Gary Alameda, of Gee's Infamous Hot Dogs and More, has died

According to the Post & Courier, Gary Alameda, beloved downtown hot dog vendor of Gee’s Infamous Dogs & More, has died. While the cause of death has yet to be reported, Gary’s sister Beryl Alameda told Hanna Raskin that her brother pulled over on I-26 around 4 a.m. today after experiencing chest pain. He was 43.

This morning Alameda’s Facebook page was an outpouring of love for the man who kept King Street’s late night crowd fed. Alameda regularly posted up near the Music Farm serving until 5 a.m. This summer Charleston Eater’s Erin Perkins spent a night with Alameda writing a play-by-play of his hours on the job. During the evening, Perkins witnessed wealthy bar hoppers, drunk college kids, Pantheon clubbers, and more all stop for a bite and a moment of nice conversation with the genial dog man. At one point Alameda told Perkins, “My cart is better than Tinder” as more than one person queuing for a brat had left with another person in line.

With the smell of cooking franks in the air, Alameda’s stand was known as a safe spot in a sometimes chaotic downtown and that was all thanks to the man behind the grill.

As one Gee’s regular, CP‘s Scene writer Chandler Thomas, says, Alameda was more than just the hot dog cart guy.

“He was the nicest person in the world,” says Thomas.