The Quest for the Best Hot Dog

[C Squared]

My story begins about thirty years ago. I used to drive the family from Philly to Rehoboth Beach DE. We took Rte 202 to Wilmington since I 95 wasn't done in Philly yet. We used to pass a place called Jimmy John's. Never could figure out what it was. The about a year ago I saw a show on the Food Net about roadside dinning. The were telling us that this place called Jimmy John's had some of the best hot dogs in the country.

I remembered that it was on Rte. 202, but I couldn't remember where. Then one day (it was months later) my wife and I were out for a drive and I decided to find Jimmy John's. I couldn't. The road was under constuction and I decided the place had been torn down. That show could have been years old anyway.

The next day after the search (remember this is over a year since I saw the TV show) my wife and I were out for another drive. I made a right turn at a randomly selected street, and pulled up behind a dump truck stopped for a red light. On the truck was a bumper sticker that read "I brake for dogs at Jimmy Johns - West Chester PA" I couldn't believe it. All the time that had passed since the TV show and the day after our search I see this bumper sticker!

To make a long story short (or shorter anyway) We did get to Jimmy John's for hot dogs. We think the best we ever had.

You can get the details at Jimmy John's on Holly eats. com (he even has a picture of the bumper sticker)

[Jinmyo]

Chris, welcome to eGullet.

[spqr]

For the record, Ted's Hotdogs in the Buffalo, NY area are the best in the universe. They use a very high quality dog made by the local western NY Sahlen's company, dogs with natural casings by the way, they charcoal grill them, and they top them with your choice of a variety of different ingredients (but the hot pickle relish is the best). I think the big factor that explains how good the dogs are is that at the cooking line the dog cook will move the dogs over the licking flames of the charcoal fire and then, with his long handled fork, slit the dog open - all these cuts then curl and char nicely, giving the dog an incredibly unique look and taste. The place on Niagara Falls Blvd in the Town of Tonawanda excels.

[Paulazuchef]

Have any of you heard of a place in southern Maine called "Flo's steamed dogs?", I'll be going up there this summer and wonder if it's worth stopping in for lunch....or should I just stick to Lobster rolls?

-PaulaZuchef

[bigbear]

Welcome.

[Holly Moore]

Have any of you heard of a place in southern Maine called "Flo's steamed dogs?", I'll be going up there this summer and wonder if it's worth stopping in for lunch....or should I just stick to Lobster rolls?

Of course Flo's Hot Dogs is worth a stop. As they are the first to declare,

The classic order is three or more hot dogs with hot sauce and mayonnaise. Hot sauce and mustard works well too.

Eat only three and you'll still have room for a Red's Lobster Roll

Flo's Hot Dogs @ Holly Eats.Com

[Holly Moore]

Can't declare the best hot dog yet, as I still have a few more to eat. Nor do I think I could ever declare a "best."

But my top 10 so far, in no particular order:

Speed's Hot Dog in Boston

Rutt Hut, North Jersey

Cozy Drive-In (Corn Dog), Springfield IL

Nathan's, Coney Island

Syd's, North Jersey

Wasses, Various Maine Coastal Locations

Pinks Chili Dog, Los Angeles

Dilly Dog, New Hope PA

Hillbilly Hot Dogs, Lesage W.V.

Jimmy Buff's Italian Hot Dog, North Jersey

I know there are at least a couple of places in Chicago that have to be on this list. Plan on rectifying that in the near future. For now there is no question that North Jersey ranks as the Hot Dog Capital of the world.

[johnjohn]

Rawley's in Fairfield, CT. - Best dog in the universe. I plan business meetings when I am in Stanford around lunchtime so that I can drive the 30 minutes to Rawley's for a few hot dogs.

Had a dog at Nathan's last weekend while at Coney Island and was really disappointed.

johnjohn

[jaybee]

Had a dog at Nathan's last weekend while at Coney Island and was really disappointed.

Please elaborate.

[Gavin Jones]

Is he a friend of Tommy's?

[johnjohn]

I guess the idea of a Nathan's hot dog at Coney Island was so built up in my mind that it couldn't live up to the hype. I'm not originally from NY, and a few native NY'ers told me I had to have a dog at Nathan's in Coney Island - I just found it to be ordinary. Nothing special.

johnjohn

[jaybee]

I guess the idea of a Nathan's hot dog at Coney Island was so built up in my mind that it couldn't live up to the hype. I'm not originally from NY, and a few native NY'ers told me I had to have a dog at Nathan's in Coney Island - I just found it to be ordinary. Nothing special.

Interesting. Your experience fits into the thread I started about fantasy vs. reality. Sometimes when things get built into legends, it is impossible for the real thing to live up. I ate Nathan's as a kid on Coney Island, and as an adult on 42nd St. Last month I stopped at Surf Avenue, after dinner and dessert, and bought a hot dog. Though slightly thinner than the ones I remembered, it tasted just as good.

No fantasy, no disappointment. To me, the Nathan's hot dog is one of the top two in a "pure" sense--toppings aside--just the naked dog on a bun with mustard.

If Papaya King's were a little fatter, I'd have to say they ran close for first.

[johnjohn]

I agree with you on Papaya King - I like them - they have a nice "snap".

I am originally from the Midwest and where I come from we put ketchup on our hotdogs. It drives my girlfriend (native NY'er) crazy.

[Peter B Wolf]

Had two Hot Dogs yesterday at WASSES in Rockland Maine. Buns are terrible, just like Sunbeam bread, sticking to the roof of your mouth. Made another mistake: asked to have onions and mustard put on them (2), could not tell if the dogs were good or not. Will try next time without anything. But one good thing happened out of this, next door, and I mean next door, is "Brown Bag" a very nice Bakery and coffee shop. Great Muffins.

[Holly Moore]

Here's the Wasses dog I first had.

Grilled dog, typical New England cut hot dog bun with a good hit of mustard and fried onions.

I kinda liked it though I do wish they had toasted the bun.

[spqr]

Holly:

I can't believe you'd list the Cozy Dog place in Springfield on your top 25 list of best hotdogs! The place is filthy and the corn dogs are typically overdone on the outside and underdone on the inside. Other things on the menu are also very poor, like the fries -- worst fries in the midwest if you ask me. Nothing but limp grease bombs. Yuck.

[Holly Moore]

Dirt, per se, has never be a "deal breaker" for listing on HollyEats. I'm often leery of spic and span places - too much focus on cleaning not enough on food. Or the place is so dead, they can spend all their time cleaning.

I also believe, with all my heart, that often an overall layer of grease and grime somehow adds to the flavor of what is being prepared. This seems especially true with hot dogs, hamburgers, barbecue and cheesesteaks.

I guess one person's "limp grease bomb" can be another person's "greatest corn dog ever." That's what I love about America.

Seriously, I started off ordering one cozy dog and liked it so much that I ordered two more even though I had a lot more eating ahead of me. I assume, as is often the case, we had different experiences.

[TheMan,TheMyth]

Rutt's Hut is probably one of the best hot dogs in New Jersey(remember their onion rings being very good also).

Max's on Ocean Avenue in Long Branch, NJ is also very good.

Goffle Grill on Goffle Rd. in Hawthorne NJ is very good.

The Windmill chain down at the Jersey Shore is also great.

The Man, The Myth

TapItorScrapIt.com

[GordonCooks]

Dirt, per se, has never be a "deal breaker" for listing on HollyEats.  I'm often leery of spic and span places - too much focus on cleaning not enough on food.  Or the place is so dead, they can spend all their time cleaning.  

Do you really feel that way ? I feel a clean place is somewhere people take pride in what they do. If the place is dirty where you eat - how do you think the kitchen looks where they cook ? The place doesn't have to be a palace but I don't think my arms should stick to the table and I'm picking the cigarette butts from my onion rings

Just because the equipment may be a little on the old side - that doesn't mean they don't scrub down the griddle or change the frying oil.

[Holly Moore]

In Philadelphia there was a place called Levis' Hot Dogs. About a hundred years old as I recall. Had the first soda fountain or at least the oldest working soda fountain in the U.S. The place also had a permant yellow greasy, grimey pall. But it was successful. Grandfathers brought grandchildren as their fathers had brought them. It was a Philadelphia institution. A part of Philadelphia history.

Then some corporate types bought Levis'. First thing they did was give it a thorough scouring. The place shined, sparkled. After that, Levis was never the same, the hot dogs and combos (hot dog and fish cake) never tasted as good. Levis' passed on a year or three after the corporate cleaning. Along with the grease and grime the corporate types had scrubbed away Levis' history, heritage and character.

That's how I look at places like Levis' and the other long established hot dog, hamburger, barbecue and cheesesteak joints (as opposed to fine dining where the rules and expectations are different). Yes I am serious. I could care less about dirt build-up in corners, or tables that are a bit tacky. Or walls that last saw paint 20 years ago. Or grease dripping from the fyer or grill. It just doesn't bother me.

Of course onion rings are best served without cigarette butts. And shortening must be changed and grills must be scrubbed. These are food wholesomeness and food preparation issues. These areas must be priorities. I'm not promoting raw hamburger patties that have been sitting out at room temperature, ice cream dipped from scoops that haven't been stored in running water, cutting boards that aren't well washed.

Where I net out is, "It's all about the food." If the food is great, I can accept and perhaps even respect the grime. At the same time, grime is not a prerequisite to greatness. A place can sparkle like Geno's Cheesesteaks in Philadelphia and still put out a top quality product.

[spqr]

Helen:

Clearly we had different experiences at Cozy Dog. And while I can sort of understand what you mean when you talk about the, ahem, "atmosphere" of a place contributing to the flavor of the food, filth is still filth in my book and I take points off for that. I guess I was just astounded that a place like this could be listed on a "best of" list for hotdogs. I greatly disagree with this assessment.

BTW: the limp grease bombs I made mention of referred to the bad fries, but now that you mention it, it's also an apt description of what is the essential Cozy Dog.

So did you eat anywhere else in Springfield? Aside from the Cozy Dog, there appear to be two other local culinary treasures...the horse/pony shoe and the MadeRite sandwich. Did you sample either of these? If you did, do you have comments on them?

[Holly Moore]

Only other place in Springfield that I had a chance to check out was the Joe Rogers Chili Parlor. MadeRite was closed and I had to move on to Fort Wayne for the evening.

BTW, it's tough enough being a guy named Holly. Helen I'm not.

[Akiko]

As a native Chicagoan who is now transplanted in New York, I felt compelled to join this thread!

Where in the midwest do they put ketchup on their hotdogs? My dictator of a big brother wouldn't let me do it as a little kid because "that's not how chicagoans eat their hotdogs"... as soon as I moved out from under his watchful eye, I started putting ketchup on my hotdogs :), but I'm the only one I know who does it.

Now I have a four year old niece (daughter of my brother!) who isn't allowed to put ketchup on her hotdog either. I sneak her squirts of it when no one is looking!

SERIOUSLY THOUGH,

I have to agree with the votes for Papaya King, their spicy sausage with grilled peppers and onions is not duplicatable by anyone.

For a good hotdog with great snap and fresh toppings in Chicago, Fluky's and Wolfy's are both very good as is a little place called UDawgU on Touhy in Skokie.

There is a place on Clark whose name I forget, they make good dogs but the staff is so apalling that I cannot go back. They think it is funny to call their customers racial slurs and saying horrific things (not just me, they do it to Everyone. It's been written about in the Chicago Tribune, for some reason people go there just to hear it... why is that kind of thing an attraction for some people?). I don't get it. Their hotdogs aren't good enough to make me want to deal with that.

[spqr]

BTW, it's tough enough being a guy named Holly.  Helen I'm not.

Yikes! What a dreadful mistake. What was I thinking? I must be a little dyslexic. Sorry about that.

I guy named "Holly". eh? Is there a story here?

[Holly Moore]

Holly is short for Hollister. As to a story, Johnny Cash told it best in "A Boy Named Sue."