Monday, July 30, 2007

2007 West Virginia Hot Dog Festival

For the third year running, Huntington's Pullman Square has hosted the West Virginia Hot Dog Festival. Here were some of the highlights:


M & M Dairy Bell was spotted with their 2007 Weenie Award for Best HDJ.

They also had a much better piece of real estate this year.

Throughout the day, 5 Weenie-rated Hillbilly Hot Dogs kept 30-50 people in line at any given time. I had planned on getting on of their dawgs, but I figured I'd be nice and not hog up line space for out-of-towners. I will instead head up to Lesage next weekend.

Sweet Jumpin' Josephine! Sam's Hot Dog Stand brought slaw this year! Unfortunately, limited outlet space had them bringing only their mild sauce. Next year I hope they opt for spicy, instead.

I finally got to eat a Johnny Dog from his hot dog cart.

Slaw in his small push cart would be a recipe for a minor salmonella outbreak, so Johnny instead gets a lot of mileage out of the Midwestern/Michigan-esque sauce that is sweet, rich, and loaded with green peppery goodness and jumbo-sized Cavalier franks. Not a true "WV Hot Dog," per se, but pretty close and darn tasty. Check back next month for a review.

There was also entertainment for those who had already e't too much. Here is a local stage troupe performing musical numbers. They also had a weenie dog race, but that was waaaay too crowded and one of the few times where the lines were short and, frankly, I was more concerned with the edible dogs than the one that were pooping everywhere.

4 comments:

clear eyes said...

Mild slaw?

Happy hippo said...

A new hot dog cart is setting its sights on the Charleston area. I would be interested in knowing your recommendations for the new entrepeneurs about their edible offerings.

Stanton said...

Hi Heather,

My recommendations are:

1. Keep it simple - don't try to be all things to all people.

2. Make it Great! - The quality has got to be top-notch.

3. Make Money! - We want you to be successful. You don't have to be cheap if you are good. Don't try to compete with the snack bars, get your price! $1.75 isn't going to scare anyone away.

Good luck, mystery hot dog cart people. And make sure you let us know when you open.

Christopher Scott Jones said...

Also remember to have a mechanism to keep your slaw good 'n cold. Johnny can get away with no slaw in Huntington, but you're liable to get arrested or shot in Charleston for such an offense.

Also, have ketchup on hand but don't list it on any printed signs or fliers of available toppin's.