just to have, as Sarah put it, a “double-check system.”

“It was a good team too,” said Johnson,

Since the home-appliance and call-back system days, they have expanded dramatically. They now have five different locations. They have also acquired a number of fun additions to their store along the way: a little red beetle called the SnoopyMobile is often used in Raleigh parades and–to the amusement of the neighbors–just for driving around town, and a walking hot-dog mascot named Mr. Snoopy, who was invented in the early ‘80s.

The two locations near N.C. State also started off as gas stations, but were bought and modified because the rent was cheap and the crowd was good, according to Steve Webb.

“We’ve always enjoyed the business from N.C. State, especially after the ball games,” said Sarah Webb.

They get a good night-crowd from the university too.

“We call it the bar rush; the bars close at 2 a.m., so we figure we’ll stay open to at least 3 a.m. It’s entertaining just to people-watch there,” Larry Cerilli, one of the new owners of Snoopy’s, said.

The Webbs are currently in the process of “passing the baton,” as they put it, to two new owners, Larry and Casey Cerilli. Casey Cerilli grew up in Raleigh, and her love of Snoopy’s and her friendship with the owners got the Cerilli’s involved. They were convinced to partner up in the business when they realized how many people in Raleigh knew about and habitually went to Snoopy’s.

“I think the coolest thing I ever see is a mom and dad with their kid and the tailgate down in the truck, sharing a hotdog, fries and soda,” Larry Cerilli said. “[The store has] memories of what someone might have done in college or growing up.”

Even though the restaurant has expanded, it has managed to keep its family-style feel, both for the customers and the employees.

“I brought my children here, and now we’re bringing our grandchildren here,” said Robin Godwin, a stay-at-home mother. She said she’s been eating there since 1978.

“My parent’s ate at Snoopy’s when they were going to school,” Max Lewis, a freshman in material science and engineering, said. He likes the hotdogs, but went more because of the family ties.

“We just have fun. We really do,” said Gabe Bird, the manager of the Snoopy’s on Hillsborough Street. He called back over his shoulder to the cooks and other employees, “We have fun right?” and was met with a chorus of whoops, laughter and a few jokes at his expense.