For my second visit to Huntington (non-worked related, which
was once), I indulged in the Hot Dog Festival. In fact, this was the only reason
I went to Huntington. This is the only reason I go most places.
So the Hot Dog Festival had a handful of vendors: Stewarts Original Hot Dogs, Frostop Drive Inn, Midway Drive-In, Sam’s Hot Dogs, Charlie’sHarley Davidson Diner, Down Home Salads, and The Jug & Kilt English Pub.
I don’t really know what that last half are, so I focused my
efforts on the top four and prepared my stomach.
For not knowing Huntington at all, I, remarkably, did not
get lost and also found parking. For the whole day festival, I only paid $3 in
parking for a garage that was RIGHT THERE.
The very first hotdog I knew I wanted to try was Stewarts.
I’m told that is iconic Huntington, so I didn’t want to risk running out of
room before I tried it. Luckily, the area where my friend an I entered was
right near Stewarts.
I ordered one dog - $2 – with chili, slaw, mustard and onions. They only fix the hotdog with chili and you supply the rest of the toppings (they also had ketchup available) from canisters on a communal table.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about this for a number of reasons:
1 – This was me creating my own hotdog, so unless they do
this at their restaurant, too, I didn’t feel as though I was fully evaluating
their product.
2 – It was a little warm out, and these canisters were just
sitting in the sunlight. I imagine slaw could go bad?
3 – I don’t like the idea of communal toppings. I don’t know
what those people did to those toppings before I got there. They were just in
canisters that were haphazardly closed or open, and it was just messy.
When eating the hotdog, I was thinking “Okay, this isn’t
bad.” I’m glad it was my first, because it got increasingly better as I went
along. This was an average hotdog. The sauce didn’t have a lot of flavor and
was just overall blah.
Grade: C
After watching some contests and perusing the shops, we
tried our second hotdog: Midway Drive-In.
“One with chili, slaw, mustard and onions, please.”
“We’re out of slaw.”
“WHAT?!”
“You should’ve came earlier.”
“WHAT! How can you serve hotdogs without slaw? This is West
Virginia!”
“No slaw. Sorry.”
The hotdog was better than Stewarts – even though it didn’t
have slaw. Still a notch above with slightly better tasting chili, and the
toppings were fresher.
Grade: B
Okay getting full. One more before we go: Sam’s.
I have had Sam’s before in Charleston, so it was probably #4 out of the ones I wanted to try, but my friend and I saw Frostop coming to the festival, so we figured we could actually just go and sit there and save the festival for another one.
All of the hotdogs at this place were $2, so I asked for one
standard. My friend was the last person to get chili. They had to shut down
after us. What is it with these places running out of food? There were still a
couple hours of the festival left to go!
But I have to say, Sam’s nailed it.
Bun was steamed right. Sauce was the most flavorful, and toppings
were fresh and cold.
Grade: A
Before we left Huntington, we took another lap or two around
the festival and headed out. By this time, our three hotdogs had digested and
we could take on a fourth. So we stopped at Frostop.
You can’t miss it. It has a giant, rotating root beer on the
top.
So I did. #awk.
Looking over the menu at the front of the building, I decided on one hotdog and a rootbeer float. You actually have to pay extra for slaw. I then asked if we could sit outside. I didn’t want to eat inside my car. They have a few benches.
I was seriously not following drive inn protocol. Forgive my
ignorance.
After a bit, he came back with our food and a bill with
change already made. He anticipated me paying with a $5. Which was presumptuous
and slightly confusing. But I made it work, somehow.
If you’re reading this, sorry, dude. Did NOT mean to make
your job difficult. I’m just stupid, or something.
Hotdog was good. To be honest, it wasn’t as memorable as the
root beer float.
Ahhhhmmmmmm.
So good. I don’t even like root beer. It doesn’t taste
generic or all those other awful things pop can sometimes taste like. It was
smooth and refreshing and amazing.
And good GOD. Delicious. Get one of those root beer floats,
and you can thank me later.
But the hotdog? Eh. Just get two root beer floats.
Grade: B
4 comments
You should go to Morrison's in Logan. They have by far, the best West Virginia hotdog. Make sure you get a side of onion rings too. They are the bomb.
ReplyDeleteReally?! I'll put it on my list! Thanks!
DeleteThey are called carhops - funny thing, back in the old days, only boys could be carhops at Stewart's. Girls were only allowed to work in the kitchen. Yeah, pretty sexist.
ReplyDeleteFor future reference (if you ever go back), here's the standard protocol (at least at Stewart's). Pull in and wait for carhop. You order and wait for the food. They come back with a tray and you roll your window down about 2/3rds to 3/4th of the way down so they can hang it on there for you. They usually leave the coin change part on the tray for you, but will have bills in their apron to make up the difference. When you are done, turn on your lights and they will come back and get your tray.
Carhops! That's right! Eesh, I knew that. And that's interesting, because I tend to think of girls on rollerskates.
DeleteThat seems easy enough. I'll have to keep that in mind. Thank you! =]