Tonight, on the last day of Joe’s Farm Grill Hot Dog Days of Summer, I ate yet another pair of wacky hot dog combinations. We figured there were at least 2 more that I was willing to try before the promotion disappeared.
Having already tried 4, the only choices I was interested were easy to choose.
The Reuben had the standard encased wiener topped with sauerkraut, melted swiss cheese, and cucumber slices drizzled with 1000 island dressing. Unfortunately the first bite revealed that this particular hot dog had been one of the end wieners in the links of sausage, with a bit of twine still attached to the casing. That first bite included the charred twine along with burnt casing bits which I promptly spit out. Not a great first impression. This was followed by a sheer inability to bite through the dog, bun, and cucumber slices. The slices slid off and dressing dripped everywhere. Had there just been kraut and swiss cheese this option would have been much better. This one was also just about as messy as the Cordon Bleu.
The 3-B was the final choice that I had hoped would end the promotion nicely. The recipe sounded pretty good with it’s three B’s: bacon, BBQ sauce, and blue cheese. However this was not the case. First off the sandwich-style bun was extra toasted and almost burnt making it rough to even bite through. Secondly, the extra chopped tomatoes mixed with crumbled cheese and sauce simply slid out of the bun. By the end of the dog, a full half of the toppings had fallen onto both the basket and table. The bacon was a bit overdone, and the toasted bun had roughed up the top of my mouth like dry bread. My hands were a mess, and the BBQ sauce was definitely a better combination on the Carolina.
With these two final hot dog combos, Joe’s Hot Dog Days of Summer came to a sad conclusion. These last two were definitely duds, but I still feel some of the other choices worked out well. In the end, I’d rank the dogs accordingly:
- The Carolina
- The Asian
- The Swedish
- The 3-B
- The Reuben
- The Cordon Bleu
I hope this wacky menu returns next year in some fashion so that I can give my tastebuds yet another wacky experience at the grill.