Ushering in July with The Best Hot Dogs

Hog dogs are always a matter of debate depending on where you are from. But, having lived in the northeast and midwest, we still feel that the hot dogs in Buffalo, New York are the best hot dogs around!

Nowhere that we’ve lived outside of Western New York has captured our love for a good hot doglike Buffalo. This includes Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

We’ve tried. But, they just don’t measure up!

Our favorite hot dogs are Salen’s made in Buffalo, New York. There are many reasons for this favoritism.

• the color – not beet red like some dogs we’ve had, especially in the mid-west.
• the size – not really fat, like some dogs we’ve had out and about on our travels.
• the snap – when you bite into a Salen’s hot dog you feel a definite snap as the skin gives way to your teeth. It’s not tough, or chewy, the skin just snaps as you bit into the dog.
• the skin- natural casings make the snap

So for years, when my sister-in-law visited, she’s brought multi-packs of frozen Salen’s hot dogs with her. We feast on them as long as possible – rationing the end of the supply like a prospector rations his gold. We just haven’t found anything close to replacing the taste of a Salen’s hot dog.

It then makes sense that when we traveled back to WNY last month, our first stop after traveling 800 miles by car, was at a Ted’s restaurant off the I-90 in Orchard Park , New York. It was a stop that had to be made! This was a favorite place to eat when we lived in Buffalo!

Ted’s uses Salen’s brand hot dogs, grilling them over an open flame so the skin just cracks open and they receive some charring. Ted’s also offers a special sauce that makes the dog complete, along with relish, mustard, ketchup, onion, and a dill pickle. Our meal included deep-fried onion rings and a soda – although in years’ past loganberry was the drink to have, especially when we took the kids.

Some years, on our visits to WNY, we did not get to Ted’s for a hot dog. We were always regretful about missing a “tasty Ted dog.” This time, we were determined not to miss it! And, so we didn’t!

Yum!