Andrew Lutwin and Margaux Babineau, owners and operators of The DogHaüs, a traveling hot dog cart based at the North Waterford Food Truck Park and 339 Main Street in Norway, stand behind the cart in Norway June 26. Evan W. Houk/Advertiser Democrat

NORWAY — The DogHaüs, a traveling hot dog cart, provides an affordable lunch option for Norway, Waterford, and other Oxford Hills communities with its daily $8 special.

The traveling hot dog cart, The DogHaüs, always offers an $8 special that includes two hot dogs, chips, and a drink. courtesy Margaux Babineau

The lunch special is available everyday and includes two hot dogs, a bag of chips, and a drink.

“I wanted everyone to get out of here for less than $10,” owner Andrew Lutwin said. “That’s why I run the special.”

Lutwin runs The DogHaüs with his wife, Margaux Babineau, who mostly handles the marketing and social media aspect of the business. This is the Waterford couple’s second season in operation.

“It’s so hard to find a filling, good meal that is under $10,” Babineau said.

Lutwin splits his time between the new North Waterford Food Truck Park and a spot at 339 Main Street in Norway, spending two days a week at each location from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

According to Babineau, the couple saw a need in Waterford for a quick and affordable lunch option and decided to set up shop there last summer for the cart’s first season.

“We saw an opportunity to fill that gap,” Babineau said. “So we stationed ourselves primarily in Waterford so we could have a food option for our friends and neighbors in the community.”

The traveling hot dog cart, The DogHaüs, offers many creative and loaded creations, like this Devil Dog— which is a hot dog with spicy mayo, jalapeños, hot chilies, and crunchy Cheetos, stacked on a griddled and glazed donut bun. courtesy Margaux Babineau

This year, The DogHaüs has expanded to Norway, where Lutwin parks his cart at 339 Main Street, near the intersection with Cottage Street on the space formerly occupied by Mainely Melts.

After a few seasons in that spot, Mainely Melts made the jump to a brick-and-mortar store in Bridgton. Now the couple leases the parcel from the company, Babineau said.

A customer at The DogHaüs can go relatively light with the $8 special or go big with one of the cart’s masterpieces, like the decadent Devil Dog— which is a hot dog with spicy mayo, jalapeños, hot chilies, and crunchy Cheetos, stacked on a griddled and glazed doughnut bun.

Lutwin, who has been working in restaurants of “all shapes and sizes” for 23 years, was cooking for Legal Sea Foods in Boston when he was laid off because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He currently works managing one of the restaurants at Newry’s Sunday River Resort in the wintertime.

Lutwin started looking at moving to Maine and the wheels started turning about opening up his own hot dog cart. He thought of hot dogs as an accessible option for fast and affordable food that “never goes out of style.”

“Hot dogs are for everybody,” he said.

The DogHaüs even has hot dogs for vegans, Babineau said.

“We tried every single vegan dog under the sun,” Babineau said. “We finally found one we felt comfortable serving, so that’s a new addition this year.”

After a successful, but challenging, first year, mostly because of the amount of rain last summer, Lutwin decided to expand into Norway this year. He is also traveling to events in the area like the Fryeburg Farmers Market and the Norway Music and Arts Festival.

At the farmers market, The DogHaüs offered a jumbo breakfast sandwich that was featured on its Facebook page. The sandwich includes fresh cracked eggs, hash browns, grilled onions, a choice of bacon or sausage, and a hot sauce and maple drizzle for “sweet heat,” all stacked on a Wolferman’s English Muffin.

Lutwin and Babineau met in Maine and realized that they both had the same goal of relocating to the state.

“We love small town life and the peace of it,” Babineau said.

Babineau’s background in marketing has served the business well. She said she is having fun with the direct-to-customer marketing, in contrast to the business-to-business marketing she does in her day job with the human tissue engineering lab MatTek Life Sciences, based in Ashland, Mass.

“I lead a double-life,” Babineau said with a laugh.

Lutwin said to watch the business’ Facebook and Instagram pages for updates on where he will be and when.