Charleston HDJ Review - Zippy's Hot Dogs and Ice Cream

We watched all summer long as this new HDJ was being built near Southridge off of Corridor G in Charleston. We figured a standalone HDJ that wasn't a front for a gambling parlor had to be serious about hot dogs and would no doubt be great. We figured wrong.

I really don't wish to waste as many words as it would take to accurately describe how disappointing my Zippy's visit was. It started as soon as I walked through the door and saw a whole host of different kind of hot dog pictures on the menu board and none of them looked familiar. The photo beside the name "WV Dog" was of a New England Style bun with a weenie hanging out of the end so far that it looked almost pornographic, and on top of the whole thing were a few unrecognizable toppings. When I asked what was on the WV Dog, the young lady said "anything you want." Strike two.

Since it was obviously ala carte ordering, I ordered a standard hot dog with chili, slaw, mustard and onions. After not much wait I got my hot dog and went to my car, since there are no provisions for inside dining - only picnic tables, which on this day were windswept and chilly.

Everything about the hot dog was unremarkable, except the weenie: Zippy's has what they call and "spiral grilled" weenie, which might be interesting if it were not covered by toppings, but really didn't add anything to the aesthetics of the hot dogs. The weenie was way overcooked (perhaps that is endemic with "spiral grilling") and was tough and chewy. Topped with tasteless slaw and even less tasty chili. Bad hot dog. Bad, bad hot dog.

I'll give it a one-half Weenie rating, since I was hungry and it filled my stomach.

Summersville Area HDJ Review - Long Point Grille and Bar

I'd been looking forward to this for a long time since we've received several emails and Facebook recommendations about the place for the past couple of years. Long Point Grille and Bar sits just across the road from its namesake Long Point Overlook, which provides one of the best possible views of Summersville Lake. The motif is mostly sports bar and it is much smaller than it appears from the road, with seating for probably 20-30 people, with a few more at the bar. We stopped on a cool, late fall afternoon and it was a pleasantly warm inside, both in terms of the temperature and the service. A nice place, with nice people in a nice atmosphere.

Unfortunately, the hot dogs are not so nice.

Starting off with the news that "everything" included ketchup, it went downhill from there. A grilled New England Lobster Roll bun provided the foundation for a way too much stuff including some of the largest chunks of onions that I've ever seen; about the size of large salad croutons. The slaw was a decent texture but had no discernible taste, nor did the chili. Down underneath there was a weenie that snapped when I bit it, meaning that it was probably grilled, but there was no way to see it under the pile of toppings. The taste of the weenie did stand out, however, since there was no other flavors to mask it. 2 Weenies.

With 5 Weenie Fat Eddies just around the bend from Long Point Grille, our recommendation is to wait for Spring before heading to the area for hot dogs

.