2007 Weenie Awards - Best Hot Dog Joint - WV At Large

After yesterday's indecisiveness I have come to a conclusion: Any decision I make is going to be questioned by lots of people, including me.

Commenter "Big Daddy" had a good point about making more regional categories so the choices would be more specialized, but with our limited resources it's difficult to get good coverage in every section of the state. Last year we only concerned ourselves with Charleston since I was the only one doing reviews and was pretty much confined to the Capital City except on rare hot dog junkets to Huntington and a few stopovers along I79 on my way to parts north. But then Chris came on the scene and provided good coverage of Huntington and the I64 corridor to Charleston. So it's natural to have separate awards for Huntington and Charleston. Call it growing pains, but we're just not able to handle a statewide rating this year, so take our 'WV At Large" Weenie Award winners with a grain of salt....this year.

Having preemptively apologized for all I am about to offend I will now reveal the winner of the 2007 Weenie Award for Best Hot Dog Joint - WV At Large:

But first, let me provide my rationale for this selection. I thought about, and went back and read all of the statewide reviews of the past year and it all came down to one question: "Where is the place I would most like to visit again, and share with my wife and kids?" The answer:

D.J.'s 50's and 60's Diner in Fairmont

While it's true that the hot dog only earned a four and a half Weenie ranking after I plopped the side dish of slaw on top of the chili-dog I was served, that doesn't diminish the fact that this is one of the nicest, neatest, cleanest and most interesting HDJs in the state. The fact that the menu has so much more than hot dogs doesn't dissuade me from awarding the prize either, because I found the place while looking for hot dogs, and I found a mighty good specimen there.

Congratulations D.J.'S!