U-Dog raised prices to save its vision

mments made in the “Editor’s picks” section of
the most recent dB Magazine insert in the Orientation Issue.

I congratulate the establishments who were singled out as great
places to eat in Westwood Village. However, I take exception to
listing U-Dog in the “Westwood Places to Avoid Eating
at” section.

Those of us who established U-Dog were fulfilling a dream we had
of opening an eatery that had high-quality food at a reasonable
price. We wished to duplicate places we remember as former
university students.

We wanted an establishment that students would remember as the
place they went after celebrating Pac-10 victories, or after
blowing off steam at a local tavern to reward themselves for
another successful week of making the grade.

We wanted a place where students could get a bite to eat on that
first date when funds were limited.

We salute the great cost and sacrifice many parents, spouses,
partners and others have made to pay the high cost of tuition in
order to send their student to one of the most prestigious
universities in the nation, if not the world. However, I am sure
that those people must know that tuition is only a fraction of the
cost it takes to operate a great university.

Similarly, the initial price of selling U-Dog products for 92
cents could not possibly cover the costs of food, utilities, rent
and other expenses associated with the operation of an eatery.

While we at U-Dog had no dreams of becoming rich, we did hope
that a low introductory price would attract the students, faculty
and staff of UCLA to try our product and get hooked on the
quality.

We never desired to become known for cheap food, but rather good
food at a reasonable price. Perhaps we made an error in introducing
our food at a low price, or perhaps we held the introductory price
too long.

We did, however, want to make the right business decisions when
it came to supporting our customers. We did this by donating
thousands of prepared sausages and franks to the many worthy
causes, such as fundraisers for pediatric AIDS research. We wanted
to be supportive of our employees by offering medical and dental
benefits. We wanted to be a good and supportive neighbor of UCLA by
advertising in the Daily Bruin when limited marketing funds
allowed.

We at U-Dog have worked tirelessly to be a good neighbor, to try
to keep that A health department rating in the window and to train
our employees in the proper procedures and sanitation associated
with operating a restaurant.

The notoriety of doing business in Westwood is great, but the
profitability is much less than it is in other parts of the
city.

The raising of the prices was an effort to stay afloat and not
an attempt to gouge our customers. When we raised our prices we
made a conscious decision not to lower the quality by going to
discount warehouses and buying pallets of low-end, cheap hot
dogs.

We still use high-quality seeded buns as opposed to plain bakery
overruns. We continued to use Lamb Wesson 5/16 thin-cut fries,
which is the identical product many fine Los Angeles restaurants
use to serve along their prime and choice cuts of beef. We never
thought of ending the bottomless refills on drinks.

Economic realities will probably force us to relocate to another
part of the city. I want to thank our customers for their support,
particularly the late evening crowd going home from
Maloney’s. I have never had so much fun serving such a
spirited group of young men and women. You will be missed.

I hope that future comments reflect a little more sensitivity to
the businesses in the community that make daily sacrifices to be
supportive of UCLA, its student body, faculty, staff and the
greater Westwood community.

Woodward is the manager of U-Dog.