Legendary hot dog stand Mustard's Last Stand eager for grand opening of their neighbor, Ryan Field

It's designed to provide one of the best football experiences in the nation. On Friday, Ryan Field – home of Northwestern Wildcats football – hosts its first game. But next to the brand-new stadium is an eatery filled with tradition.

There's much more than hot dogs at Mustard's Last Stand in Evanston. There are memories, lots of them.

"Customers send us pictures from around the world wearing a Mustard's shirt. It's always pretty proud of that," said co-owner Lonnie Starkman.

"Literally, we have people coming in, saying, 'Oh, this is the first hot dog I got, the first place I took a date,'" co-owner Steve Starkman said.

Mustard's Last Stand is still owned by the original family. Jerry Starkman started the restaurant with a relative almost 60 years ago. His sons, Lonnie and Steve, own it now.

"This was not supposed to be a hot dog stand. We owned a pizza place down the street called the Inferno pizza place, and our lease was running out," Steve said.

"So he bought this property and turned it into this hot dog stand as a temporary until his lease ended down there," Lonnie said.

But it's still a hot dog stand decades later.

In all that time, they've had Ryan Field as their neighbor to the east. The original stadium was torn down in 2024 to make way for the new football field.

"People from all over the world have come here to Northwestern and stopped by here and grabbed a hot dog. I mean, that's why we're world famous," Lonnie said.

The new Ryan Field hosts its first game on Friday, and Steve said Mustard's Last Stand is ready for the fans and the excitement to come back.

Not only is football back. The stadium can host other events as well, which means more people eating at Mustard's Last Stand.

"This is the biggest change. I'm very hopeful now they're going to have additional events like concerts and all kinds of events going on next door," Lonnie said.

"Could be a myriad of different things that are happening in that stadium. So, every time we'll be hosting the neighbor, the crowd," Steve said.

So the hot dog stand that wasn't supposed to be a hot dog stand this long will keep serving.

"This, to me, says Mustard's will be here another 50 years," Lonnie said.

The founders got the name Mustard's Last Stand by running a contest. A customer came up with the winning entry and got a year's worth of free hot dogs.