Downtown Charleston HDJ Death Match - Championship Round

After it had been resurrected to fight another day, you had to be rooting for The Fresh Seafood Company to complete the comeback by knocking off the top seed, Swiftwater Cafe. But will this Cinderella Story have a happily ever after ending, or will the glass slipper dream be shattered?

Swiftwater's Genteel Dogs

TFSC has a hard task, unseating the HDJ that won the Weenie Award for Charleston's best hot dog three out of the four years it was handed out by WVHotDogs.com. Swiftwater takes hot dogs seriously and executes well with tasty slaw, great chili and Boar's Head beef weenies. They also have the consistently friendliest service of any downtown lunch spot. A few years ago, owner Teddy Queen changed his slaw recipe to make it sweeter and creamier, and he also wiped (and I mean literally wiped - you can still see the remnants on his sign) ketchup off his list of "everything" toppings to fit the true definition of a WVHD. You gotta like that kind of initiative.

The Fresh Seafood Company makes me assemble my hot dogs myself. If for no other reason, this one shortcoming would make them lose this round. A valiant effort, but just a little short.

But to be honest, even if TFSC had a hot dog lovingly assembled by kiss-blowing supermodels and served on a silver platter, Swiftwater's excellent product would blow it away. Swiftwater's hot dog is extremely tasty and is presented like a true Genteel Dog should be. There is simply nothing bad you can say about the Swiftwater Cafe hot dog experience.

So the winner, who will now be able to claim the title "Downtown Charleston's Best Hot Dog," is Swiftwater Cafe. They will rest on their laurels for a while until the West Side HDJ Death Match is complete and then will be pitted against the Best of the West. Till then, congratulations Swiftwater Cafe!