Friends piled into the car and they headed to the original Johnny’s Lunch in his hometown of Jamestown, N.Y.

“The history of that place is sort of ingrained in you,” Slagle said. “Your parents take you, you’ll take your kids when you get older, and when you come back home, that’s the first stop you make.”

“Johnny’s Hots” hot dogs and special sauce have helped the original mom-and-pop restaurant expand with 75 restaurants in Michigan and more than 230 stores nationwide within the next five years, owner-operator John Calamunci said.

Calamunci’s grandfather, “Johnny” Colera, started the restaurant in 1936, selling hot dogs for a dime during the tail end of the Great Depression.

The business stayed in the family for three generations and more than 70 years until May, when Calamunci and his brother, Anthony, first opened it up to franchisees with a franchise headquarters and location in Toledo.

“I grew up there,” Calamunci said of the original restaurant. “That’s where I was as a kid, night and day. I can remember just barely being able to reach the counter.”

Scott Oliverio, manager of the East Lansing location, said the history behind the restaurant drew him away from his 20 years of managing fine-dining restaurants.

“It’s very appealing to be involved with 70-plus years of experience,” Oliverio said. “The nationwide expansion is going on for a reason.”

MSU and U-M fans bickering back and forth from tables across the restaurant packed Johnny’s Lunch after the football game on Saturday, Oliverio said.

“Originally, our timeline was to be open before the students came back in August,” he said. “Once we realized that it wasn’t going to be possible, the date of the Michigan game took on a whole new sort of importance. Nov. 3 has been circled on the calendar ever since.”

Slagle brought a jar of Johnny’s hot dog sauce with him when he came to Lansing this fall. But what makes the restaurant special to him goes beyond the food, he said.

“I had a grandfather pass away when I was little, and one of the only memories I have of him was going to Johnny’s for a lunch break when I was working with him and my dad on his house,” he said. “That place is something I have that’s been a part of my life and who I am.”