Oak Lawn's Smilin' Clyde's Hot Dogs Makes Cameo In Netflix Series

OAK LAWN, IL – Oak Lawn's happiest hot dog vendor is taking his popular Chicago-style dogs to the next level: Netflix.

Fans of the streaming platform's latest mystery thriller "Tiny Pretty Things" — which focuses on the brutal world of professional ballet in Chicago — will recognize Oak Lawn's very own Clyde Anhalt handing out hot dogs to ballerinas.

Anhalt, a former mechanic for United Airlines, has been serving up Smilin' Clyde's Hot Dogs since 2011, when he purchased a hot dog cart to have on hand for when friends and family would come over for cookouts. He took the cart and his smile to the Oak Lawn farmers market and the Evergreen Park farmer's market and from the business sky-rocketed, landing Anhalt a spot at the Oak Lawn Public Library's cafe space.

"People really seem to enjoy it," he said. "We've even started catering parties — not just dropping off food, but bringing the cart and making the hot dogs on site. It's all part of the experience."

In 2019, Anhalt signed a contract with the Chicago Parks Department that allowed him to operate a hot dog cart on Columbus and Monroe and eventually a second hot dog cart on 64th and Stony Island Avenue. Thanks to abundant tourism in the area, Smilin' Clyde's business was doing very well — until the coronavirus pandemic forced the closure of the parks and attractions, eliminating tourism.

"We didn't do well last year, but we did just enough to keep our employees employed," Anhalt said. "We're still here, which is something a lot of businesses can't say. We're just hoping this year will be better."

Fortunately, just before the pandemic hit, Anhalt received a call from a Naperville native working in California who was looking for a hot dog vendor to be in an upcoming Netflix series. Anhalt said he had no idea how she found his business, but had a feeling it might be thanks to positive Yelp reviews.

"I told her I wasn't so much interested in the finances of it, but I was very interested in the experience," he said. "So I bid low, and I got the part."

So, in November 2019, Anhalt brought a couple hundred hot dogs to the Cloud Gate Bean and spent a few hours pretending to sell hot dogs to passersby in the scenes.

"I had no idea how it was going to go," he said. "You mostly just stand around and then someone tells you to stand in a certain place, move a certain way, and there you go."

For Anhalt, the most exciting part was filming a scene where he sells a hot dog to one of the lead actresses. While he had been in the background for most of the other scenes, he was front and center for this one.

"I had no idea they were going to do the scene with just me and the ballerina," he said. "I've been making hot dogs for so long, and I have this routine, but I kept getting corrected because I was getting my head in the way of the shot. But it was still very exciting."

Anhalt said he was surprised that his scenes made the cut in the final edit of the series. His friends and family have all seen it and he said he has "caught a bit of guff" about it, but it's all in good fun.

Looking forward, Anhalt said he would like to find opportunities to be in other shows, perhaps Chicago Fire or Chicago PD. For now, he's just planning on starting off the hot dog season in the spring and keeping his fingers crossed he can continue selling hot dogs safely.