Charleston HDJ Review - The Comfort Station

So here we are at the second stop in our absolutely unintentional little tour of Hot Dog Joints With Unusual Names. If "Wal Rocks" wasn't enough, here we find a little hole in the wall on West Washington Street called "The Comfort Station."

Now in my experience "comfort stations" are not places you would want to eat. In fact, it would be just about the last place I would think of having lunch. So you wonder what the owners were thinking when they named this place. But then you also must immediately wonder what I was thinking when I went in looking for a hot dog. Let's just leave all the wondering aside for now, shall we?

To be honest, I saw the words "Hot Dogs" on the sign as I was driving by. I turned around and parked and it was only after I was at the front door that I saw the name of the place. It wasn't enough to stop me from going in, but I confess that if the decor inside had been Early American Outhouse I would have immediately turned around. Happily it wasn't. Instead it is an eclectic motif that is part "Urban Prairie" and part Southern charm. The two young ladies who were working the counter were delightful and eager to please.

It was, though, just about what you'd expect for an urban eatery in a working neighborhood. An old building, but clean. Friendly service and decent food. The menu is full of home-cookin' specialties like liver & onions, pork chops in gravy, fried potatoes and a full compliment of vegetables. And hot dogs.

The hot dogs were carefully made with obviously homemade slaw that was a little coarse but very sweet and tasty. The chili was a little bland but the bun was nicely steamed and that helped the overall texture of the hot dog. For $1 each it's hard to complain. "Everything" includes ketchup in addition to the chili, slaw, onions and mustard. We'll give the hot dog a 4 Weenie rating because of the steamed bun, the nice homemade slaw and the outgoing friendliness of the servers.

The Comfort Station is open Mon-Saturday 11AM to 9:00 PM. It's located at 1819 W. Washington Street just down the block from Pile Hardware.