DENVER — Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs will close its doors this month after serving Denver and beyond since 2006.
Steve Ballas opened the hot dog joint, located at 3525 E. Colfax Ave., with his wife after serving as a first responder early in his career.
“I would cook for the carnivals in the firehouse," Ballas said. "I’d make spaghetti dinners for the police, and I always enjoyed cooking, you know."
He opened a few places before Steve’s Snappin Dogs in 2006.
“When you go into a restaurant that's full of people and people are having fun and they're talking and they're laughing, that's a special noise that you hear, and you know that it feels good,” Ballas said.
Steve’s Snappin Dogs is closing because his wife’s cancer came back. He said he will take time to be with his best friend and partner who helped him open the business.
“She's been pretty sick for the past year, and it's time,” Ballas said. “What I'm going to miss the most is the guests, the people that come in here every day. We see the same people all the time. We see new people. We see people that fly in from other places. I'm going to miss taking care of people. It's been a part of my life. I'm a people person. I love to talk to people.”
Ballas didn't expect to close the doors so soon.
“Honestly, I thought I'd be open long enough for some of the kids in these pictures to come in with their own kids,” Ballas said.
His customers will miss him, but Ballas wants everyone to know serving them, has also served him.
Steve's Snappin' Dogs' last day will be Oct. 19.
