I have a speaking engagement in New Haven this evening so with my most pressing work done, I decide to leave work in the afternoon and do a quick hot dog tour of New Haven before getting to my destination.
First stop is Jordan’s Mac and Hot Dogs on state street. I went to this place many years ago when it first opened. I have been watching Youtube videos and its looks very cool. I am planning to order the Kansas City Dog, which has barbecue sauce and bacon. I drive by the place looking for street parking, but there is none so I swing a left and hope to find some side street parking. I find a spot, but then when I get out i see a sign hidden under and overhanging tree branch that says residential zone parking only. I get back in the car, drive around some more and finally find a spot on the main road three blocks from Jordan’s. I walk there with an anxious step. I am hungry.
When I get there, the place looks dark, and then I see the handwritten sign posted on the door.
Open at 4. Fuck me.
My New Haven Hot Dog road tour not off to a good start. Fortunately, my next stop --Sweeney’s hot dog truck located at Long Wharf is not far, Just a couple miles down the road. Long Wharf is known for its taco truck. A stretch of road parallel to Interstate 95, that runs along the harbor, and has over 20 food truck, nearly all Mexican or Puerto Rican.
In between them all is Sweeney’s hot dogs.
Sweeney has been there for over 25 years, and was the first truck there. I often stop there on the way back from ambulance transfers to the VA. While I usually get tacos, I do visit Sweeney sometimes. His daughter used to work for us in Hartford on the ambulance and she went on to medical school and is now a shrink out west according to Sweeney. I ordered a chili dog for $3. Solid hot dog in a light warm bun. Sweeney is the OG.
Next stop was less than a mile away at IKEA.
IKEA has a $1 hot dog. I have never even been in an IKEA before. Not what I pictured. Big warehouse. They had a Swedish food court that was empty. I ordered on the kiosk.
I got the $1 dog and added some fried onions for 25 cents.
I have to tell you, it was one of the worst hot dogs I have ever had.
The dog was dried out. The fried onions which I think you can buy in a can in a grocery store are a terrible idea to put on a hot dog. I ate three quarters of it, then set it on the seat next to me. I discovered my next stop just down the road was about to close.
Hummel Brothers Meat makes hot dogs and other meats. While Martin Rosol provides the dogs to most of the hot dog stands in the north central regions, Hummel Brothers is big in the New Haven area. Unfortunately I arrived just before they closed and forty minutes after they shut down their hot food. I could have gotten a hot Hummel dog for $4. Instead I bought some packaged Hummel Brothers red hots for $6 to take home. I would have preferred to get some of their regular natural casing dogs, but the smallest size they had was a three pound package.
2-4 on the dogs with 2 spots to go.
Next stop was Camacho’s Garage, which I found out is just a Mexican restaurant/bar that makes a Mexican hot dog, which is what I ordered.
Expensive. Cost $8.95. I take it to go and eat it out in my car. The taste is wonderful except for the hint of mayo, which I don’t care for, still the rest of it tastes so good, I am able to stomach the mayo. Even after I have finished and am heading on to my last stop, the lingering taste in my mouth is wonderful. Not a hot dog place, but an excellent hot dog.
Final stop is the Glenwood Drive in in Hamden, the town that borders New Haven to the north. This is an old time drive-in that appears on many of the top ten lists for hot dogs in Connecticut.
I asked the girl behind the counter what their best dog was and she recommended the chili dog so I got that instead of the bacon and onion dog. Big mistake. If you like the chili it is great, but if you don’t like the chili, bad and it makes it hard to evaluate the dog. I did not like the chili. The dog was also $7.50,
The foot long dog in the grilled bun was heavy and dry. I only ate half of it. The first dog I have not finished in all 104 days. If it was my first dog of the day, I would have eaten it out of hunger for dog number 4, But i saw no point in finishing this dog. Given its reputation I should go back to this place and maybe try the hot dog with bacon and grilled onions.
So what lessons did I learn from today?
Call places in advance to see when they are open.
4 dogs in a day is a lot.
How did I rank the dogs?
Sweeney’s Hot Dog King. The OG
Camacho Garage’s Mexican Dog
Glenwood Drive Chili Dog
Ikea Dog with Fried Onions
For Another Day - Jordan’s Mac and Dogs and Hummel Brothers
Day 105