Charleston HDJ Review: The Purple Onion

We were surprised when we came across a social media post from Charleston's premier fruit and vegetable vendor that said they were offering hot dogs with homemade chili for lunch. It seemed odd to us for many reasons, so we thought we'd better get over there to check it out. 

Now the Capitol Market, in which the Purple Onion is located, has always had strict rules about competition between its venders. For example, only one of its vendors are allowed to sell fresh eggs, and the wine shop may sell cured meats but only the meat market can sell fresh or frozen meat. Since there is already a restaurant selling hot dogs (albeit not great ones), it seemed out of character for another vendor to horn in on the weenie business. 

So off we went to check it out for ourselves and sure enough, we saw it written on the sign "WV Hot Style Dogs." Unfortunately the listed toppings included ketchup, so strike one. That didn't stop us from ordering, though, we just had to ask them to delete the red stuff. 

Our hot dogs were presented in a styrofoam coffin (strike two) but the aroma sneaking out the cracks was heavenly so we were encouraged. Opening the lid of the coffin we noticed that the onions were chopped a bit too coarsely, but the slaw looked nice and creamy. All the toppings were applied in good proportions and we could even see a little mustard sneaking out of the end of the bun. 

The bun, though, is a bit of a problem. Cold and stiff. Not stale, mind you, but nothing like soft andproperly steamed. Of course, those styrofoam coffins do nothing to help, allowing steam to escape so not even the warm weenie and chili can soften the bun like happens when a hot dog is wrapped in cellophane or wax paper. 

But many of the previous concerns were laid to rest upon tasting the first bite. The chili, while not at all spicy, had a little tartness that paired nicely with the slaw. And while the slaw could have benefitted from some finer chopping, the taste and overall texture was very good. Even the large onion chunks were manageable since they were obviously cut from a mild onion (Vidalia maybe?).

So despite the stiff bun, coffin presentation and too large onions, we're still giving the Purple Onion high marks for the effort. It deserves its 4 Weenie rating.