A little taste of Huntington has recently opened in a strip mall along Teays Valley Road: a new establishment that is a franchisee of both Monty's Pizza and Sam's Hot Dog Stand. While I will pass on Monty's Pizza (give me Pizza Hut, Hussons, Lorenzo's (RIP soon), Graziano's, or Gino's first), I am a complete mark for Sam's hot dogs, so I knew I'd have to check this place out at some point. I have heard that individual Sam's locations can vary dramatically in quality, especially the further east one traveled, and I wanted to see if this location was more 8th Street or Charleston.Much to my surprise, Sam's-Teays Valley is doin' right by the Sam's Hot Dog Stand brand.
I was taken aback at first by the $1.49 per dawg price point. That is about a quarter more per weenie than usual, but nothing too shocking like over at The Hottest Dog.
The friendly dog jerk (or is it dog tender? or maybe dog artisan?) got right to work on the assembly station and insisted on making me another dog when I commented to myself that I had forgotten to ask for spicy sauce. Friendly service is always a great way to win repeat customers (and brownie points from weenie critics).The dog had all of the usual components of a Sam's dog: the spicy sauce, the uber-chopped (if slightly dry) slaw, and a Huntington-fresh bun. However, it can be said that ol' boy hooked me up, big time. He added sauce and slaw by the shovelful, really piling it on. Lots of great tasting toppin's also make me happy. While I'm not saying that this guy is quite up their with Yann and the guy from 8th St, but he sure knows how to dress a dog.
The atmosphere was pretty cool, too. It was kind of cramped, but it was arraigned much like many of the cramped restaurants in small towns throughout West Virginia that have served up some of the best fast food anywhere. Furthermore, the fact that the place is also a pizza joint helps sell a trip to get some great hot dogs to those that are insisting on something other than good hot dogs (ie Northern Panhandlers).
While I reserve the right ot re-review this joint after it has settled in for a few months, right now I have to give this place 4.5 weenies. It is the single best example in terms of atmosphere and toppin's-hookup at a Sam's Hot Dog Stand (my favorite chain) and should be honored as such. Hopefully, they can keep it up.
It looks great in the picture, I'll give it that.
ReplyDeleteI think the correct term for the hot dog maker is "weenieista". At least it is now.
Well, we would have to be very careful as to what sort of "jerks" we would call them and still expect to be considered a family website. Dog is about the only safe one there...
ReplyDeleteOne of these days, I'm really going to have to make it down that way to see just what all this fuss over the "Huntington-fresh bun" is all about.
ReplyDeleteImagine holding your mouth wide open at the end of the Heiner's conveyor belt...
ReplyDeleteI live in Teays Valley and visited this HDJ yesterday with my family. The dogs are excellent, and to beat it all I found out that I can get hotdogs delivered right to my door. We are going to try the pizza tonight!
ReplyDeleteHot dgos delivered to my door?
ReplyDeleteHoly Spit!!!
I'm moving to Teays Valley...just as soon as I can qualify for a $250,000 mortgage.
I hope they still deliver in 2037.
Be sure to let us know how the pizza turns out. I personally cannot stand Monty's pizza, but others swear by it.
We did eat the pizza last night and I must say it was equally as impressive as the dogs,and with the super friendly service we will most definitely be repeat customers!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like I have to give Monty's another try. I think the last time I had there pizza was during the Clinton/Underwood/Dean years.
ReplyDelete