Austin residents may see a familiar face next time they buy a hot dog.

Marian Clennon, a city council member who is now running for mayor, announced her business Toots Hot Dogs will officially open Tuesday at the plaza area on Third Avenue NE and Main Street in Austin.

“It’s a relief to finally get it started,” she said.

The hot dog cart, open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., will serve hot dogs, chips, soda and water. On Tuesdays on Main and farmers’ market days, the cart will stay open later.

Clennon said she got the idea from her mother’s cousin, who set up a hot dog cart in Indiana after a few other businesses didn’t work out for him. Since the cousin’s stand has worked for 25 years, Clennon decided to follow suit.

Several months went into planning and getting permits, but the stand is now ready. While Tuesday is the official opening, Clennon said, she gave the stand a trial run last week.

“A couple of days last week I was open,” she said, adding that it was open during the farmers’ market last week. She said the cart did well without advertising, and people who visited it said they would spread the word.

Clennon, the stand’s only worker, said one of her goals was to buy Minnesota products whenever possible. She uses locally baked buns and Old Dutch chips, for example.

Toots Hot Dogs will accept cash and major credit cards. It will close during inclement weather.