Soft Tail hot dogs: Born to be fried

Business Beat

By Marijke Rowland

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If you like your hogs fierce and your hot dogs fried, then park it at the new Knucklehead's Grill.

The restaurant and bar opened this month in the site of the old Legends Cafe, attached to Modesto Harley-Davidson at 500 N. Carpenter Road.

The Harley shop's owners, Art and Linda Mitchell, had been thinking about opening another restaurant since Legends closed a few years ago.

Earlier this year, they asked longtime friend and fellow Harley enthusiast Marty Garber if he would manage a new place.

Knucklehead's Grill, named after a kind of engine Harley produced from 1935 to 1947, has a Harley décor complete with four choppers and one-of-a-kind memorabilia.

The restaurant serves an assortment of half-pound burgers, sandwiches, homemade soup and its signature "Soft Tails," deep-fried hot dogs.

The bar serves beer, wine and margaritas.

"We've been getting rave reviews of the food," Garber said. "I've had people eating call their friends and say, 'Man, if you've never had a deep-fried hot dog, come in and have one.' I think it's the crunchy skin."

Garber, who previously owned Scoreboard Pizza and managed Early Dawn, said they wanted the place to be family friendly and affordable. The space seats about 100.

Knucklehead's Grill is open for lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. For more, call 575-1545.

Elsewhere around the Business Beat:

Angels' Share Wine Shop will pour its last glass on Halloween.

The north Modesto wine shop and bar, at 2101 Sylvan Ave., is closing after two years in business. Owners Laura and Chuck Staley said the poor economy was too difficult for their small business to survive.

"People are just buying less and aren't coming in," said Laura Staley. "We gave it our all and worked our butts off. It was just really bad timing."

Everything in the shop is on sale, Staley said, and discounts will continue and get deeper, culminating with a closing party from from 6 to 8 p.m on Halloween.

She said after the party, the store will have a tasting and stay open "as long as people come in."

Call 492-0600 or go to www.aswineshop.com. ...

Oakdale residents have a golden opportunity to work out.

The area's newest Gold's Gym, 1275 E. F St., opened at the end of August. Owner Sanjiv Chopra took over the Gold's Gym in Modesto a year ago and is opening another in Stockton soon.

The facility includes a cardio cinema room, exercise classes, personal trainers, steam room and sauna, and a juice bar.

For more call 390-4756 or go to www.goldsgym.com. ...

And finally, Yates & Co. Jewelers encourages you to give cans with a shot at winning diamonds.

The Modesto jeweler has kicked off a food drive for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties. People can donate canned food items until Nov. 28.

Each donation receives a ticket for the store's Drawing for Diamonds giveaway. Daily prizes include necklaces, earrings, pendants and more.

Bring donations to Yates & Co. Jewelers, 3501 McHenry Ave., during regular business hours. For more, call 523-1442.

Have an item for Business Beat? Contact Marijke Rowland at The Modesto Bee, P.O. Box 5256, Modesto 95352; 578-2284 or mrowland@modbee.com.