Roadfood Digest

The Arizona Daily Star runs down the top hot dogs in Tucson.  Among the lineup are the Sonoron dogs from BK Carne Asada & Hot Dogs that ayersian raved about in their Roadfood.com review (pictured above are bacon-wrapped dogs ready to be inserted into buns, from ayersian’s review).  What goes on the bacon-wrapped dog? Onions, beans, mustard, mayo, and diced tomatoes; hot pepper on the side!  ayersian says these Sonoron dogs are “one heart-stopping culinary experience that will leave you wanting more.”  Also recommended is Pat’s Drive-In, about which the Daily Star proclaims: “Pat's Drive-in is a West Side landmark known for one thing: chili dogs.”  Michael Stern asserts, in his Roadfood.com review of Pat’s, that “one of our favorite hobbies is eating chili dogs. There are few places we like practicing this hobby more than the vintage Tucson drive-in known as Pat’s.”

Also on the Daily Star list: Costco (“They are big enough to share, but why would you?”), Hot Dog Heaven (“juicy, tender, meaty and succulent”), J Dawg at J Bar (“Sonoran hot dog topped with smoked poblano crema, pickled cactus, whole-grain mustard and chorizo black beans”), Lovin’ Spoonfuls (a veggie dog “served on an organic whole-grain bun with sauerkraut and mustard”), Luke’s Italian Beef (“Order your Chicago-style dog ‘all the way’”), Music Box Lounge (“quarter-pound Hebrew National hot dog”), Wienerschnitzel (“Sometimes you just want your dogs fast, greasy, cheap and sloppy”), and Cuvée World Bistro (“Kobe-style beef hot dog with oregano jarenara”).  See the Daily Star story for full details.

A few weeks ago when musicians Rhett and Link asked permission to use one of my photos in a music video they were making, I had no idea that it would become part of what is the most entertaining BBQ-focused song I've ever heard. Backed up by the Homestead Pickers, Rhett and Link sing a high-energy ode to barbecue all around the South, offering their unvarnished opinions about everything from mayonnaise sauce to the status of the state of Florida. My favorite verse contains these lines:

When my life is through

Bury me in barbecue

But make sure it's vinegar-based

Because you know that slows decay...

After getting the Rhett and Link BBQ Song stuck in my head, I crossed state lines to get some barbecue ... in New York, at JB's, the place that used to be drive-in-only on Lake Avenue Extension in Danbury. For the last couple of years, it has been located in the inconspicuous Border Plaza on Route 6 in Brewster where the menu has been expanded and there is a spacious dining room for eating in. Pictured above is my combo dinner of fried whiting and pulled pork, along with collard greens and macaroni & cheese. I'm not saying this is four-star soul food (the mac & cheese was awfully sweet, the pork supersauced, the greens not piggy enough); but it scratched the itch until I next go south (or north, to Syracuse). And the sweet tea, while 25 cents more than McDonald's, was at least twice as sweet!

Emily Szopa, writing for the Chicago Dining Examiner blog, surveys the Chicago hot dog scene in honor of National Hot Dog Month.  She mentions, among others, Wiener’s Circle (“It’s loud, there’s no bathroom and you’ll probably get yelled at by the trash-talking staff, but they do have some of the best char-dogs around”) and Gene & Jude’s (“the memory of that first visit sticks with me almost 20 yrs later”), both listed on Roadfood.com.  Special mention for Brasserie Jo, a French spot that's honoring hot dog month by serving dogs with mustard on a baguette for a buck, on Mondays only from 5-7 p.m.!

Beneath that hillock of fresh vegetables in the photo above is a Byron’s hot dog (from the Roadfood.com review).

Time Out Chicago deserves much praise and admiration for their exhaustive series of articles about the Chicago dog.    Learn how the unique combination of toppings that define a Chicago dog came to be; who originated the Chicago dog; what actually goes into a hot dog; how Chicagoans feel about ketchup on dogs; the story of the legendary Hot Doug’s and his encased meats; and a whole lot more.  Even if you consider yourself a hot dog expert there’s guaranteed to be something here that you didn’t know.  The most expensive dog in Chicago?  $250 for The Capitalist Pig at Chubby Wieners.  This one comes with a “free” bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label!  Believe it or not, it’s been ordered 11 times in the last two years.  Lots of fun!

Robert Moss of the Charleston City Paper has reviewed the Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina branch of Barbara Jean’s, a seven-restaurant mini-chain in the Southeast.  It’s a mixed review but, in the end, he’s mostly disappointed by the overly sweet food.

The photo above is the view from the back deck of the Barbara Jean’s along the Intracoastal Waterway in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, from our Roadfood.com review.  We agree with Robert wholeheartedly about the ultra-sweet coconut shrimp, but we think the Southern-style vegetables are the way to go here.

Metromix Denver has posted a new review of The Buckhorn Exchange, Denver’s oldest restaurant and owner of Colorado Liquor License #1.  Reviewer Thom Wise says “Buckhorn is by far the coolest place to take those friends and cousins who visit, especially the ones who want that "real west" experience, who are probably the same ones who think we still have shoot outs at the OK Corral and eat from a chuckwagon.”

The photo above is from the Roadfood.com review of the Buckhorn, where Michael Stern notes that “much of the menu is devoted to such ostentatiously Old-West cuisine as Rocky Mountain oysters (deep fried sliced testicles), bison, elk, and rattlesnake.”

Summer Saturdays from 6-9 p.m. are Cruise Nights at Bethel, Connecticut’s Sycamore Drive-In, with classic cars, a DJ, giveaways, and of course, the Sycamore’s famous French Style Steakburgers and homemade Old-Fashioned Root Beer.  This Saturday, July 19, should prove to be an extra-special Cruise Night as The Sycamore celebrates their 60th anniversary.  Read more about the Sycamore in B.J. O’Brien’s story for the Bethel Beacon, and Brian Koonz’s story for The News-Times of Danbury.  Brian Koonz has also posted a video with some interviews he did at the drive-in.

Michael Stern, in his Roadfood.com review of the Sycamore, says “It is famous for its root beer, made on premises from a top-secret recipe and served in frosty glass mugs. The root beer varies from sweet to dry, depending on where in the barrel yours comes from, but whatever its nature on any day, it always makes the perfect basis of a root beer float.”

Gus Pieters, the Holland-born founder of Calgary’s legendary Peters’ Drive-In, passed away Tuesday.  Mr. Pieters was a pastry chef in Holland, moving to Canada in 1954.  He started the drive-in in 1964 with $15,000 and never opened another branch of Peters’.  He sold the business and retired in 2005.  Read more in the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun.

Peters’ burgers and shakes have been, and continue to be, long-time favorites in Calgary.  Check out Michael Stern’s Roadfood.com review of Peters’.

The National Cherry Festival in Traverse City, Michigan enjoyed record attendance this year, and vendors had record sales figures, according to an article by Margaret Parsons in the Traverse City Record-Eagle.  Grand Traverse Pie Company’s sales bested figures from the last 12 festivals. 

Is this somehow connected to high gas prices?  We can’t answer that, but we can say this: there are countless incredible places to visit all across the U.S. and, if people are choosing to stay closer to home and are perhaps visiting parts of the country they haven’t seriously considered before, then we think folks will be surprised by what they find.  The richness and diversity of America’s many cultures and micro-cultures is, for us, what traveling is all about.  Have fun!

Pictured above are racks of cooling pies at Grand Traverse Pie Company, from Michael Stern’s Roadfood.com review.