One Reader's Opinion About (Parts Of) the 2022 West Virginia Hot Dog Trail

 (Editor's Note: Facebook follower and all-round hot dog fan Dale Caskey took a trip from his home in Kentucky to Southern West Virginia to check out some of the HDJs on our list. This is his report, and the opinions he expresses are NOT the views of the West Virginia Hot Dog Blog, although we think he's spot on about Hinton.)

So this years list has inspired me to get out and sample some new to me West Virginia Hot Dog Joints. As I live in NE KY I’m most familiar with the Huntington area restaurants. I’ve eaten at those for years. Took 2 short 1 overnight trips in the past few weeks. Ate at 9 Hot Dog Joints. 6 are on the Trail list (marked with an *) and 3 are not.

1. Leslie’s (Montgomery)

2. Fat Eddie’s (Mt. Nebo) *

3. Swiftwater General Store (Lansing) *

4. Huskey’s (North Charleston) *

5. Hot Diggity Dog’s (North Charleston) *

6. Jim’s Drive-In (Lewisburg)

7. Kirk’s (Hinton)

8. Dairy Queen (Hinton) *

9. Chum’s (Marmet) *

Leslie’s Restaurant & Pub (in Montgomery) may be a dark horse to make a WV HD future Trail list. A fellow reader on this site suggested that I try it out. This placed opened in the Fall of 2021. Excellent Hot Dog! Creamy world class slaw. Clean sports bar type place. Would give this dog an A rating.

Fat Eddies didn’t blow me away. Smallish sized dog kinda in between a standard WV and a Cincy style Coney. Would rate as a low average WV dog...Rating C-

Swiftwater General Store has a new, sparkling clean, beautiful operation. Hot Dog while a larger wiener than standard was excellent. I would imagine that other menu items would be great there as well. Just kind of wondering why the home Swiftwater in Charleston isn’t on the Trail list? Rating A-

Huskey’s was very old school. Reminded me of my local HDJ as a kid...”Big Ben’s”, RIP. Interesting the absence of the restaurant name on most all of the signage. Really good HD though. Rating B+

Hot Diggity Dogs so I could sample and compare each of them. This place was much more modern and maybe just a tad bit spiffier than the former. To be honest, while both dogs were very good, I preferred the Huskey Dog. Kudos to Hot Diggity Dogs for some fabulous macaroni salad though. Hot dog rating B

Jim’s Drive-In is a legit 1950’s Drive-In. Thought that I would pop by at 10:30 am on a Saturday morning and take a few pics while waiting for them to open. Well upon arrival I found 27 vehicles in the lot as they opened at 10:00 am. The locals truly love there HDJ. Borderline Trail worthy. The Dog was good. Rating B-

Hinton Impressions:

If you want a good hot dog, don’t expect it in Hinton. Went in excited to rate which is better between these two iconic joints. Neither impressed. Kirk’s was actually near disgusting. Filthy floors, sour order taker and of course no towels in the rest room. If you want to order the most expensive standard WV HD in the State, well at $3.79 a pop Kirk’s takes the prize as I haven’t seen any to rival that price. Rating D-

Dairy Queen was much cleaner. Beautiful and interesting multi decked interior seating overlooking the NEW River was a highlight. Wasn’t blown away by the hot dog though. Dog was a Hinton (but no where else in the State) bargain at $2.99. Rating D+

Both Hinton restaurants were busy on the Saturday afternoon that I was there. There’s no doubt of their loyal local followings.

Chum’s was the Absolute star of my 9 new WVHDJ tour. Yellow mustard used is both unique and scrumptious! Excellent Hot Dog. I really really liked it. Beautiful, Clean and efficient roadside stand operation. One of if not the Best HD in the State. Rating A+