Photos-of-the-Week #177 - Martie's Hot Dog Stand, Keyser, West Virginia, September 2014

Here are some more photos from my Great Hotdog Caper. You already know that one of the Top 10 hotdog places in the U.S., as ranked by Public Television, is Rutt's Hut in my hometown of Clifton, New Jersey.

Well, here is another hometown place. It's Martie's Hot Dog Stand in Keyser, West Virginia. Keyser is my eastern base camp and I've passed Martie's many times as I've driven down the once thriving, now decrepit Main Street of Keyser. Like so many places in Americana, time and the economy have passed Keyser by.

I don't know how long Martie's has been in existence or at this location, but it is pretty much literally a "hole in the wall." Not unlike many old downtown areas in small, especially, rural areas, Main Street was at one time the "happening place" in this small town of just over 5,000 population. Not so in 2014.

Obviously, Martie's occupies a small, very old storefront that once was a framing gallery with one or more apartments over it. 

There are numerous vacant stores all around Martie's and those that are occupied probably haven't seen a serious renovation in decades. West Virginia, being one of the states often identified with Appalachia is in the now, almost non-existent coal mining and agricultural part of the country. A downsized, old paper mill is probably the only remaining industry in this area.

So, how about the hotdogs? Here are two of a variety of combinations you can order at Martie's. The hotdog on the right is Martie's version of a New York Kraut Dog. Not bad! The hotdog was good, the bun was fresh. The toppings included brown mustard, diced onions and a very healthy serving of sauerkraut. It appears they must heat the sauerkraut up on the grill, which is not to my particular liking. I prefer it as I get it in the New York area, fresh, out of the barrel. But, I'm not making any bones, it was good and I ate it all.

The hotdog on the left is what Martie's has dubbed their West Virginia Dog. I believe there was some mustard under there and probably some diced onions, but there was a huge amount of coleslaw topped with nice hot hotdog chili - no beans. It looks sloppy and it is. Even my big mouth wasn't big enough to get a bite of the entire thing at one shot. But, the combination was delicious. I had never thought of combining coleslaw and chili before, but it works - at least for me.

I can't say I rank Martie's in the Top 10, but certainly for a hometown hotdog, I'd go there again and I'm sure they must have a large enough group of regulars to keep the place alive and kicking. Of course, as you may have noted on their sign, they serve breakfast, lunch and beer, they are an outlet for the West Virginia Lottery and one can play Keno there, which seems to be very popular in the Keyser area.

Oh yeah, and they are friendly, accommodating and it's an interesting place to just sit and eavesdrop. When I was there around mid-afternoon on a weekday, I was the only hotdog customer at that time. But, there were several others enjoying a cold brewski and having a very heated conversation about a local political issue. A woman who walked in for some reason and appeared to be employed by the local government was the focal point (or maybe target) of the discussion. It was fun listening and I even got to participate a bit.

The general ambiance at Martie's is somewhere between early diner and a dive, but the conversation brought the place to life. Altogether a fun, enjoyable experience and the dogs were good, too.  

Photo-of-the-Week #172 The Great Hotdog Caper: Heid's of Liverpool, Liverpool, New York, June 2014

I know there are some readers out there who are saying - "Does he know how unhealthy hotdogs are?" Yep! I do. I have a long time friend who is a retired dietician. She practiced her profession for some 30 or 40 years. She never let an opportunity pass when we were gathered at a group picnic to make her pronouncement that hotdogs were "tubes of death." We respected her and loved her, but on this issue we humored her and went right ahead and scarfed down those "tubes of death" slathered in mustard, catsup, pickle relish, sauerkraut, minced onions, chili and melted cheese. Nary a one of us gave it a second thought - other than, perhaps, indulging in this delicacy might shorten our individual life spans by a minute or five. It was worth the sacrifice.

So, here we have a place appropriately named, Heid's of Liverpool in Liverpool, New York, a suburb of Syracuse, across from Onondaga Lake. Now, it's always been my belief that when you see people lined up outside the door of an eating establishment the food was either so bad the proprietors were giving away free money OR the food was so good, people came from miles around (in my case untold miles at any given time) to wait their turn to enjoy the tantalizing treats awaiting inside. I can't, honestly, say I've ever run into a place like this giving away free money.

Fortunately, I arrived a bit earlier and didn't have to wait in the outdoor line, but wait in a line, I did. The hotdogs are locally manufactured in Syracuse by a company that went by the name of Hofmann. It didn't matter what supermarket I went into, there were always huge display cases full of Hofmann's hotdogs. I like that. It really gives whatever the food is a localized "flavor," no pun intended. I was not disappointed. My friends, John and Pat, recommended I try Heid's. John and I attended grad school together at Syracuse U and he's an ordained minister, too, so I know they wouldn't steer me wrong. They didn't.

Here is my tasty treat laid out before me. Now, I should mention that the decor, was bright and cheery, not unlike a 50's or 60's style drive-in hot dog joint. It was clean and almost filled to capacity, however there was another large outdoor eating area just beyond where I was sitting and there were lots of families there. Like Rutt's Hut and Hiram's in New Jersey, both outdating Heid's by decades from what I could tell, part of the charm of Heid's was maintaining that vintage ambiance.

But, as the saying goes, "The proof is in the pudding," or in this case in the hot dogs. So, here they are in their glory. 

One is a chili-cheese dog with some chopped onions and the other is a mustard-sauerkraut dog with some chopped onions. The buns were different than in most hotdog places I've been to. They appeared to be white bread, sliced for the hotdog to be inserted. The hotdogs, of course, were from Hofmann. And, to top it off, we indulged in some French fries and a soft drink. This is NOT my normal kind of menu. I don't eat white bread, French fries are not health food by any stretch of the imagination and I don't indulge in soft drinks, preferring water or unsweet iced tea. But, THIS meal was part of my Great American Hotdog Caper and this is what's on the menu.

Let me just say, this meal, like the old Campbell Soup slogan, was "Mmm, Mmm Good!" It along with my other hotdog caper meals may cost me one final post to this blog since I won't live long enough to write it, but like I said, it was well worth it. So, anytime you happen to be in the Syracuse, New York area, make a little time to drive over to Liverpool and enjoy a trip back to the 50's/60's and indulge in some of the great food of Americana, Hofmann hot dogs from Heid's of Liverpool.