Fayetteville HDJ Review - Wild Flour Bakery

When we were contacted by The Travel Channel about doing a West Virginia Hot Dog segment for the "Pit Stops" portion of their New River Gorge feature, we were a bit concerned when they said we were going to film at a bakery. I was afraid that we would get there and find that they only sold this kind of hot dog. Luckily, the owners of Wild Flour Bakery are savvy WVHD aficionados and had the real deal. Very real.

I arrived a little early of the appointed time and Jennie, the production company's contact person with whom I had been communicating for the past month or so, told me to relax and she would find me when the time came for our interview. With time to kill in a bakery, it's hard not to really work up an appetite what with all of the gorgeous baked goods in the case and the lingering aroma of hot dog chili emanating from the kitchen. To make matter worse, Jennie brought out a lovely looking specimen of a WVHD and sat it in front of me and left it there for the fifteen minutes that it took the camera man and the gaffer/gopher to set up the shot. It was almost too much to stand and I am sure that I drooled a couple of times during the interview. I really hope they weren't shooting in hi-def.

So after the interview was complete I was allowed to finally taste the hot dog that I had driven all this way for and subsequently tortured with.

It was worth it. Worth the torture and worth the drive.

Now to be honest, the hot dog was room temperature by the time I got to eat it, but even tepid, this thing was great. The chili, as is usually the case with chili in Southern West Virginia, was not spicy but had a complexity to it that included a little bit of chili powder and the dark, rich taste that only a long-simmering pot of tomato and onion product can have. The onions were so finely chopped that they were almost invisible but tasty and fresh tasting. The bun was soft and the weenie was perfectly cooked. And then there is the slaw.

You know how some ice skating judges never give out a perfect score of 10 because they allow that there can always be something better to come along? That's how I am with slaw. I have used superlatives like "nearly perfect texture" or "nearly perfect flavor" to describe lots of slaws over the years; that changes today. This slaw is freakin' perfect! This might be "The One True Slaw" that I have been looking for for the better part of 7 years doing this hot dog blogging. It is PERFECT in texture (finely chopped and exactly the right amount of dressing), PERFECT in taste (sweet enough to make itself known as sweet, but not enough to cover the cabbage flavor) and PERFECTLY matched with the chili. And if that's not enough, they serve it in a very generous helping.

Without any fear of dispute, I proclaim this as a 5 Weenie WVHD worthy for consideration as one of the very best hot dogs in the Great State of West Virginia.

In a bakery. I know, right?

Salem HDJ Review Willie's Hot Dogs

Salem has long been on the list of places that was in need of a visit to research any hot dog joints that it may home too. I had already made it a point to return there in order to check out a couple of places that had been mentioned to me. Unfortunately, the heavy rains and minor flooding that came through over this past week forced me to postpone my trip by a couple of days.

Along main street sits a row of buildings that harken back to the early days of the city. Nestled in the corner of one these old buildings --which ironically sits next to a relatively new Dollar General store-- is a humble little HDJ called Willie's Hot Dogs. Willie's adjoins a pool hall right next door, and there's even an open doorway right beside the counter where you place your orders. Looking around, I don't think I saw more than two pieces of furniture that matched. Whether unintentional or by design, it actually gave the place a little charm. Don't get me wrong, the place still has "dive" written all over it, but that's all superficial when it comes to the quality of the dog.

As I walked up to the counter, I noticed a sign on the back wall that clearly stated that "everything" for Willie's was mustard, onions, and chili. Not unusual in this area, but at least they had to smarts to call it chili and not the derogatory "sauce". I'd like to contend that the belief the term "sauce" is overused in this region is nothing more than an urban legend, but I digress. I ordered one with everything, plus slaw. The nice gal taking my order didn't blink or flinch over the request for slaw, so that was a good sign.

I watched her put my order together. She was very meticulous in putting all of the components together, which I took as a good sign that I'd come across a place that actually took some semblance of care and pride in their product. Even the way the hot dog was handled while it was wrapped was convincing. While she put the second hot dog together, I strolled around looking at some of the photos and decorations adorning the walls. I noticed there were plenty of pics of a

flood from 1944. Kind of ironic, considering the bad weather that had hit the area a few days before. But what really caught my eye was the poster to the left. It seemed like a pretty honest statement.

As I started to sample the goods, I was taken aback by how much the chili reminded me of the variation that is favored in the southern part of the state. By that, I mean that it didn't have an overwhelming amount of spices. It had a terrific quality of hearty meatiness, both in taste and texture. There was just enough sauce to permeate the bun, but not enough to soak deeply into it.

The slaw didn't have a lot of the creaminess that I'm used to, but was actually a bit "drier", for lack of a better term. However, this worked out well as it did not overwhelm the other flavors of the dog, which is a frequent problem with poorly prepared WVHDs. I was pleasantly pleased that the onions were finely shredded and stirred into the slaw just before it was added to my hot dog. That was a nice touch. I've had onions in the past that were cut or chopped down to the size of thumbnail-sized Rubik's cubes. These hit the mark.

Unfortunately, there were two notable shortcomings to the dogs I sampled. First, the buns were only slightly warm. I couldn't tell if they'd just been warmed over somehow, or perhaps steamed at one point and then taken off the steam. Secondly, the weenie of the first dog was water-logged to the point of near mushiness. The second one was slightly over-boiled, but not as bad as the first. I can give the benefit of the doubt in that I was visiting in the after the lunch rush on a weekend, so perhaps the turnover of product was not what it could be. Still, these two dings would normally be enough to put any other HDJ rating down a couple of notches.

I've been wanting to get out of the habit of using "half weenies" in my ratings unless absolutely necessary. With that being said, I'm going to be generous, round up, and give Willie's a four weenie rating. Hopefully they have more consistency as far as the weenie and bun prep go during regular lunch periods. However, the chili is fantastic and the slaw is very well done.

Barboursville HDJ - Dave's

I was stuck at the Huntington Mall the other day while my car was being repaired. Since it was around lunchtime, I strolled over to the food court for some Chick-fil-A or Big Loafer. Curiously enough, I noticed a new hot dog joint open in the former Dairy Queen location. I figured it was worth a review.

The toppings list was concerning. In clear defiance of WV hot dog culture, the toppings list included "ketchup" and exotic ingredients like "jalapeño," "kraut," and "mayo." While slaw was free, the sauce (called "chili" despite being in Cabell County) cost an extra $.25. Very confusing indeed.

After making my order, I stood at an angle where I could watch the preparation process. For some reason, they microwave the buns, leaving them somewhat rubbery. Next, the chef de weenie took a frank from a roller (beats a water bath) & then added the toppings (including sauce from a crockpot).

The end result was an enjoyable if flawed utilitarian WV hot dog experience.

First, the problems. The mouthfeel created by the inexplicably nuked bun was downright odd. It seemed like something one would do in a college dorm, not at a hot dog stand. The homemade sauce, while thoughtful, needed a bit more salt and some sort of heat.

Now, the good. The weenie was an Eckrich frank and the onions were just the right texture. The homemade slaw was sweet, creamy, and as good as any that can be found in Huntington.

Overall, this place gets a 3 weenie rating with lots of room for improvement. A few tweaks of the sauce and a better method of bun warming and this place is easily in the 4-4.5 range. I'll give them some time for the constructive criticism to soak in and will re-review in a couple of months.

Charleston HDJ Review - The Smokehouse

Frustrated by the lack of new HDJs to review locally and a shortage of free time to travel to distant ones, I have resorted to re-reviewing some local Charleston HDJs that I haven't been to in years. This is not a bad thing because if a Hot Dog Joint is still around after the six years of this blog's existence then it must be pretty decent, so I'm likely to get a good hot dog.

Today I thought we'd revisit The Smokehouse, a West Side institution. The last time we reviewed it was 2006. You can read that review here. When this review was done we hadn't even invented the Weenie Scale yet, so there was ample reason for me to give them another shot.

The Smokehouse is one of those places that knows hot dogs and knows what its customers like. This is evidenced by two things: 1) Hot Dogs are first on the menu, and 2) their hot dogs come with chili, slaw, mustard and onions - period.

The Smokehouse hot dog is a classic Utilitarian Dog with a wonderfully soft and sticky bun that has been steamed to perfection. The chili and slaw are thin in texture and compliment each other well; the chili is meaty and spicy and the slaw is tart and creamy. The onions and mustard did not detract. The only negative I can give to this hot dog was that the weenie was a little waterlogged; that takes off a half-point from an otherwise great hot dog. We'll give The Smokehouse 4 1/2 (out of 5) Weenies on this day.

The Smokehouse is on the corner of Washington Street West and Stockton Street. It is a great place to eat lots of other things besides hot dogs and while the rear dining room and bar look a little rough the front dining room is a nice, comfortable place to dine.

Charleston HDJ Review - Betty Lou's Diner

Today we review the latest incarnation of Betty Lou's Diner. Read this review for background on the restaurant and its history, but don't bother yourself with what we said about the hot dogs then because they have changed!

Moving from its obscure location on Central Avenue on the South Charleston hill had to be a good thing for this HDJ. The new location is at the corner of Greenbrier Street and Oakridge Drive, which seems ideal for a carry out - 1 minute off of I64, on the way to the airport, Coonskin Park and Capital High School - but the spot has has seen a parade of HDJs and other fast food places move in and out over the years (the last place went in out so fast that I didn't even get around to publishing the review I wrote on its hot dogs).  Betty Lou's, though, seems to have something going for it than none of the others had; quality and experience. Time will tell.

As I said before, the hot dogs have definitely changed since our last review, and for the better. This time I found a much better combination of chili and slaw: neither are great by themselves but they work nicely together. The chili has a low, slow spiciness and is perfect texture. The slaw is also perfect texture and has just enough sweetness to compliment the chili. Add a nicely steamed bun, a decent weenie, fresh tasting onions and mustard and you have a hot dog worthy of 4 1/2 out of 5 Weenies.

This might be the best place in the Charleston area to hop off the interstate and grab a good hot dog if you are passing through town. Let's hope they live long and prosper in this location.

Charleston Area HDJ Review - Ridgeview BBQ, Institute

In the spot formerly occupied by Jenn's Southern BBQ  - across Rt. 25 from the WV State University Campus - this BBQ joint also offers hot dogs and recently they posted on our Facebook page an invitation for us to come and do a review. I had already been there once several months ago and had their BBQ (which I found to be a little lacking) and was a little hesitant to try their hot dogs. But hey, it's what I do, right?

So I was passing by, had a little time and a hot dog sized appetite so I figured I'd stop. Hot dogs are fairly hidden on their menu, but with the help of the courteous order taker I soon saw their offering: Two all beef hot dogs and chips for $4.99. I was gratified to see they proudly listed the toppings as chili, slaw, mustard and onions; a good sign. A few minutes later and I had my order.

The first thing I noticed was the dark brown ends of the weenie sticking out from under the toppings, looking like it had been overcooked. Other than that, though, nothing gave me any pause nor any reason to think this wouldn't be a good hot dog.

The first bite, all I could taste was a smoky flavor. It seems that the chili and the overdone weenie together made the hot dog taste like it had been in the pig smoker that sits out front to the restaurant (not necessarily a bad thing, just a surprise). The chili had a lot of chili powder flavor but not much else. It was, however, nearly perfect in texture. The slaw was rather tasteless and a little too dry, but it seemed to work pretty well with the smoky chili. The bun was nicely steamed and overall this was good hot dog. I'm going to give it a 4 Weenie ranking since they got the standard ingredients right and the slaw and chili seemed to be designed with each other in mind; the sign of a real WVHD.

I'm glad to see that Ridgeview BBQ is at least trying to live up to the standard that was set by their predecessor in this location. While they aren't quite up to Jenn's 5 Weenie hot dogs, they are doing far better than most and serve one of the best hot dogs in the lower Kanawha Valley.

Charleston HDJ Review - Sister Act Cafe

In the location formerly occupied by Diana's Capitol Street Cafe, Sister Act Cafe has been open now for a few weeks and was due a visit by your friendly neighborhood Weenie Wonk (I heard that Diana's has moved to a new location, but I'm not sure where).

The motif of the cafe has changed and a bunch of photos hang on one wall of people I would guess to be sisters, and furthermore guess that it would be these sisters who own the cafe. Otherwise there has been few changes: The place still has a few inside seats and the counter/kitchen locations are simple and convenient for a crushing lunchtime business that they are likely to have in this location, and which indeed they were in the midst of when I visited.

Despite the crowd, my order came out quick and the friendly staff made me feel at ease and confident that they might know how to put together a decent WVHD (except they did ask if I wanted ketchup which is often a bad sign).

My two dogs were wrapped nicely in wax paper (the preferred packaging method of WVHotDogs.com) but then were curiously placed into an oversize coffin. When I unwrapped the first hot dog I was a bit dismayed to see the giant pieces of cabbage in the slaw, but otherwise the hot dog looked fine; a good-looking specimen of a Utilitarian Dog.

Beauty is only skin deep, though, and this hot dog lost its beauty about halfway through the first bite. The slaw was dry and almost tasteless, and unfortunately the taste it did possess was bad. The chili was OK, but served in such a small quantity that it too was effectively tasteless. The weenie was marginal. Because of the dry slaw and the lack of any other good flavor I found myself looking for a mustard package to make the second dog edible. I think ketchup might have even improved this thing.

Rarely do I give a 0 Weenie score, but Sister Act Cafe's hot dog this day truly deserves it.