Clendenin HDJ Review - Almost Heaven BBQ
With one 4 1/2 Weenie and one full fledged Five Weenie HDJ, Clendenin is already arguably blessed with more great HDJs per capita than any other town in West Virginia. What would be the odds that a new place that just opened up halfway between those two excellent HDJs would be a winner, too? If this were a typical town I'd say slim to none, but Clendenin seems to know its hot dogs so I went with an open mind.
Almost Heaven BBQ is a little window service carryout located on Spencer Road (the road that connects Clendenin with I79). While primarily a BBQ joint, the banner across the front of the building proudly states that they have hot dogs, always a good sign, and when I asked what everything includes I got even a better sign: "Chili, slaw, mustard and onions" I was told without equivocation. It only got better from there because my hot dog came wrapped in wax paper! My anticipation grew by the second and 
was rewarded when I opened up the paper and saw a huge mound of slaw that was finely chopped and just creamy enough. The slaw was rather colorless, with no carrots or anything else showing, but it tasted nearly perfect. The tiny pieces of cabbage were crisp and fresh, and slight sweetness matched the chili perfectly since it was fairly tame, spice-wise. It had a nice flavor, but was served very sparingly.
The weenie was remarkable because it was large in caliber and very tasty. I couldn't tell how it was prepared, but it was quite good. The bun was standard. The mustard was perhaps a little lightly applied.
We're gonna give Almost Heaven BBQ a 4.5 Weenie score. A little spicier chili would have kicked it up to a Five, but it is still a great hot dog.
Now please pay attention to this fact: Along one stretch of road in Clendenin there are two 4.5 Weenie HDJs and one 5 Weenie. Take a left and head a short distance up Elk River Road and you'll find another 3.5 Weenie HDJ that is a teaspoon away from a 4. I am very close to naming Clendenin as the hot dog capital of West Virginia, but I need to make another trip to Logan before I do that.
5 comments:
Yum-O
Stanton, your reviews rock. Have you ever thought of branching out from HD restuarants to take in the plentiful Saturday afternoon church hot dog sales?
For the record, the Gold Dome (Kanawha City) is my dog joint of choice. Hell, I go there just to get an order of fries sometimes because they're actually good fries and they really change the fry grease on a regular basis.
Billy, the church hot dog scene is vast and too much for me to handle. On any given weekend you can eat your weight on church hot dogs around here.
And Gold Dome? Great hot dogs, to be sure, but I don't want to die from second hand smoke so I don't go there.
I always call my order into the Dome and go pick it up. I didn't realize there were any bastions of indoor smoking left in Kanawha County. Then again, I don't drink (not because I'm a prude, I tried to drink, oh how I tried for years to drink, I finally made peace with the fact that I suck at it and left the booze to the folks who can consume it without becoming a human Bellagio fountain display).
how about a hdj shootout between Clendenin and Logan?
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