Charleston HDJ Review - Tricky Fish

This little restaurant, a spin-off of the Bluegrass Kitchen, has been rumored to be opening any day now for the better part of a year. Since it was also rumored to have hot dogs on its menu, I was particularly interested in seeing the "open" sign pop up. It finally did.

Tricky Fish sits in an little old house on Washington Street East just a block or so from the State Capitol building. Inside it is has been remodeled nicely with some interestingly constructed holes in the interior walls to give the place a more open feel. There are a couple of cool concrete counter tops with exposed glass aggregrate that are obviously new but most everything in the place looks like it's been there for years. It reminded me of a little restaurant one might find a few blocks from the ocean in any number of beach communities in the Carolinas or Virginia.

At the top of the menu at Tricky Fish are its hot dogs. a "House Dog" (all beef, nitrate free, no hormones antibotics or steroids), WV Produced Italian Sausage, and a Veggie Dog. I opted for a House Dog with chili, slaw and onions. Mustard (four different kinds) are available from the condiment stand. My hot dog had a base sticker price of $4 and chili & slaw added 90 cents to the bottom line. A canned Coke cost $1.25. Pricey, yes, but I hoped it would make up for it in volume and taste.

It half did: This is big hot dog. Meal sized, for sure. But the flavor was nothing like I hoped for. It was OK, but not a WVHD. The huge weenie was very flavorful, so much so that it shouted down the toppings. The chili seemed good but was served very sparingly so I couldn't get an adequate taste. The slaw was the same way. The onions were strong. The bun was huge, proportioned to hold the giant weenie, and the taste was pretty good.

The whole hot dog was flavorful, but not the kind of flavor I was looking for in a WVHD. It's difficult to give it a fair rank. In fact, the hot dog reminded me very much of the one I got at Barnyard in Buckhannon and I didn't give it a rank either. This site is about West Virginia Hot Dogs. I know West Viginia Hot Dogs. West Virginia Hot Dogs are a friend of mine. And this is no West Virginia Hot Dog.

PS: I will, though, go back to Tricky Fish to try an Oyster Po' Boy. It looked yum.

WV Hot Dog Festival video.

From the youth group of Lewis Memorical Baptist Church and posted to YouTube.

They manage to show video what seems to be all of the booths at last year's festival. In the comments on the video, the uploader calls Stewart's the best, which obviously means that he or she did not stop by M & M Dairy Bell's stall. :)

Great job, you guys.

PS - Mark your calenday, this year's fesitval will be on July 26.

Hot Dogs: It's What's For Dinner, Dammit!

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A 28-year-old woman in Orange County stabbed her husband during a fight that sparked over having hot dogs for dinner, according to a sheriff's office report. Officers said Alfreda Van Bladel apparently had prepared a dinner for her husband, Anton, that consisted of hot dogs. At some point, the man snatched the plate of hot dogs from his wife's hands, the report said. The action prompted the woman to stab her husband in the shoulder with a steak knife, according to authorities. Anton Van Bladel then alleged grabbed a handgun and pointed it at the woman's head and said he was going to kill her. Both a knife and a handgun were recovered from the couple's home. The husband and wife were arrested and face several charges in connection with the incident, including aggravated battery and aggravated assault.

Oak Hill HDJ Review - Tom's Carry Out

I can safely say that I have received more email about Tom's Carry Out in Oak Hill than any other HDJ in the state. It took me a while to get there, but I had a little extra time on a recent trip to Beckley and was able to travel the extra 10 miles or so to Oak Hill. I didn't have any way of knowing where Tom's was located because no phone book or directory assistance service could provide a phone number or address. I figured though, with all of the love that readers had shown for Tom's, it wouldn't be hard to find someone to tell me. Sure enough, the very first person I asked, a lady walking along side the road, gave me impeccable directions. Soon I was heading down Jones Avenue and before long I saw the red and yellow sign that screamed "Hot Dog Joint." And let me tell you, Tom's is a real Hot Dog Joint: The kind that Weenie Wonks dream about.

The ambiance begins on the outside, with the aforementioned sign and the classic square cinder block structure with wide overhangs, and once inside the bright yellow paint and bare florescent tubes practically screams HDJ: I mean really, what other food could you possibly sell in a place like this? (The menu has hamburgers and a few other items, but every person that ordered while I was there ordered hot dogs.) Tom's is a no smoking establishment, but interestingly enough you can buy cigarettes there. A jar of pickled eggs sits on the counter, further enhancing the atmosphere of unrefined unpretentiousness. No less than a dozen hungry looking people waited on their orders as I came in, and another dozen came through before I left. Most got bags full of hot dogs to go.

One has a choice at Tom's between regular and foot long hot dogs. Regular are $1.09 each and foot longs are $1.99. "Everything" I was told, includes chili, slaw, mustard and onions: Music to my ears. I ordered two because I was pretty sure at this point that one wasn't going to be enough. I was right.

The first thing I noticed when I got my order was that the hot dogs were wrapped in wax paper, which meant they were really steamed nicely in their own moisture by the time I unwrapped them. But then I saw something somewhat disturbing: The chili was on top of the slaw! Wait a minute, I know what the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council says about this: Chili ALWAYS goes on the bottom. Now I have run into this disturbing upside-down presentation before, mostly down in Hinton, and whenever I do I struggle with the temptation to deduct a half-point just because it's weird, but more about that later.

One thing about having that chili right there on top, it gives a Weenie Wonk easy access to do the taste test. I was able to get a good taste, and it really tasted good. I mean really good. This is hot dog chili that is good on purpose. It is meaty, but fine textured; spicy and complex. Even the color is right: Dark brown and obviously prepared with care. They sell the chili in pints, quarts and gallons and I'll bet they sell a ton of it.

But the upside-down presentation completely hides the slaw and prevented a thorough tasting, which readers of this site knows is a bad thing: After all, it's all about the slaw, isn't it?

But it's also about the whole hot dog, too, and this whole hot dog is nothing but great. Tom's knows hot dogs. They care about hot dogs and it shows: It shows in the way they carefully spread the mustard on the bun instead of squirting it on like most HDJs; it shows in the way they mix up small batches of slaw when needed instead of having a monster-sized container of stuff that was made yesterday or last week. It shows in the way people flock to Tom's and write emails to hot dog blogs. It's inspiring.

But is it inspiring enough to offset the upside-down-ness? Can we award our highest honor, a Five Weenie rating, to a hot dog that is put together upside down? How can this be a real statewide treasure when it looks so wrong? Isn't it worthy of more than a merely mortal Four and a Half Weenies? What would Joe Manchin do?

Well, when the Gov and his administration was faced recently with the unsavory choice between labeling some less than pristine waterways as "Tier 2 Streams" because they didn't qualify as "Tier 3", why they just created a brand new level: Tier 2.5. Now West Virginia boasts the only Tier 2.5 streams in the whole USA. Now that's something to be proud of, huh?

So it would be completely reasonable to create a brand new 4.75 Weenie rank just for Tom's, right? Reasonable maybe, but too much work making a new graphic. Sorry Tom's, upside-down presentation gets a half-point deduction in these parts. So 4.5 Weenies it is.

But it might be the best tasting 4.5 in the whole state.

Barkersville HDJ Review - Lil' Pups Hot Dogs

I've always been fascinated by the popularity of White Castle Hamburgers. For those of you not savvy, White Castles are little hamburgers that people up north buy by the bag full when they are drunk. In my humble opinion you have to be drunk to eat them because they taste disgusting, and therein lies the fascination for me: I know people who eat them when they are sober and profess to think they are the best thing in the world. There is no adequate explanation for this. I'll just leave it as one of the unsolved mysteries of the universe.

I hadn't thought of White Castles in a long time, but when I ran across Lil' Pups Hot Dogs in Barkersville it all came back to me.

Lil's Pups sits right alongside Surveyor Drive in downtown Barkersville. I was intrigued by the sign that promised 4 hot dogs for a dollar, and a dozen for $2! How could I not stop and check it out? You're right, I couldn't!

I immediately discovered two things about Lil' Pups: They sell tiny hot dogs and the hot dogs they sell are not WVHDs at all (which is surprising since Barkersville is the quintessential southern West Virginia small town). "Everything" on a Lil' Pups hot dog includes mustard and ketchup. And the weenie on a Lil' Pup hot dog is basically a cocktail weenie without the yummy BBQ sauce that is typically served on these little hors d'oeuvres. Of course I could not bring myself to order ketchup on any hot dog, even a micro-dog, and so I got mine with just mustard. There really wasn't much room for anything else in the little bun anyway. Hard to complain about value, though, as two dogs, chips and a couple of pickle slices only rang in at 75 cents.

Of course a hot dog this size is a one-bite affair, and since I only got two I could barely even tell what they tasted like. I noticed, though, that other customers were getting them by the dozen and so I asked some of them what they thought (I immediately noticed that most of the clientèle were large, burly men who looked like they were not too discriminating about what went into their stomachs as long as it was voluminous). Most of the answers to my questions about why they liked Lil' Pups had their reasons based in quantitative terms, not qualitative. And most of Lil' Pups' customers probably would not understand that last sentence.

Large quantities of beer would no doubt help make Lil' Pups more palatable, and like White Castles I'm sure you could get used to the taste to the point it would grow on you and you might even begin to like them when sober. I decided quickly that I don't want to get that familiar with these hot dogs, regardless of how cheap they are.

Since Lil' Pups had neither chili or slaw they don't get a weenie rating, but if they did it would probably be a very low number: Maybe a 1.

As in April 1.

Charleston HDJ Re-Review - Galaxy Lanes

A couple of years ago I visited all of the local bowling alley snack bars trying to find which had the best hot dogs. I found that none of them had hot dogs that were up to snuff and most were below mediocre. I was probably the hardest on Galaxy Lanes in Kanawha City, whose dogs I found so lackluster that I didn't even give them a score.

Well, a recent flurry of comments on that old post by people who are most likely friends and family of the snack bar's proprietors caused me to pay another visit to see if the hot dogs had improved. One of the comments also said that they sold yellow slaw and since I had been stymied in my search lately for the yellow stuff I thought that would reason enough to give the Galaxy another shot.

When my dining companion and I walked into the place at lunchtime one Friday I was surprised to find that we were the only patrons there. I thought this would be good as it would would allow us to be served quicker, but boy was I wrong. Our four hot dogs and one order of fries took all of 15 minutes to get to us.

Once I finally had my hot dogs I found that the slaw was fairly good (sweet and well made - and white, not yellow), but that the chili had virtually no taste except that of the ground beef it contained. Not a trace of spice nor herb could be detected. The weenies were tasty and plump, but they could not overcome the lack of flavor from the chili.

It was better than it was last time, but Galaxy Lanes doesn't earn any more than a 3 Weenie rating on this trip. To all of those people who left comments arguing that Galaxy has great hot dogs, I would recommend that you get out to other restaurants, the kind that isn't located inside a bowling alley, to try a real hot dog once in a while.

Charleston HDJ Review - Sub Express - Lee St. West

Nearly Universal Hot Dog Rule #1: Hot Dogs served in a convenience store are bad.
Nearly Universal Hot Dog Rule #2: Hot dog buns heated in a microwave are a sign of a bad hot dog.
Nearly Universal Hot Dog Rule #3: Weenies heated on one of those perpetually rolling weenie heating devices are lackluster at best, disgusting at worst.

When I saw the changeable letter sign on the local One Stop convenience store on the corner of Lee and Tennesee advertising hot dogs for $1.49 each, I figured that I would find a mediocre or worse hot dog there, so I didn't exactly hurry in: I actually took several weeks to finally make a visit. When I did I found that the place embraced the premising scenarios of all three of the above mentioned rules and I very nearly turned-tail and skedaddled out of there. But I remembered that the rules are only "Nearly" universal, so I thought I'd take a chance and test their universality.

Now to be fair, this isn't just a convenience store. It has inside two honest to goodness food service joints. One of these is a former "Blimpies" that has been reincarnated as a "Sub Express". That is where the hot dogs are.

"Everything" includes ketchup, which of course I deleted from my order. I watched with disdain as the person behind the counter nuked the bun nearly into oblivion. Then I saw the dreaded hot dog roller. I had not confidence that this hot dog was going to anything close to edible. But when I saw the pot of pretty good looking chili and a bowl of really nice looking slaw I regained a glimmer of hope. And when they wrapped my hot dog in aluminum foil my hopes grew higher.

In a nutshell, this hot dog turned the above referenced Nearly Universal Rules on their heads. Not a great hot dog, but certainly good enough to prove the "Nearly" part of the rule's titles. The slaw carried the whole thing (nice texture and taste), but the chili wasn't half bad either (tame but nicely complex).

Let's give this dog a 3.5 Weenie rating just because it worked so hard to overcome the odds.

Fairmont HDJ Review - Underdogs and More 2

What a difference five miles and twenty-four hours makes!

Just one day removed from raving about how much I enjoyed the hot dogs from Underdogs and More on Speedway Avenue in Fairmont, I took a short trip across town the next day to the sister location on Locust Avenue cleverly named (wait for it) Underdogs and More 2. The name is about the only thing in common with the Speedway location.

I had the onset of clausterphobia for the first time in years when I entered this little facility. I would swear this shop was at one time nothing more than an oversized tool shed. Although there were seats for eight undersized individuals, I would have to believe that anyone attempting to sit down for a meal would be hard pressed for any elbow room at all. I found my spine pressed up against a Pepsi cooler while I waited for the four other customers in front of me to get their orders filled.

I was hoping that I might get an upgrade to the version that I had sampled across town, if it were at all possible. Imagine my surprise when I was told that they didn't have slaw "yet". I didn't ask for an elaboration at this point, as I was just happy to get my order and be on my way. I went with the traditional Marion County version of a WVHD, which is simply chili, mustard, and onions. While everything seemed to be in place as would be expected from Underdogs -right down to the styrofoam coffin- there was one striking difference that can be summed up in one word: waterlogged.

In the short time I've been reviewing with WVHotDogs.com, I haven't come across a weaker tasting weenie than this one. To boot, this weenie was just barely warm enough to meet the local health department food preparation laws.

I gotta say that the chili was still pretty good. Like its sister location, it had a good complex texture and lots of flavor that begged to be sampled further. Nonetheless it isn't enough to save the day on an otherwise lackluster dog.

I give Underdogs and More 2 a two-and-a-half weenie rating. Hopefully, that rating will be raised in the future if a little more attention is paid to the preparation and the addition of a good quality slaw. Alas, it would seem as it goes in movies, so it goes in hot dogs: more often than not, sequels are not as good as the originals.

Charleston Area HDJ Review - Mr. G's

Once upon a time there was a magical place called Mr. C's Hot Dogs. Actually there were several of these magical places around the Kanawha Valley. The magical thing about Mr. C's was the slaw they served: It was yellow. Not only was it yellow, it was sweet and wonderful. But a great evil came over the land and one by one, the magical Mr C's began to disappear. One day without much explanation, Mr. C's was simply no more and the magical yellow slaw was gone. There was much sadness throughout the valley.

But one day a rumor was heard that Mr. C's had been reborn. The place was said to be located in Cross Lanes and was not called "Mr. C's" but instead chose a new letter a few spaces up the alphabet array: Mr. G's, it was said, is the same wonderful, magical hot dog joint with the same, magical yellow slaw. As the rumor spread, hope too began to return to the land.

So, a Knight of the Weenie order went on a quest: A quest to discover the magical yellow slaw of yore.

Mr. G's was easy enough to find. Straight through the stoplight in the land where the Lanes Cross, toward the Big Mountain of Tyler. The intrepid Knight traveled just a few short miles and there was the shining temple of hot dog glory called Mr. G's. The Knight was beside himself with glee: Would he be the one to restore the people's hope by revealing the location of the magical yellow slaw?

No, he would not.

For it seems that the rumors of the yellow slaw, as is often the case with rumors, were untrue. The slaw served at Mr. G's was as white as snow, though it was quite tasty. Very sweet and finely made. It sits atop chili that has almost no taste other than that of the meat from which it is made; no spice, no herb, nothing but meat. Mustard and onions are properly served and the hot dog warrants a good rating of Four Weenies. More spice in the chili would be an improvement, but this hot dog was good enough to bring a momentary smile to the lips of the Knight.

The quest for the yellow slaw will continue another day.

Fairmont HDJ Review - Underdogs and More

Underdogs and More on Speedway Avenue in Fairmont is one of those places where the M.O. is simpy hot dogs and hot dogs only. You won't find many other offerings on the menu (save for fries, bottled drinks, and pepperoni rolls), let alone any other frilly bells and whistles. I wouldn't recommend getting a sit-down meal here on account of the extreme lack of seating. Although there is plenty of floor space, I didn't count seating for any more than ten people at the most. Those seats were quickly occupied during the lunch rush from the employees of the Novelis plant across the street.

A hot dog with "everything" here will net you chili, mustard, and onions. In keeping with the slaw by-laws of Marion County, slaw is available as an optional topping for a little extra. I didn't see anyone walking away with wax paper or foil wrapped dogs, only a stream of styrofoam coffins. A little disappointing, but obviously the proprietors know what their regular customers want, need, and accept.

The hot dogs themselves were terrific. I was immediately taken by how fresh and perfectly steamed the bun was. It was one of those buns that melts in your mouth with every bite while still managing to soak in just enough of the flavors of the weenie, chili, and slaw to add to the whole experience. The weiner was cooked to jucy perfection. However, I thought that there was a bit of overload in the onion department. Needless to say a supply of breath mints was in order for me for the rest of the day.

I was struck by how complex the chili was. While I can't say it was the greatest I have ever had, it was nonetheless very flavorful and hearty. The seasoning of the ground beef was very pronounced, giving it more of a beefy texture than normal. At the same time, it had just the right amount of sauce to keep the overall mixture from coming off as clumpy. I detected a heavy amount of paprika and chili powder, but not enough to overwhelm the whole concoction. I went with the medium version (other choices are mild and hot), and found it to be more than adequate when it came to buzzing my taste buds. It wasn't enough to make my upper lip bead up with sweat, but it sure did make me think about it. I'd chalk that up to the red pepper flakes in the mix.

The slaw was clearly of the homemade variety, but not all that flavorful. Although the mix of the dressing seemed well balanced, the cabbage was watery enough that it made the other ingredients taste bland. After pulling some of the slaw off with a plastic fork to sample on its own, I determined that the taste was almost completely gone from this particular batch. Then again, a ho-hum slaw is usually better than no slaw at all. Remember, this is Marion County after all.

For keeping it simple and sticking to the game plan to put out quality hot dogs, Underdogs and More warrants a four weenie rating. This HDJ is a credit to the hot dog culture movement.

Fairmont HDJ Review - Andy's Hot Dogs

One can certainly say this much about Andy's Hot Dogs in Fairmont: it gives a new meaning to "corner hot dog joint". This fine establishment is crammed into the smallest corner section of the Fairhill Plaza on the outskirts of Fairmont. And as we all know, good things sometimes come in small packages.

It took a little bit of doing to find Andy's, simply because there were no signs on the outside of the shopping center to indicate where it was. Luckily a steady stream of customers going in and out of the door gave away the location, not to mention finally catching a glimpse of the modestly decorated window.

Even though I'm not a regular here, I was treated like family. Andy's has a list of specialty dogs (including a take on a Chicago dog which includes Polish sausage, tomatoes, and lettuce) as well as fish, chicken, and other sandwiches, and hamburgers. But the specialty is the hot dogs, and the customers there on this particular visit were ordering up every which way.

Wanting to get all I could out of this for the $1 price, I opted for the hot chili on my WVHD. One bite made me rethink my ability (and willingness) to handle spicy foods. I will send fair warning to those of you who are fans of the far milder southern hot dog chili variations that this sauce packs a wallop on the tounge. I briefly had a vision pop in my head of Godzilla frying greater downtown Tokyo with his breath. It wouldn't have surprised me if this chili would've played a part in the great lizard's radioactive capabilities. Needless to say, the chili was both complex in consistency and loaded with flavor. I located a good deal of red pepper flakes throughout the sauce, and noticed that the jar of the aforementioned flamethrower material sitting behind the counter was nearly empty. Works for me on a cold and rainy day.

One the flip side, the slaw wasn't anything to get excited about. I didn't catch the exact name on the label, but it was some mass food service brand. It was a bit of a let down that the same effort that went into preparing the chili didn't go into the slaw. Nonetheless, it was passable and all of the other components of this WVHD (weenie, mustard, onions) were just fine. Besides, it's a bit of a stretch to imagine a high quality slaw can be found in the majority of Marion County HDJs.

I'm willing to forgive on the lack of quality slaw in this instance and give Andy's Hot Dogs a four weenie rating. Andy's typifies what makes a good WVHD: the best use of the ingredients on hand to make a great hot dog.

Bridgeport HDJ Review - Tudor's Biscuit World

I won't bore you with the stats and facts about this particular Tudor's location in Bridgeport. Instead, I'd direct you to this entertaining and descriptive past review of the Tudor's in Teays Valley by Chris James. While there are, obviously, some differences here and there that make each location unique, I'll second the motion from Chris' review that Tudor's has crazy delicious biscuits...not to mention the majority of the rest of the breakfast menu.

While the items on the menu are more than worth going out of your way for, the hot dogs are ho-hum at best. Mercifully, I was able to order a WVHD to go without having to repeat the ingredients over and over (for a change). However, I had to take a close-up look at my order to ensure that there was actually any chili on mine. Although the chili "material" was there, the taste was nowhere to be found. This was easily the most vapid of any chili I had sampled in some time, completely lacking any trace of beef or spice.

The slaw wasn't half bad. It seemed a little on the thick side, but the flavor was just about right. The sweetness wasn't overpowering and had just the right amount of tang. The cabbage was fresh enough and had a nice, subtle crunchiness that made each bite enjoyable. I can't explain why the slaw was piled on in a lopsided manner, but that's the way things go at a convenience store restaurant now and then. The wiener was lightly grilled, but came across as excessively salty for my taste. The other ingredients held up well, with the exception of the bun, which needed a better steaming.

This Tudor's location has good service and a great menu (for anything other than hot dogs), but the hot dogs are just okay at best. This Tudor's gets a two and-a-half weenie rating.

With Apologies to The Film Geek...

... We present, Movie Scenes That Matter, WV Hot Dog style:




Give 'em hell, Harry.

Kingwood HDJ Review - The Dawg House

A last minute change in plans at work put me on the road to downtown Kingwood. It wasn't until I got into the downtown area where I finally spotted a sign for The Dawg House. Right off the bat I noticed two signs side by side above the door: one for The Dawg House and one for Fox's Pizza Den. The red lights started going off in my head that there existed the possibility that the hot dogs would take a culinary back seat to the other menu offerings here. After reading over the menu, I confirmed my fear: this was indeed a pizzaria that just happens to offer hot dogs...more or less as an afterthought. Still, you never know where the best hot dogs will turn up, so another gamble on the taste buds was in order.

"Everything" here will get you a ketchup, mustard, onions, and chili. Slaw goes for fifty cents extra. Even though I ordered by the numbers (that is, naming the ingredients one by one), I somehow still got ketchup on mine. I had to take this order to go, so I got a double-sized styrofoam coffin that seemed more suited for something like a wedgie sandwich.

The unheated and somewhat stale bun was a big disappointment. I'm spoiled by decently steamed or at least slightly warmed buns, so this was a bit of a shock to the system. The weenie was done just about to bare minimum temperature standard, but not more than that...absolutely no plumpness or juciness. I found the chili to be heavily on the thick side, and the sauce it was cooked had a rather pronounced tomato sauce taste. The slaw required a double-take, both in taste and appearance categories. It was a very, very bright green. At first I thought it might be some sort of reflection from my bottle of Mountain Dew against the white styrofoam, but that was not the case. Nonetheless, it had a most unique flavor; I found it to be rather sweet and quite delicious, but at the same time very crunchy. Although I didn't see any evidence, I suspected that there was a chance that relish had somehow been blended into the mix. It tasted incredibly fresh, and I would really like have to have had some of this slaw by itself, or on another quality hot dog.

The Dawg House gets two weenies. Slaw aside, these hot dogs were pretty sad. The prepartion and ingredients were sub-par at best.

Sissonville HDJ Review - The Top Spot

I don't know about the rest of the country, but when a restaurant in West Virginia calls itself a "country cookin'" restaurant it always has hot dogs on the menu. Sometimes they are included just because they feel obligated to do so and sometimes it's because they understand that hot dogs are a cultural staple. Once in a while, though, such a place will be very serious about putting together a real hot dog and has the culinary acumen to pull it off. It seems that The Top Spot in Sissonville would fall into this last category. But unfortunately for this review, three things prevent me from praising the Top Spot's hot dog too enthusiastically: 1) The wait staff showed that they have the ability to torpedo a good dining experience, 2) the presence of ketchup among the listed standard toppings, and 3) 1&2 combined.

OK, the ketchup thing I can deal with. I do all the time. It's irritating, infuriating and even sometimes a little demoralizing that after two years of WVHotDogs.com's constant chiding and admonishing HDJs to lose the red stuff it still shows up on so many standard items lists. But it's easily rectified by simply asking for no ketchup. At least it should be easy, unless the server can't communicate the order to the kitchen - which is exactly what happened to me when I ordered my hot dogs with everything EXCEPT KETCHUP. What I got was everything BUT MUSTARD! This is not rocket science, people!

But in spite of the royally screwed-upness of my order, I have to tell you that the hot dog was still really good. The chili was excellent: Meaty and nicely spicy. The slaw was fresh and tasty with just a slightest bit of sweetness. The weenie was good, the onions finely chopped and sweet and the bun that held it all was warmed in dry heat so it had a crusty outside. Even with the ketchup handicap and mustard deficit this hot dog tasted good enough to earn a 3 1/2 Weenie rating. Just think how good it would have been if it had been prepared properly.

Thanks to Rick Lee for the photo!

Charleston HDJ Review - Intermezzo Cafe

The $130 million Clay Center for The Arts and Sciences in downtown Charleston is often talked about in very negative terms by a large segment of our fair city’s population. The Clay Center often gets criticized on the following grounds:

1. It cost way too much money to build and the shows it hosts cost way too much.

2. While it looks pretty good, the overall quality of what is inside runs from really bad to mediocre.

3. Because of the poor value it provides the community, it leaves a bad taste in people’s mouths

But enough complaining. Inside the Clay Center sits the Intermezzo Café, which provides snacks and light meals to patrons. Of course, hot dogs must be on the menu or it wouldn’t be here.

Let me say right from the start that the hot dogs are not good for the following reasons:

1. They cost way too much money ($3.00!)
2. While it looked pretty good, what was inside the bun ran from really bad (the weenie) to mediocre (the chili),
3. It left a bad taste in my mouth.

Cosmic, huh?

Seriously though, the hot dog started with a weenie that was quite possible the single worst weenie in the history of WVHotDogs.com. It was so overcooked on one of those hot dog rollers that it was like it was wrapped in leather. It had the chewiness quotient of a Slim Jim but without the taste.

The bun it was on had some promise, being a bit above average in size and a little more substantial that the basic HDJ fare, but it was served stone cold. The chili had some interesting flavor, but the slaw did nothing to compliment it and was virtually tasteless. The mustard was do it yourself from the condiment rack.

I thought long and hard about what to score this train wreck of a hot dog. The chili might warrant a 2 Weenie rating, but I really feel like this is something that shouldn't be eaten by humans and if I were to score it with a positive integer that it might induce some person to risk his or her life, or worse, the safety of their children. This is a bad, bad hot dog . 0.0 Weenies

Princeton HDJ Review - Burger Boy Dairy Bar

I wouldn't expect to find hot dogs in a place called "Burger Boy" but in West Virginia any place that calls itself a dairy bar is definitely going to have hot dogs on the menu. So I was pretty confident when I strode in to the Burger Boy that I was going to get a hot dog, but I did not know anything beyond that. I mean, this is Princeton, in Mercer County - barely West Virginia at all. What strange toppings would this hinter land hot dog joint offer as standard equipment? That question was quickly answered, albeit somewhat misguidedly: "Chili, slaw, mustard, KETCHUP and onions. Close, but no cigar.

I ordered one without ketchup and hoped for the best. It wasn't the best, but it wasn't at all bad.

Served in a coffin, my hot dog's bun was nicely steamed and had good heft to it. It was loaded down with toppings (thus the heft) and the toppings were pretty good. The chili had an odd texture (a little like Dairy Queen Coney Sauce) but had a nice, but tame, spiciness quotient. The slaw was about as chunky as it comes, but the chunks were tender and bound together by a tasty and sweet dressing. The weenie did nothing to hurt the quality. The onions were fairly potent, which is a downer for some, but given the tame chili they gave the dog a much needed kick.
Overall the Burger Boy's hot dog was better than average, but not quite excellent. But being on the southern frontier and representing our state's hot dog culture so well they deserve a little extra consideration. Therefore I will give the Burger Boy a solid Four Weenie rating.

Bridgeport HDJ Review - T&L Hot Dogs (Meadowbrook Mall)

Just like any other mall, the Meadowbrook Mall in Bridgpeort has a basic assortment of fast food places to grab a bite when the urge hits on those hikes between the shoe store on one end of the mall and the electronics outlet on the other. You can get your cheesesteak sandwiches, pseudo-Chinese cuisine, pizza, and of course some pretty good hot dogs thanks to T&L Hot Dogs.


If you've had hot dogs at any of T&L's other locations, you've pretty gotten the idea of what they're like at other locations. With the high traffic volume the mall food court receives, there is a high turnover of hot dogs being served up throughout the day. As a result, you're more than likely to get fresher dogs and fries here than other locations. The buns are always freshly steamed to order, and the hot dogs are usually boiled to standard for even the most picky WVHD fan.

I would, however, question how fresh the slaw is. It tastes just "alright"; common sense would suggest that the slaw would be prepped the day before in order to ensure there was plenty available in such a high volume area. Probably the same with the chili too. Seeing as how they offer the large quantity pints and gallons of their famous mild/medim/hot sauces for sale, it's a safe bet they aren't as fresh as could be. But this is all just an educated guess; who am I to speculate? I've only been eating their hot dogs for years.

Ingredients aside, there is one major flaw for this location, and that is the price. While a T&L version of a WVHD goes for about $1.55 at most locations, the version here goes for a budget-busting $1.89. I'm sure there are higher priced hot dogs elsewhere in the world, but just about every HDJ in the area manages to keep the price for a WVHD down under the $1.70 range. Seems as though T&L has taken the initiative to pass along the cost of their overhead directly to the consumer.

T&L Hot Dogs usually rate four weenies (with a couple of locations scoring five weenies), but I can't allow myself to give this location more than three-and-a-half weenies due to the excessive price. I'm not sure if it's a first, but I'm deducting a half weenie from what should've been a four weenie rating for what sure feels like some undue price gouging. I think T&L would be better served to lower the prices at this location a bit. Then again, I'm just a paying WVHD fan with an opinion, right?

Putnam County Hot Dog Joint: K-Mart Snack Bar

For one reason or another, I find myself in the Teays Valley K-Mart about 3 or 4 times per year, usually to grab some needed or forgotten item on my way to Charleston or back to Huntington. The last couple of times, I noticed a large placard at the snack bar advertising Nathan's Famous franks, but I didn't have the time to grab a dog and give it a review. Well, a few days ago, I was in no hurry and asked if the dogs could be topped with slaw (they could), so I figured that it was their turn to face the scrutiny of a WVHotDogs.com review.

My expectations were low, as big box store snack bars have gone down hill since the demise of G.C. Murphy and Woothworth's. This K-Mart did little to reverse the trend.

I ordered a hot dog with chili (this place is east of Hurricane), slaw, mustard, and onions. I had to go to the service desk to pay, so I didn't see the preparation of the weenie. When I got to the car and unwrapped the weenie, I was shocked, appalled, and dismayed. The weenista had taken it upon herself to give me ketchup instead of onions. Here is a rule of thumb for all HDJ employees: if the customer is above age 15, assume that they did not ask for a hamburger/french fry condiment on their weenie. The lady was nice and all, but it would be hard to recover from this sin.

The bun was neither stale nor fresh, but was unsteamed. Since they are not located in Cabell County, I won't be so hard on them, but a little steaming, as is standard in the Metro Valley, would have been in order.

The Nathan's weenie truly carried the dog, even though it seemed to have skin on it and appeared to have been on some sort of dry heating apparatus for some time. It really did have a nice flavor that Cavalier, Kahn's, etc. cannot touch. That being said, I must at this time invoke the Chris James Doctrine that, with a proper WV hot dog, toppings making cheap weenie taste like a million bucks, not the other way around.

The chili was standard food service canned slop. I suspect that it was a beanless Hormel or some other brand that would have made for a passable bowl of chili for lunch on a cold winter day, but it tasted like crap on a hot dog.

The slaw seemed to be either homemade or at least a close facsimile thereof. It was very creamy and adequately sweet, but someone went overboard on the celery seed. That being said, it was still pretty good if someone had a taste for such a style of slaw.

Overall, we are looking at a 2.5 weenie joint at this K-Mart, entirely due to the Nathan's tubesteak and the so-so slaw. Without weenie, we'd be in the 1.5 weenie range. With bad slaw...I don't even want to think about it.

Mercer County HDJ Review - Lynn's - Bluewell

Between Bluefield and Bramwell sits a little burg called Bluewell. I've always wondered if the founders simply took the two town names and combined them or if there is some kind of well nearby from which comes blue water. I wonder about things like that all the time.

But I don't have to wonder where to go in Bluewell to find a hot dog, hamburger or a dairy treat. There is only one place and that place is Lynn's.

Lynn's is the last of a dying breed: The curb-service dairy bar, but it looks like a walk up place. In fact both times I have been to Lynn's I mistakenly walked up to the window to place my order and have been met by a car hop coming out the side door. She took my order but then I had to show her which car I was in so she could bring my order to me. I sheepishly slunk back to my car and waited.

While I waited I considered the signage on and around Lynn's. There were the obligatory banners advertising sundaes and cones and the obligatory Pepsi changeable letter menu inside, behind the unused ordering windows. There was also hand scrawled messages on the window glass that made it abundantly clear that Lynn's is serious about hamburgers, hoagies and hot dogs; promising "Lynn's Famous Chili" on the hot dogs.

Of course, by this time I already knew that Lynn's was serious about hot dogs because when I placed my order they passed my sure-fire litmus test: "Everything", I was told most confidently, includes chili, slaw, mustard and onions: Perfect answer that always - and I mean always - predicts greatness.

So it should come as no surprise that Lynn's rates highly. Every piece of this hot dog is of superb quality. The bun is steamed to perfection, served in a wax paper sleeve made it wonderfully soft. The weenie was as good as it gets and Lynn's Famous Chili was as good as advertised; nice slow burn and a good meaty texture. The slaw was a perfect compliment to the chili, but was served a little too sparingly for my tastes. It was made from shredded cabbage which gave it a different texture from the more typical chopped stuff. The onions were tasty and the mustard added some zip. There was simply nothing wrong with this hot dog.

This is the furthest south in the state we've been for a hot dog review and it was very nice to find such a wonderful specimen clear down here next to the Virginia border. There's no doubt that Lynn's deserves a Five Weenie rating.

Clarksburg HDJ Review - T&L Hot Dogs, Old Bridgeport Hill

The vast majority of the time you're likely to find little deviation from one local chain or franchised restaurant to the next, save for maybe the layout or decor. The menu is nearly always the same, and the food usually tastes the same at one location as it does another. A welcome exception to this rule are a couple of the T&L Hot Dogs in the north central portion of the state. While there aren't many changes to the menu offerings in the “main” stores (at least the ones that are listed on the T&L website, as there are numerous other locations around the area that aren't even noted), there area a couple that excel in the preparation of the key hot dog ingredients. Two immediately come to mind: the Buckhannon location (see the WVHotDogs.com review for that one) and the newest location at the foot of Old Bridgeport Hill in Clarksburg.

This new T&L employs the standard motif for a T&L: 50's and 60's era movie posters, tons of neon lighting trim, abundant movie poster reprints, die-cast replicas of classic American automobiles, an eye-catching Esso neon clock, a jukebox full of family-friendly oldies, and so forth. At the same time, it also sets itself apart from other HDJs --as well as the other T&L shops-- with it's roomy split-level seating. The eating area is sparkling clean, and the food preparation area glistens as well. I couldn't help but stop and gaze at the wall-mounted nose of the '57 Chevy greeting me at the entrance.

But what really sets this T&L apart from the rest of the pack was how incredibly well prepared my hot dogs were. The slaw had all of the best elements working in unison: cool, crisp cabbage that had freshness permeating every bite, coupled with the tang and sweetness there, all playing together nicely for a welcome change. Mercifully, not the typical one-or-the-other I'm so used to when it comes to the tang or sweetness in my slaw dressing. I had ordered the medium chili sauce, but I would've sworn I received the hot version by mistake. Upon a second tasting, I realized that my chili was simply very, very fresh. The spices and seasonings hadn't had the chance to dissipate into the sauce, and the meat had also been nicely cooked. The buns were perfectly done as far as steaming goes, and it didn't hurt that they tasted ridiculously fresh as well.

Just as a side note here, this was the first time that I noticed that T&L now offers their sauce by the gallon (as well as the pint). Of course if you want that much, be prepared to pony up $24.00.

T&L Hot Dogs doesn't score anything less than four weenies, but this location pulls off the rarity of scoring a five weenie rating. The preparation is of the highest quality here, and it comes through in the taste.

Huntington Area Hot Dog Joint: The Big Loafer--Huntington Mall

Regular shoppers of the Huntington Mall have seen tons of stores come and go over the years. I'm always boring my wife with by pointing out where the Pied Piper, Walden Books, and the Hickory Farms used to be. Some stores, however, have remained staples of West Virginia's largest shopping complex. Among restaurants, one that comes to mind is The Big Loafer. Folks in the Mountain State know The Loaf as a melding of Appalachian cuisine and fast food. Their signature item is called, um, the Big Loafer and is the best meatloaf sandwich on the planet. That is all well and good, but we at WVHotDogs.com are a few years and several licensing deals away from starting a meat loaf sam'mich blog. Fortunately for us, they also sell hot dogs.

I ordered mine with everything, which was sauce, slaw, mustard, and onions. The service was more than friendly and the turnaround was quick, which, combined with the +100 Big Loafers I've eaten in my life had my hopes set for a killer WV hot dog.

Boy, was I in for a letdown.

The first problem was with the bun. The bread was totally stale and they microwaved (?!?!) it in order to freshen it up. Such behavior in a hot dog joint is totally inexcusable anywhere west of Milton. If they are old, call Heiner's and get some more. Don't insult me with nuked, rock-hard buns.

Another problem was to be found with the weenies, which were laying in a pool of their own filth (ie a water bath). While I am more lenient on such dogs than anyone else here at WVHotDogs.com, I still don't want to see the warming pan. Do it in the back and not at the front counter, por favor. I was willing to forgive this spectacle if they tasted ok. They didn't. Cafeteria grade, all the way.

The sauce was ok. Not great, not bad, just ok. It was incredibly meaty with strong notes of chili powder, but the noticeable lack of any other spices and only the faintest hint of salt left it on the bland side of things.

The slaw was, much like the sauce, fair-to-middlin.' It was sweet, too sweet for my taste, but probably just right for a Charlestonian, and finely chopped. The downfall was the fact that it was bone-dry. I imagine that mayo or salad dressing was involved in the concoction at some point, but had drained to the bottom of the storage unit.

Overall, we are looking at a very, very average hot dog from a great fast food place. The finished product was just like how what I imagine the finest hot dog ever served at Barboursville Middle School tasted. 2.5 weenies.

Wheeling HDJ Review - Louie's - Special Guest Reviewer

Note: Paul DeGeorge travels the country with his Wizard Rock Band "Harry and the Potters". Along the way he reviews hot dogs wherever his rigorous tour schedule takes him. Last July the band came to Charleston and I was fortunate enough to take Paul and the other members of his band to Romeo's and Skeenie's for a taste of a real WVHD. In October I got a call out of the blue from Paul as he traveled through the Northern Panhandle. He was looking for a decent hot dog. Since I had long ago given up on finding a decent dog up there, I gave him the only advice I could; The only advice I had ever been given about Wheeling hot dog joints: Go to Louie's.
This review is re-printed from Paul's blog "I am an American and I Eat Hot Dogs."

Bound for St. Louis, we found ourselves headed through the pan-handle of West Virginia right as our stomachs began to grumble. Not having any idea where to stop, we called up the expert: Stanton of the West Virginia Hot Dog Blog. He had brought us out for some great dogs in Charleston over the summer and luckily I still have his phone number hanging around for just such an emergency. He directed us to Louie’s, though he warned that pan-handle dogs are a little different from the WV dogs that he whet our appetite with back in July. His vast knowledge didn’t fail either, for instead of being met by the glory of the chili-slaw dog, we were instead subjected to the lazy-man’s chili dog. I’m sort of inventing terms here, but what I mean to describe is a chili dog that simply fails to deliver on all the excitement of a chili dog. Specific failings at Louie’s include:

1) That crappy, watery chili that’s really just ground beed with a little bit of seasoning.
2) No cheese – sire, I understand that we’re privy to local custom and maybe cheese isn’t the thing here in Wheeling, but if you’re going to top your dog with a subpar chili, you could at least supplement with some cheese.
3) Rollers! Bad form! I am just not-at-all into hot dog that are cooked on rollers. It’s a pet peeve, I guess.

So I can’t really give much of an endorsement to Louie’s other than the fact that it’s probably one of only a half dozen places to eat in Wheeling if you’re hungry.

Charleston HDJ Review - Gram's Specialties

Gram's Specialties is a little bake shop in Kanawha City that has high-end baked goods for sale in a snazzy storefront on McCorkle Avenue. They have a beautiful selection of pies and other goodies in their display case and offer others that can be made to order with advance notice. The attention to quality is evident in the aesthetics of the finished product, and Gram's makes no apologies for their attitude that quality is worth the money: Pies routinely go for $25 and up.

I've not been a customer of Gram's before, primarily because I'm a cheapskate and I knew their prices were higher than I wanted to pay for things that would only make me fat, but I am always intrigued when I drive by and see the delectable delights beckoning from the window. Imagine my surprise when I saw a sign in the window one December evening that said "No Hot Dog Lunches Until 2008." Hot dogs? I thought maybe they meant this kind of hot dogs, but the "lunch" threw me. I decided I needed to wait until 2008 and investigate more thoroughly.

So here it is, 2008 already and I finally made it to Gram's. I was immediately encouraged when I walked into the place and was greeted with a sign that proudly proclaimed the presence of hot dogs, and only hot dogs, for lunch. You really have to admire a place that so proudly embraces the One True Food that way. No hamburgers. No BBQs. No Salads. Hot dogs and sides. That's it. I love these people.

So since I already loved these new people so much I was secretly rooting for a great hot dog, but my professional Weenie Wonk work ethic prevented me from being prejudicial.

When I was told that "everything" included ketchup my enthusiasm became cautious, and when saw that my hot dog was served in a coffin it lowered my expectations a bit more. But as soon as I opened the coffin lid I was completely wowed by the size and weight of this beauty: It filled the bottom of the coffin completely with its girth. The bun was soft, obviously steamed, and it was piled high with toppings. Only after the second bite did I recognize that a major part of the voluminousness of the hot dog was the weenie itself: It was the kind of oversized version like you might expect to find at upscale HDJs and it was quite tasty. Of course, some would say that the the weenie can be too big and eliminate the space needed for a proper bunful of toppings. While I respect this opinion, Gram's doesn't fall into the trap because they overload it anyway. The amount of chili and slaw that is contained in this hot dog could make two or three hot dogs at some HDJs.

The chili is heavy on the chili powder and about as meaty as it can possibly be. Throw in some kidney beans and you'd have some nice chili to eat from a bowl on a cold January day. The slaw is way too coarse for my tastes, and a little sloppy (which is apparently by design since they call their hot dogs "Slawppy Dogs") but tastes very good (sweet) and goes well with the chili. The onions were hardly noticeable, apparently one of the sweet species like Oso or Vidalia.

This is a really good, bordering on great, hot dog. It is big and filling and unlike other things in Gram's, is priced very reasonably for its size at $1.95. I'm going to give it a 4.5 Weenie rating.

I think I'll go back soon and get another Slawppy Dog with a side order of Berry Clouds or a $30 pie. Now THAT'S a combo meal!

Clarksburg HDJ Review - Parkette Family Restaurant

Well over fifty years ago, the Parkette sat at the end of what is now known as Old Bridgeport Hill, just on the border of the limits of Bridgeport and Clarksburg overlooking the current intersection of U.S. Route 50 and I-79. The original building, a throwback to the days of the drive-in family diner, eventually outlived its usefulness and a new building was created on just a stone's throw away heading back into Clarksburg.

All along, the Parkette was always recognized as 'the' place to go for the best subs and hoagies. Of course, burgers, shakes, chicken, and hot dogs and the like were also on the menu, and each and every item was in its own right a delight in and of itself. Just ask anyone who was around in the day. The Parkette has always been a place where people from all walks of life in the area could agree on.

Nowadays, the third incarnation of the Parkette has a more spacious dining area to seat several families and groups, and a terrific menu of some of the best eats in town. Unfortunately, something has been lost in terms of the hot dogs.

Before I get into my review of the hot dogs, let me emphasize that I'm talking about the hot dogs themselves, not the rest of the restaurant. I feel the need to point this out ahead of time because the vast majority of the menu is fantastic, and the wait staff is exceptional. As I eluded to above, the subs and hoagies are worth going out of your way for. The onion rings I got with my order were above and beyond anything I've ever had. If there were a weenie award for side items, these onion rings would be the runaway winners.

Unfortunately, the hot dogs are terribly lacking. While the wiener is grilled, which always adds to the flavor of any variation of any hot dog, the remainder of the ingredients leave a lot to be desired.

For starters a dog here comes sans slaw, which is always an automatic point to half-point deduction. You can get it on the side, but at the price of $1.39 for a serving. On top of that, it's not particularly good either. It's pretty evident by the nearly uniform choppings of cabbage and overdose of vinegar that this slaw is of the pre-packaged, bulk food service variety. When you figure that a hot dog with chili, onions, and mustard as the standard goes for $1.29 here....well, need I say more?

The chili seemed to have been homemade, but it's not clear exactly when. The taste of the beef came across as somewhat watery. The sauce itself was particularly bland, lacking any kind of spice or seasoning, save for a hint of salt.

I'm still, as of this writing, trying to grasp exactly how the bun was heated. The best I can discern is that it was tossed into a warm oven for a minute or less; it seemed to be somewhat toasted on the outside, but barely lukewarm on the inside.

I really liked the Parkette, and would certainly enjoy bringing friends and family alike for a get-together or meal. The hot dogs, however, leave something to be desired. Per the guidelines for rating HDJs, they receive two weenies. These hot dogs need help.