Here are photos of all four winners of 2007 Weenie Awards in the Huntington area accepting their awards:
Austin's Home-Made Ice-Cream (Ceredo), Best Slaw
M and M Dairy Bell (Chesapeake), Best Hot Dog Joint
Sam's Hot Dog Stand (8th St.), Best Hot Dog
Congratulations again to all Tri State Winners.
One ain't too hard pressed to find a good hot dog in Huntington. Depending on their tastes, folks can most likely find a Huntington-style WV hot dog to their likin'.
A few hot dogs, however, stand out for their commitment to weenie excellence. Any Sam's Hot Dog Stand will serve up a pretty good dog, with the 8th Street location standing out in particular for its uniformity and consistency of product (much like M & M in Chesapeake). Hillbilly gets a heap of mileage out of its sauce, just as Austin's does with its slaw. Nothing I type will change the fact that Stewart's and Frostop probably serve more happy customers than any other HDJs in the area, so they must also receive consideration.
One of my primary considerations, however, has to be my mantra that, for truly great hot dogs, consistency is God. The one place that always and without fail sends out expertly-crafted WV hot dogs is Sam's Hot Dog Stand of 8th St.
As I mentioned in my review, it is usually the same guy there everyday making hot dogs with skill that only practice, patience, and a drive for perfection could forge. Congrats, Sam's of 8th Street. You have set the bar for the Tri State.
The Huntington area is home to a bunch of great, nearly-great, and not-so-good-but-popular hot dog joints. It is, quite frankly, as big of a part of our culture as Marshall football, vast public park lands, the railroad, and the mighty Ohio River.
Some folks believe the Stewart's produces the One True Hot Dog, while others go for the Grade A root beer and crinkle-cut fries at Frostop. Others mark out for the zany vibe of Hillbilly Hot Dogs, while others swear by Sam's zingy spicy sauce. Austin's super slaw and ice cream are big favorites, as are M & M's dawgs 'n sides.
For judging the best HDJ in Greater Huntington, one must look beyond sauce, slaw, and overall hot dog quality (they all have their own awards). For Best Dog Joint, I'm looking not only for the quality of the hot dogs and the sides, but also all of the intangibles that go into making a great place to eat. Service, atmosphere, decor, and authenticity all come into play.
After taking all of these factors into account, I was able to narrow the number down to two joints: M & & Dairy Bell and Hillbilly Hot Dogs of Lesage (yup, Huntington's two 5 weenie-rated stands). Both of these places have great dawgs, great service, and an awesome selection of scrumptious sides. The contest then boiled down to the Appalachian authenticity of M & M versus the fun kitschiness of HBHD's good-natured hixploitation setup.
While I love to take my visiting relatives to Lesage to check out the place, this year I gotta give the nod to the most realistic, unpretentious WV HDJ in the Tri State
For the perfect combination of killer dogs, great sides, and intangible authenticity, one needs to look on the other side of the river. Yup, that's right, the 2007 Weenie Award winner for best hot dog joint is M & M Dairy Bell in Chesapeake, Ohio.
Wha?!?!?
Yup, the best West Virginia-style hot dog joint in greater Huntington is technically in Ohio. But, hey, informal culture regions are never really bound by arbitrary political boundaries. At WVhotdogs.com, we value consistency and excellence, not map lines drawn in 1787.
While most hot dob joints in the Tri-State are admittedly more focused on producing signature variations of sauce than perfecting the delicate art of slawmongering, there are still many great options for getting some decent slaw on a weenie in the Moneyton area.
Sam's and Stewart's both produce consistently adequate, if not stellar, cole slaws day in and day out. M & M Dairy Bell also does a purty good job of topping dogs with a heafty portion of the white stuff.
There is only one place, however, that compares to the slaw-obsessed HDJs to our east: Austin's Home-Made Ice-Cream of Ceredo. In my review of the HDJ a few months back, I predicted that it would be a strong contender for a Weenie Award and, so it turns out, I was correct. Austin's is by far the best slaw in the Huntington area.
Austin's slaw is all about balance. It is creamy, but not runny. There is a fair amount of sweet to the dressing, but that is balanced by a tangy zing. The cabbage is neither too chunky nor too tiny. The weenie-jerks were neither stingy nor gratuitous in pilin' it on. As a I said in my review, it is "perfect."
Congratulations, Austin's Home-Made Ice-Cream of Ceredo, you are the winner of the 2007 Weenie Award for the best slaw in Huntington. It wasn't even close.
