When the government shut down in October 2025, IRS attorney Isaac Stein was ready for the furlough — he immediately pivoted to being a full-time hot dog vendor.1 It was a move as natural as the casings on a Vienna Beef hot dog, because Stein had dreamed of having his own hot dog cart since he was a child.
The pivot was easy because Stein had just opened a hot dog cart after years of consideration. In September 2025, Shysters Dogs (“The Only Honest Ripoff in D.C.”) hit the sidewalks but was only open on Fridays and weekends because, at the time, Stein was working at the IRS. Once furloughed, the cart was open full time with Stein slinging dogs in his usual IRS attire: a suit.
His menu includes what he refers to as “the correct hot dog”: mustard and sauerkraut on a steamed bun with a Hebrew National hot dog. Of course, being from Detroit, I have beef with this. The real “correct” hot dog is a Kowalski natural casing hot dog in a steamed bun with Detroit Coney Island sauce, mustard, and onions. Preferred sides are curly fries and a Greek salad with that pink dressing.
According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (there’s a National Hot Dog and Sausage Council?), here are the many regional varieties that make up the billions of hot dogs consumed by Americans each year: www.hot-dog.org/
culture/regional-hot-dogs.
So, if you’re an IRS employee facing a government shutdown or a tax preparer who’s working their last tax season, a hot dog cart could be the next step. Because you can’t bacon-wrap a tax return.
