Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 30, 1990                   TAG: 9005300058
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Ed Shamy
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WHOSE BUNS WILL BE KICKED IN THE WEENIE WARS?

It took 201 years for the full force of the U.S. Constitution to hit Roanoke, but finally we have a test case.

The Hot Dog Queen opened last week.

The Hot Dog King has been open for 74 years.

Both sell weiners, the queen on Church Avenue, the king on Campbell. They are in no way related, linked only by links.

No word yet on how Congress feels about burning frankfurters, the symbolism of which is best left to Freudians and ignored by political scientists.

But a promised legal debate over the Right-to-Weiner Amendment has not yet materialized.

Gus Pappas, the scion of the Roanoke Weiner Stand (the king), vowed to sic his attorney on the queen to stop the entrepreneur from capitalizing on Gus's hard-won reputation.

Pappas still awaits legal opinions on the issue, an interpretation of volumes of hot dog case law and tube steak trademarks.

Meanwhile, Malik Hasan continues as the queen, now marking his sixth day in business.

Hasan doesn't deny that his logo is remarkably similar to Pappas's. Crowns are nice, he says. His crown is legal, he says. Business is good.

Hasan wipes his hands on his white apron and hustles out the door into a light drizzle, headed for the Capitol Restaurant he owns around the corner on Market Street. He needs a roll of pennies and a bowl of lemons. He wears a broad and mischievous grin.

It does not look like the stuff of constitutional law.

Griddles spit and hiss, chili oozes off the edges of dogs, steam curls slowly from onion rings piled on a greasy paper plate.

But it may eventually fall to William Rehnquist, Thurgood Marshall, Sandra Day O'Connor & Co. to settle this one.

Gus Pappas does not have a history of tolerance in dealing with would-be challengers tinkering with his good name.

Supreme Court justices may have to travel to Roanoke when they mull the case: Hot Dog King, plaintiff, vs. Hot Dog Queen, defendant. It is a case for oral arguments.

The implications of any ruling would be far-reaching.

It touches on Americans' right to bear weiners. It could affect commerce law, free trade agreements and the meat packing industry.

Most of all, if Tuesday lunchtime was any indication, the court will address the streak running through many Roanokers - the hunkering for a good fight.

Both haberdasheries of hot dogs were host Tuesday to a steady stream of patrons. At the queen, people were testing the upstart new franks, not very gingerly. There is no room for delicacy at a crowded hot dog stand.

Many clients said they weren't there for the prices. They weren't there for the flavor. Or because the weiners were any plumper or leaner or grilled better or boiled less or because the chili topping was better or the onions finer sliced or the buns fresher.

They were there because they like the idea of competition.

Roanokers are like that, your honor.