John

The HH location was still open as of 2 months ago. Although we (Munchmobile) did not stop, we did drive by. Earlier in the summer we went to the Little Ferry Callahans. I spoke to Rick Castrianni who owned the Fort Lee location, and he told me the dogs were the same at each Callahan's. The one I had at Little Ferry tasted the same as the dog I had at Fort Lee.

Eric, Did you know that there are still 2 Callahan's locations left? One in Little Ferry on rt 46, and the other in Hasbrouck Heights.

Frank & Fries on West Grand Ave. in Rahway will be re-opening Monday, Oct 30th. There will be new owners and a new menu. The owner, Frank Perrone, also owns Nunzio's Pizzeria in Scotch Plains. I'm looking forward to eating at Frank & Fries. They will be serving a 1/4 lb natural casing, footlong Thumanns griller for $2.00! A great deal. Other places serving a quarter pounder sell it for $4.00. You can get chili for an extra 50 cents, making the price $2.50. One of the only places that I know of that serves the Thumanns griller. Many serve the special dog for deep frying. The griller is, in my opinion, the best beef/pork dog on the market. They will also be serving breakfast. 3 eggs on a roll, whole wheat bread, or a bagel for only $2.25. 4 egg omelettes with toast and homefries for $4.00. There will also be breakfast platters, burgers, sandwiches, and wraps on the menu. But for me, the attraction is the footlong Thumanns grillers which will be prepared on a flat griddle. You can also reguest it to be char broiled. Stop on by and tell them that John a/k/a hotdoglover sent you.

I spoke to the owner of Syd's yesterday. Their last day at the current location will be this coming Saturday. Their lease is up and they were unable to negotiate a deal. Their rent would have been raised considerably. They will be moving to nearby Springfield. The address is 234 Morris Ave. Springfield. Syd's will be moving into an existing business. It's a luncheonette called Tony's. Both businessess will be serving their food under a kind of profit sharing agreement. It will take a few days to a week to make the transition. Syd's originally opened in Newark in 1941. There were many owners in it's history, but the same great dogs, considered by many, myself included, to be the finest in Jersey. They moved to their current location in the Millburn Mall (still considered Union despite the name) in 1967. You may want to head down there one more time before they close.

That's about right. I grew up in Woodbridge (Colonia) and work in Rahway, so I went to the Linda's on rt 35 many times. I believe that Boston Market opened well after Linda's closed, but I could be wrong. Both similar, but I seem to remember Linda's chicken being a little dryer. I loved driving by and seeing the flames from the chicken clearly visible through the window. There used to be another Linda's on rt 27 in either Edison or Highland Park.

I'll be at the Stoudt's Microfest this evening. I didn't check the beer lineup recently, but I know that Great Lakes Brewing from Cleveland will be coming. I love their Dortmunder. Hope it will be one of the beers that they will serve. Rich, will you be going? If so, say hello if you see me. I'll be wearing the 06 Hot Dog Tour shirt.

A quality frankfurter. Really.

Glad to see Basil T's take the gold for dry stout. A little bit of a drive for me, but a place I go to once in awhile. Pretty good pizza too.

I'd like to let everyone know that J's reopened last Wednesday. He was closed for over a week due to the death of his father. Many people wrongly concluded that he was closed for good. Was there yesterday for a Chicago style dog. The more I have them, the more I like them. They are addictive. Everything blends together well. Last time I was there, I had a wet Italian Beef sandwich. Excellent. Hot and peppery. I also sampled the brisket, which was great as well. I'll have that next time. Jack, my condolences on the loss of your father, and sorry that we missed you Saturday for the 3rd Annual Jersey Hot Dog Tour. Our group will be back next year, and some of us (at least the Jersey contingent) will be back many times before then.

I would like to thank Benzee and Coney Island Lou for organizing this event and helping me with suggestions for the itinerary. Lou, thanks for the name tags once again, and for designing the shirts. Thanks to all who attended, as you made this tour so much fun. It was a blast meeting new people and seeing those of you who had attended past tours. We went to Galloping Hill Inn, Jerry's, Tommy's, Manny's, Syd's, Tony's Truck, Dickiee Dees, Amazing Hot Dog, and Rutts Hut. That's 9 out of a scheduled 11. We skipped Libby's due to time constraints and J's Beef was closed due to the death of the owner's father. Both will be included in a future tour. I think everyone did a great job pacing themselves. It's hard to eat a dog a stop for 9 stops. Although some managed. Long Dog had 12 dogs. ScreenBear had 11. Little Dog had 8 by himself! Benzee also had a lot. I think 11 scheduled stops might have been a bit too much, but we were torn about leaving in past favorites and including new ones, so we decided to do a little of both. Ideally 5 to 8 stops would be perfect. First year we had only 5. I skipped some stops because I live so close and have been to them many times. It was my plan to pick and choose. I was going to skip Manny's, but his wife shoved a hot dog in my hand, so what was I going to do? I love this place, but the dog, in my opinion, is average. It's also a little soft, or as Tracey said, flaccid. Syd's was great as usual, and my favorite out of the 5 I sampled. It is a 5 to a lb dog that is boiled, then charbroiled. Just a perfect blend of spices and a great snap. The dog is made by Best Provisions of Newark and is available to the public at their plant. It was the favorite dog of 5 out of the 8 people who made up the Munchmobile S.W.A.T. Dog Team. And that's saying a lot because we went to 87 different places and sampled dogs in 5 categories. Unfortunately Syd's will be moving when their lease is up in November. They are looking for a location close by. Tony's truck served a great hot dog. Dirty water style. I look for 3 things in a dirty water dog after taste. If the dog has a nice snap; if it's served hot enough; and if it is a decent size. Too many establishments serving dirty water dogs serve tiny 12 or 13 to a lb dogs. Tony's had all 3. He uses a Golden D all beef dog. He prefers it to the more common Sabrett because it it is a little less spicy. But it is a high quality dog that you can taste even if you have chili (as I did) or hot onions. I took an informal vote for favorite dog of the day and Tony's had 13 votes to Syd's 14. In the Swat Dog rankings this dog finished in 2nd place in the dirty water category, although I rated it higher than the first place winner. It was also Pete Genovese's (Star Ledger reporter) favorite dog of the summer. I made sure to save room for a big quarter pounder at Amazing Hot Dog. I'm glad to hear that they will now be open on Sunday. I usually work 6 days and don't have a chance to get there often. I went for a reuben dog this time. Swiss cheese on the bottom topped with a dog, sauerkraut, russian dressing, caraway seeds, with hot dog shavings sprinkled on top. Excellent. Maybe my favorite dog so far from Amazing Hot Dog. Finally I split a dog at Rutt's with my wife, who was able to meet us after just getting off work. I liked the dog. She hated it. Such is the varying opinions at Rutts. All in all a perfect day to sample hot dogs and enjoy the company of some outstanding people. Thanks everyone!

Tony Goes has some nerve. They'll warn someone about using the term "Jersey Italian Dog" but won't mention that they have been prohibited from using the term "originator of the Italian Hot Dog" which they tried to use, because Jimmy Buff's is the originator and has the legal right to that term. I was to Casino Tony Goes last month. All wrong in my opinion. But then again, I'm biased to the original North Jersey style Italian Hot Dog. Tony Goes serves a Dietz and Watson beef/pork dog, which is a decent tasting dog, but does not belong on an Italian Hot Dog, which cries out for a spicy, kosher style all beef dog. The dog was good, the roll was very good, but together did not constitute what I look for in an Italian Hot Dog.

John, can you explain why Tommy's in Elizabeth won for best Italian dog and also for best potatoes? This doesn't hold with what you've written above. No knock on Tommy's, I'm an Elizabeth guy and grew up eating those potatoes. ← When we were discussing best potatoes (not fries) it was agreed that Tommy's was the best. I mentioned that although I voted for Tommy's, they had already won for best Italian Hot Dog. Pete decided that since Tommy's potatoes were so much better than anyone else's and that the vote was unanimous, an exception would be made. There was at least one or 2 other places that were voted top 3 (though not unanimous) in 2 categories. Being voted top 3 in one of the 5 major categories took precedence to being voted best of in the miscellaneous or "coneys" category.

In my opinion Amazing Hot Dog could have won or placed in the top 3 for best deep fried dog, most creative toppings, best fries, best chili, and most unique place. However, we were prevented from having one establishment place in more than one category. I don't agree with that, but that's how it was. I was a member of the team and voted for AHD as best deep fried dog. In my opinion, it's better to come in first in one of the 5 major categories if you're just limited to one. I also voted for AHD for best fries and most creative toppings. I would have also had AHD in the top 3 for Unique place and chili as well.

Link to the article: http://www.nj.com/living/ledger/index.ssf?...2550.xml&coll=1

As a follow up to the last post, I found out that Maui's indeed uses Hofmann's German style franks. It's been a long time since we visited Maui's, and in the interim have gone to a bunch of places. 87 overall. And it would have been close to 100 if some weren't closed due to rain (hot dog trucks and carts) or vacations. In any event, the final article of the Munchmobile series will be in Friday's paper, Sept. 8th.

I made an interesting discovery today. I was out with the Star Ledger Munchmobile S.W.A.T. dog team and one of our stops was Karl Ehmers in Hillsdale. Having been there once previously, I knew I would enjoy the hot dogs. They serve an all beef as well as a traditional German style beef and pork dog. I found out that the beef and pork dog, which I rate as one of the top 3 that I've sampled in this style, is actually made by Kocher's of Ridgefield. The beef dogs sold there (to take home, or eat at the cart) are packaged by the pound and made by Karl Ehmer's, but the pork and beef dogs are sold loose and were labelled Kocher's. I asked about this, but the people working there seemed confused. Someone appeared from the back and confirmed that these dogs are made by Kocher's. I highly recommend them. Fresh, nice casing, mild, but flavorful in the German style. Just an excellent hot dog. I'll call Kocher's tomorrow and see how long they have been supplying Ehmer's.

GHI is in Union, less than a mile over the Kenilworth border.

Most traditional Chicago style dogs do not include cucumbers either. Whether or not all these toppings are authentic, I still think there's too much crap on a Chicago dog. But that's just me. People seem to love the Chicago dog. J's is doing very well. When it comes to hot dogs, I believe less is more. A quality dog stands on it's own and doesn't need the salad on top of it. When I was at the Shake Shack, (then just Danny Meyers) I had the Chicago dog, and a plain Vienna beef dog with just mustard. I much preferred the dog with mustard only. And while the Vienna hot dog is a quality frank made from bull meat, I find it much milder than a Sabrett, Nathans, or Best.

YES, i stand corrected...thanks john. i guess there is a reason they call you "the hot dog guy" ← Shake Shack also puts lettuce on their dog; at least they did when I went some years back. This also isn't common on a Chicago Dog. If you want to try an authentic Chicago Style Dog, let me suggest J's Beef on St. Georges Ave. in Linden, N.J. Served with the 10 ingredients listed, most of them imported from Chicago. They also serve Italian Beef and barbecue.

I hate onions, but shouldn't they be included?

Jack, Are you selling Vienna franks yet? The packaged ones for take home.

Here's the link, which also includes a mention of the Hot Dog Tour http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/l...er?livfd&coll=1

We will be meeting in the parking lot at the Galloping Hill Inn. They will be our first stop. We will be skipping Charlies, but going to Tommy's Italian Hot dogs in Elizabeth and Jerry's, which is next to Tommy's. Other stops will include Syd's, J's Beef, Libby's, Rutt's Hut, Amazing Hot Dog, Dickiee Dees, and Tony's Truck. Maybe JJ's. Rich, Best's is a top quality beef dog. But there are some that do not like it as taste is subjective. They taste great prepared any way, but are especially good on the grill. Is it possible that you don't like all beef dogs? They have a higher fat content than a predominatly pork hot dog such as Thumanns. And a spicier flavor profile as well. Maybe you got a bad sample.

Max's in Long Branch is over $4.00 for a plain quarter pound hot dog. Syd's isn't the most expensive, but it's up there. And I don't like having to place an order for a hot dog with a waitress either. But they are the best damn dogs around. I'll try to find a link to the Ledger article. It ran yesterday and mentioned Syd's as being a stop on the annual New Jersey Hot Dog Tour. We are having another one on Sept 16th. Contact me if interested. We will be going to about 10 places. Air conditioned bus is $20.00 plus what you pay for dogs. We share or skip having dogs at some places in order to keep from exploding.

I've never had a better dog anywhere, but I agree with you regarding the price. What I do is go to Best Provisions and buy the dogs there. I prepare them like Syd's at home (simmerred in water and then charbroiled). Cost me btween 70 and 80 cents.