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As excited as I was to head out for a day of eating hot dogs with an
equally enthusiastic eating partner in crime, I had no idea the day
would end up going the way it did. Aunt Nicky served as the
Patron Saint of Hot Dog Eating for the day, a title I have never
bestowed on anyone up until this point, and may never be able to
again. During our trek through Troy, we hurried into Famous
Lunch for our first taste of dogs for the day. I was impressed
with the age of the building and took some pictures of an
old Cott soda ad
painted on the side of the building ages ago. Of course, the
little hot dog diner has been there for over 70 years, and after
seeing the setup inside, there was no wonder why. It was a no
frills place - everyone knew the menu, the cooks knew how to cook,
and thankfully, the grill probably hadn't been cleaned since it
opened. .
We sat down, and ordered up some of the wildly
inexpensive 50 cent hot dogs. With a side of fries and an RC
Cola to wash it all down the dog goodness lathered not so gently
with their house Zippy Sauce, I couldn't hold ack at the delight I
was experiencing. The skin of the dogs snapped when you bit
into them, the warm bun held the dog beautifully and the zippy sauce
had a laid back zing that made your tongue dance. I ate four,
and turned down offers for seconds, knowing we were making another
stop later on. Looking back in retrospect, I don't know how I
held out, because these were the best hot dogs I've ever eaten in
my life. There, I've said it. The best.
It was a perfect meeting of ambience and food, taste and no decor.
Famous Lunch can now take its rightful place at the right hand of
the Father (Arthur
Bryant's BBQ) in the Pantheon of Great Eats.
Afterwards, we crossed town, and stood in a rather
long line at Gus' Hot Dogs. Located behind a gas station, and
having a 15 minute wait for dogs made my mouth water and rejoice at
the prospects. The man in line in front of us told us to 'just
start with 12, you can always come back for more'. He wasn't
kidding either, as he ordered 16 for him and his wife and had them
finished well before we were halfway. Now, these aren't full
size dogs, rather 2/3 size, all purchased from a local meat market
in downtown Troy, but they're embarrassingly cheap and even more
embarrassingly good. I thought Gus' meat sauce (the way hot
dogs are eaten in upstate New York) was a bit dryer and pastier than
Famous Lunch's Zippy Sauce, which had a keen delight to it that
played off the textured of the dog, bread and mustard.
The operations at both places killed me - I could've
stood and watched them slather hot mustard and onions on the dogs at
Gus' for hours, and stood outside the picture widow at Famous Lunch
for days watching them grill those dogs. There was a devout
following at each - the closest comparison I can imagine the great
Gates/Bryants debate in Kansas City. Everyone has a
favorite, and will begrudgingly admit the other is good, but nowhere
near the same class as their pick.
Famous Lunch made my day, and I long to taste their
dogs again soon. |
