Charleston HDJ Review - OH! Grandy's Deli

An alert reader sent me a message about a new hot dog joint, Grandy's Deli, she had read about in the Kanawha City Consumer Guide. I was doubly surprised because I had never heard of the publication before and I hadn't heard of any new HDJs opening up.

The next day I was sitting in the waiting room of a local governmental agency and I spied a copy of the aforementioned guide sitting on the table, complete with a large color photo of a genuine looking WVHD on the front page. I decided that this was a sign that I needed to high-tail it on over to Grandy's.

When I arrived at the address my reader had sent me, I was somewhat surprised to find that it is the former site of Mr. C's Hot Dogs. I say "somewhat surprised" because even though I had predicted last year that Mr. C's was on its way out, but I was not aware that anything had taken its place.

The name in the window reads "OH! Grandy's Deli". Inside the place looks like it's been painted and a few little decorative touches have been added, but overall it looks pretty much the same as Mr. C's. The menu is much the same, as best as I recall, right down to the optional yellow slaw. I was eager to see if the hot dogs were as tasty.

Everything includes chili, slaw, mustard, onions and (sigh) ketchup. I opted for no ketchup, of course. My dog came wrapped in aluminum foil even though it was an eat-in order. The bun was not steamed, but it was warm. I couldn't tell if it was warm from being wrapped in foil with the weenie and chili or if it had been warmed before it was put there. The bun was OK. The chili was pretty good; faintly spicy and with good texture, but it could stand to be cooked longer or hotter. The slaw was coarsely chopped but had enough dressing to make it almost runny. It tasted great; very sweet and a little tart. Maybe a hint of peppers in there somewhere. Next time I think I'll try the yellow slaw.

I'm going to give Grandy's hot dogs a 4 Weenie rating.

Overall a nice little corner HDJ in an upper Kanawha City neighborhood that needs a little eatery. Their current hours are 10-4PM, but I'm not sure about weekends. They can be found at 660 MacCorkle Avenue SE, right across from Galaxy Lanes.