The New Orleans-based franchise Dat Dog is set to open a Baton Rouge location on the corner of Lee and Burbank drives near the University. David Halpern and nephew Teva Sempel signed the lease and said they hope to open the new location by football season in fall 2018, according to a report by The Advocate. 
The new location is set to be in the up-and-coming Arlington Marketplace, which will be anchored to the new Rouses Market that will also open later this year. Dat Dog partners Halpern and Sempel will be handed the more than 3,000-square-foot endcap in either late May or early June to begin construction. 
The franchise currently has two locations in New Orleans and one in Lafayette. Bill DiPaola, president and chief operating officer for Dat Dog, said the franchise will expand to three new locations this year, one in Baton Rouge, as well as two Texas locations in Houston and College Station near Texas A&M. 
DiPaola said he hopes to open 40 to 50 more Dat Dog locations across the Gulf South in the next five years, according to the report in The Advocate.