{"id":135917,"date":"2025-10-27T14:05:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T22:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/10\/27\/furloughed-irs-lawyer-opens-hot-dog-cart-finally-starts-serving-the-public\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T14:05:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T22:05:25","slug":"furloughed-irs-lawyer-opens-hot-dog-cart-finally-starts-serving-the-public","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/10\/27\/furloughed-irs-lawyer-opens-hot-dog-cart-finally-starts-serving-the-public\/","title":{"rendered":"Furloughed IRS Lawyer Opens Hot Dog Cart, Finally Starts Serving The Public"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to the ongoing government shutdown, Washington has no shortage of overeducated professionals living in existential crisis. Few are embracing the chaos quite like Isaac Stein, a 31-year-old IRS attorney who swapped drafting retirement regulations for slinging hot dogs on the streets of the nation\u2019s capital \u2014 by choice, and with a full sense of irony. In a city where every lawyer claims to serve the public, Stein may be the only one who\u2019s doing it literally. <\/p>\n

With the help of a federal furlough, Stein\u2019s living his childhood fantasy of owning a hot dog cart, and he\u2019s managed to turn it into his own unique side hustle, suit and tie included. His cart, brilliantly named SHYSTERS, advertises itself as \u201cThe Only Honest Ripoff in D.C.\u201d It\u2019s \u201cperformance art\u201d meets processed meat, and every single detail has been thought through with a lawyer\u2019s precision and a comedian\u2019s sensibility. Reuters<\/a> has additional details:<\/p>\n

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A \u201cplurality but not the majority\u201d of his customers order a steamed hot dog served with spicy brown mustard and sauerkraut, which Stein describes on his menu as \u2018The Only Choice: Correct Hot Dog and Drink\u2019. \u2026<\/p>\n

The menu is a blend of nostalgia and regional flair: Hebrew National hot dogs and Chicago-style giardiniera, as well as Moon Pies and RC Cola for Southern patrons, and free, hot dog-shaped dog treats. \u201cIf someone recites the historical significance of RC Cola and Moon Pies, I give them a nickel off,\u201d Stein said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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A post shared by Isaac (@shystersdogs)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What started as a weekend side gig has turned into a full-time, street-side enterprise while the government remains shut down. Instead of reading the tax code, Stein now reads his customers, describing the experience as a series of \u201cvignettes in a novel\u201d \u2014 brief glimpses into real lives, one hot dog at a time. \u201cYou feel really connected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Stein has invested five figures into SHYSTERS, and says he\u2019ll continue selling hot dogs on the weekends when the government reopens for business, because living the dream for this lawyer comes with serving of sauerkraut.<\/p>\n

Washington lawyer on furlough lives out dream of running a hot dog cart<\/a> [Reuters]<\/p>\n

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Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Furloughed IRS Lawyer Opens Hot Dog Cart, Finally Starts Serving The Public<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Thanks to the ongoing government shutdown, Washington has no shortage of overeducated professionals living in existential crisis. Few are embracing the chaos quite like Isaac Stein, a 31-year-old IRS attorney who swapped drafting retirement regulations for slinging hot dogs on the streets of the nation\u2019s capital \u2014 by choice, and with a full sense of irony. In a city where every lawyer claims to serve the public, Stein may be the only one who\u2019s doing it literally. <\/p>\n

With the help of a federal furlough, Stein\u2019s living his childhood fantasy of owning a hot dog cart, and he\u2019s managed to turn it into his own unique side hustle, suit and tie included. His cart, brilliantly named SHYSTERS, advertises itself as \u201cThe Only Honest Ripoff in D.C.\u201d It\u2019s \u201cperformance art\u201d meets processed meat, and every single detail has been thought through with a lawyer\u2019s precision and a comedian\u2019s sensibility. Reuters<\/a> has additional details:<\/p>\n

\n

A \u201cplurality but not the majority\u201d of his customers order a steamed hot dog served with spicy brown mustard and sauerkraut, which Stein describes on his menu as \u2018The Only Choice: Correct Hot Dog and Drink\u2019. \u2026<\/p>\n

The menu is a blend of nostalgia and regional flair: Hebrew National hot dogs and Chicago-style giardiniera, as well as Moon Pies and RC Cola for Southern patrons, and free, hot dog-shaped dog treats. \u201cIf someone recites the historical significance of RC Cola and Moon Pies, I give them a nickel off,\u201d Stein said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DPl1pWhjQzD<\/p>\n

What started as a weekend side gig has turned into a full-time, street-side enterprise while the government remains shut down. Instead of reading the tax code, Stein now reads his customers, describing the experience as a series of \u201cvignettes in a novel\u201d \u2014 brief glimpses into real lives, one hot dog at a time. \u201cYou feel really connected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Stein has invested five figures into SHYSTERS, and says he\u2019ll continue selling hot dogs on the weekends when the government reopens for business, because living the dream for this lawyer comes with serving of sauerkraut.<\/p>\n

Washington lawyer on furlough lives out dream of running a hot dog cart<\/a> [Reuters]<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email<\/a> her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to the ongoing government shutdown, Washington has no shortage of overeducated professionals living in existential crisis. Few are embracing the chaos quite like Isaac Stein, a 31-year-old IRS attorney who swapped drafting retirement regulations for slinging hot dogs on the streets of the nation\u2019s capital \u2014 by choice, and with a full sense of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":135892,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Staci-Zaretsky-XyxTlD.jpg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}