Mason County HDJ Review - Leon General Store

A reader wrote us a while back and said, "I’m not the best at judging hot dogs by any means but you all have got to visit Leon General Store and try one of their hot dogs. Located in Leon WV. They have everything from gas to hardware, groceries etc. They have a kitchen and deli and the hotdogs are on point. I think their hotdogs meet the criteria of a good ole WV hot dog. If you all ever have the time or are in this area you should give em a try!"

We found ourselves in the general vicinity recently and thought we'd check it out. We say "general vicinity" but Leon isn't in the general vicinity of much. Located in Mason County on a road between Point Pleasant and Charleston that nobody travels, to say Leon is off the beaten path is an understatement. So even though we were somewhat close, it still was a bit of a drive.

The things we do for you people. 

When we entered the Leon General Store we immediately saw that our reader was right about one thing at least: they do sell just about everything. From fishing lures to deer scent to bananas to lawn mower mufflers to pizza to space heaters to jiffy pop. And oh yeah, hot dogs.

After asking what "everything" included and deleting ketchup from our order, we wandered around the vast offerings of the store, marveling at the selection of merchandise. It was like visiting a museum and we didn't really notice how long it took to get our hot dogs. Time has no meaning at Leon General Store.

Since there are no inside dining options, we took our order to the car before unwrapping the wax paper, but even before it was unfurled we were impressed by the obvious warmth and softness of the steamed bun. Our first look left a pretty good impression, although the onions seemed a bit chunky. The slaw, however, looked fine as did the small amount of chili we could see. 

Take note, all you "it's not chili, it's sauce" hardliners, they call it chili. And it's solidly Ohio Valley here and so you might expect them to call it "sauce." But no, it's chili.

Then we found something else that our reader was right about: He's not the best at judging hot dogs.

Here's the breakdown: The slaw, while looking pretty good, was really quite tasteless. The chili was a tiny bit sweet but otherwise had nothing going for it. Most of the flavor of the whole came from the onions. But it was the weenie that really got us.

Now before we go any further, let's get this out of the way. We often say unlike many regional hot dogs (like Chicago and New York styles) the weenie is the least important part of a West Virginia hot dog. Many people have jumped on this statement and misquoted us -- or drawn erroneous conclusion -- that we don't think the weenie matters. That is entirely untrue. We say that a great hot dog doesn't have to have a great weenie, but we also say that a bad weenie can bring a hot dog down. 

And the latter is the case with Leon General Store. This otherwise decent (not great, but decent) hot dog was put asunder by its weakest link. It was small (which can be a positive if the toppings are good, but in this case it was just small). It was odd-tasting. And it was an unusual color. 

So we have to disagree with the reader who said he thought it qualified as a "good ole WV hot dog." It was not good, although perhaps the weenie is "ole" and that's why it looked and tasted the way it did. 

2 Weenies.