Charleston Re-Review - The Grill

The reason for this re-review of The Grill on Charleston's West Side has nothing to do with the restaurant (which I like and eat non-hot dog meals there all the time), nothing to do with the review they got last time (which was a fairly poor 2 Weenie rating), and nothing to do with fairness or giving them another chance. It had everything to do with making sure that a historic event was held in an appropriate venue. You see, there's a new food review blog in Charleston called "Fork You" that reviews mostly locally owned restaurants in Charleston and throughout the state. I contacted the proprietors of that site when I first discovered it and made a polite threat that if they ever reviewed hot dogs that I would immediately file a huge lawsuit. Obviously scared by my legal maneuvering, they immediately agreed to my request, adding that they recognized that this blog was the king of weenies and they would not presume to attempt to usurp our throne. A kinder, gentler exchange of emails ensued. After a few weeks of reading Fork You, I realized that I had better make friends with these folks because it is obvious that they will soon supplant this blog as the premier food review site in Charleston and I want to stay in their good graces. They write good reviews, pick interesting places, and are prolific enough to already have over 20 reviews in less than two months. So in order to foster this new friendship it was decided that a summit would be held to get acquainted with each other and perhaps do a joint posting to celebrate the momentous occasion. But where in Charleston should we meet? There really is only one place for such a meeting. When Dick Cheney came to town, where did he eat? Where do all of the political power-players meet for lunch in Charleston? That's right, The Grill. The place that looks like it is what people had in mind when they coined the term "hole in the wall." The place that is short on charm and atmosphere, but long on simple, decent and greasy food. I reviewed The Grill's hot dogs in 2006. Follow that link, read the review and then add this addendum: The only thing different about a 2008 hot dog from The Grill is the bun. They offer two different versions: New England Style Split Top (buttered and grilled) and regular. I had one of each. Both buns were good (the regular wasn't hard this time), but the rest of the hot dog was still lackluster. I don't think I can upgrade the score. But this post is less about the hot dog review and more about telling our regular readers about the fun folks of Fork You. Really, I learned nothing in our meeting that I hadn't already gleaned from their blog except that their little avatars look amazingly like them. Misty, Susan, Daniel and Phil were the four Fork You reviewers that attended and they were all very impressive with their commitment and the way they went about the task of reviewing. I immediately recognized that being so unrestrained by having more than one menu item to review could be a bad thing. Susan changed her order about 23 times before the poor, beleaguered waiter finally nailed her down. Daniel took my advice and ordered a fish sandwich and I could tell after his first bite that he regretted taking a Weenie Wonk's endorsement for a non-hot dog item. (I swear Daniel, I had a fish sandwich there once and it was really good.) Here is the link to their review of The Grill. I hope everyone wil go over to Fork You and read through their archives and give them your support. What a great service they are providing to us, having a free and honest food review site to reference when making dining plans. It's a great alternative to other food blogs that might be a bit timid about being honest, lest they tick off an advertiser.