Fairmont HDJ Review – Dairy Creme Corner

If there's one thing that there never seems to be a shortage of here at WVHotDogs.com, it's recommendations for a favorite local HDJ. Case in point was the recent e-mail that Stanton forwarded to me from a reader named Cathy with the subject line “Need to try the BEST!!!”, referring to the Dairy Creme Corner in Fairmont.

Dairy Creme Corner is an inviting walk-up-or-eat-in type HDJ that primarily focuses on ice cream and summer comfort foods. It features an extensive menu of short order goodies on one of those menu boards that seemingly spans the width of the restaurant. You name it, chances are they've got it: all sorts of cool treats, burgers, salads, cheese steaks, nachos, funnel cakes, and the like. Places like these can take you back to summer nights when you were a kid. To boot, the service is friendly and prompt. Dairy Creme Corner should win the award for having the “Money Location”. It literally sits right at the base of the exit ramp of exit 137 off of I-79.

To be completely honest with you, I take any claims of the hot dogs at any given place being “the best” (or some similar claim) with a grain of salt. While it means a lot that someone thought enough of the product to recommend it, the rule of thumb is that no two tastes are the same. At any rate, I found the hot dogs here to be well worthy of high marks.

For starters, it's one flat price for any hot dog with any topping, to include slaw. In Marion County, this is a rarity since many HDJs in the area still believe in the phantom “no-slaw law”. The buns are steamed just about right to allow some absorption of the toppings, but not too much that they turn to mush. The weenie seemed to be adequately done. For some odd reason I had a hard time finding the onions and mustard in each bite, but they were still detectable.

The regular variation of the chili seems to be geared more to towards the southern WV formula, in that it doesn't rely on an overdose of spices, but rather a hearty flavor. The texture of the meat is nicely ground and cooked just to the point that the juices of the beef are released into a pleasing mix that compliments the weenie. The only drawback seems to be that there is a hint of ketchup stirred into the formula somewhere. Not enough ketchup to throw the formula into complete disarray, but just enough to make its presence known in fashion that annoyed my anti-ketchup palate.

The slaw as fresh, with an emphasis on a crispness in the finely cut cabbage. I found the flavor to be middle-of-the-road in terms of sweet/tangy ratio. On the downside, I thought the dressing was a bit too thin and runny for my personal liking. Again, this didn't ruin the hot dog, but it was a little unpleasant to have it running into the palm of my hand.

All in all, Dairy Creme Corner is a fun and pleasant place to take the family and enjoy the best of America's favorite summer treats. The hot dogs are really good, but come up a hair short of being the best they can be. Therefore, Dairy Creme Corner gets four and a half weenies.