civilized ku # 411-414 ~ hot dog
Monday, March 8, 2010 at 11:12AM 
Heid's hots - Food You'll Like ~ Liverpool, NY • click to embiggen
Heid's - Food You'll Like ~ Liverpool, NY • click to embiggenI'm back from Rochester and my youngest brother's retirement party and, as the pictures in this entry attest, it's a given that, if I'm headed to western NYS, a stop at Heid's of Liverpool is part of the travel itinerary.
As the claim emblazoned across the facade of Heid's states - Food You'll Like, they do indeed offer food that you'll like. Of course, that statement assumes that your definition of "food" is "hot dogs" and that if you really want Food You Won't Like there's no reason to be at Heid's in the first place.
But, here's the thing about hot dogs - I can't speak for other regions, but here in my regional environs the hot dog case at supermarkets is absolutely not the place to purchase hot dogs with expectation that they will be "food you'll like". All of the offering therein are the limp tasteless tubular trifles that give hot dogs a bad name and a bad taste.
Fortunately, a trip to central/western NYS by any family member or friend always involves a visit to a Wegmans for the expressed purpose of buying and bringing back a trunk load of either Zweigles Premium Pop Open Hot Dogs (natural casing) or Hoffman's German Brand Franks (the franks from Heid's).
FYI, that's a Hoffman's coney with ketchup featured in the top picture.
Reader Comments (3)
Makes me continually glad I live in Austria where food is still food. Scattered all about Vienna are Würstelständer where you can't help but get a great sausage - hot dog (frankfurter in a bun), grillwurst, käsekrainer, burenwurst, are the best sellers -- with pfefferonis or pickles, bread or semmel, hot or sweet mustard.
This post reminds me of an old question that hopes to determine one's breadth of experience. "What is the best hot dog/sausage you have ever eaten and where."
The answers I have seen have varied from the corner 7-11 to a local bratwurst in Wisconsin, steamed in beer and onions, then grilled.
As for me, mine is a bauernwurst on semmel in the Munchener Hauptbahnhof (bratwurst on roll at the Munich main train terminal).
If you or yours get to SLC, UT you must try some dogs from http://www.colosimosausage.com/Pages/Products Personal favorites are the Beer Bratwurst and the English Bangers. Nothing like great bangers & mash.
Dogs, like pictures, consumed with slight nuances on a regular basis become ordinary and exploring something new is one of life's true delights. It may not be to your liking, but it will take you where you haven't been before.
BTW, Price Chopper now sells Hoffman Hots...