No, I'm not talking about these:
Tomorrow, Saturday, May 14 I will be at The Dogfather, a hot dog truck located at 84 Holden Street in Worcester, for their chili dog eating contest at 2PM.
Here's the press release:
Hotdog Eating Contest to Raise funds for The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester
The Dogfather will be hosting his first annual hotdog eating contest on Saturday May 14th, 2011 at 2pm at 84 Holden St. in Worcester. This is at the corner of Shore Dr. And Holden St. just across from The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester and Bancroft School. Spectator admission and parking is free. For a $10.00 donation, which will go to UUCW, participants will have 15 minutes to eat as many chili dogs as they can. First prize is one year worth of FREE hotdogs at The Dogfather hotdog truck. Additional prizes and raffles will also be available to raise funds for the church.
Polar Soda will be at the contest with a tasting booth. We'll also be raffling off FREE soda for a year to benefit the UUCW.
If you fancy yourself a competitive eater, this is the event for you.
For more information, check the Dogfather's Facebook Page.
The Hotdogman will be there shooting an episode of Hot Dog Stories.
The Dogfather, a hot dog truck located at 84 Holden Street in Worcester, is having a chili dog eating contest on Saturday, May 14 at 2PM.
Here's the press release:
Hotdog Eating Contest to Raise funds for The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester
The Dogfather will be hosting his first annual hotdog eating contest on Saturday May 14th, 2011 at 2pm at 84 Holden St. in Worcester. This is at the corner of Shore Dr. And Holden St. just across from The Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester and Bancroft School. Spectator admission and parking is free. For a $10.00 donation, which will go to UUCW, participants will have 15 minutes to eat as many chili dogs as they can. First prize is one year worth of FREE hotdogs at The Dogfather hotdog truck. Additional prizes and raffles will also be available to raise funds for the church.
Polar Soda will be at the contest with a tasting booth. We'll also be raffling off FREE soda for a year to benefit the UUCW.
If you fancy yourself a competitive eater, this is the event for you.
For more information, check the Dogfather's Facebook Page.
The Hotdogman will be there shooting an episode of Hot Dog Stories.
It is so friggin cold out, I am amazed when someone actually stops to buy a hot dog! Every dog at the Hot Dog Truck is a "chilly dog" when it's this cold. Friday it is supposed to be ZERO degrees and minus 20 degrees with the wind! It hasn't been this cold here for 20 years.
I want to go out on the coldest day of the year and see what hearty souls will show up.
I am going to have a "coldest day since 1989" chili dog special: the combo will be the same price as regular dogs and I'll pile on some extra chili to boot.
I hope to see you there!
Tyler from BOSE had a mission: to break the Hot Dog Truck's standing record of seven chili dogs in one sitting! While this title is not as prestigious as the Nathan's Contest (yet), holding this record is the mark of a true food champion.
Last week he managed to eat six chili dogs in a self proclaimed "training session." He came by yesterday with a determined attitude and an iron stomach.
Here's Tyler with his first three chili dogs. Note the cheery disposition exhibited in his facial expression.
Midway through his fifth chili dog, it appears the task is wearing on him.
Tyler is contemplating the seventh and eighth chili dogs: one will tie the record, the other will make him a Hot Dog Truck immortal!
Just one chili dog between Tyler and GLORY!
THE NEW CHAMPION stands with his completed trays, a testimony to his will and his appetite. Two things come to mind, one is TUMS. The other is GET A HAIRCUT DUDE!
ALL HAIL THE HOT DOG TRUCK CHILI DOG KING!
There used to be a guy who'd stop by my old truck and order FOUR chili dogs on a regular basis. Two chili dogs is usually more than enough for most patrons, but this guy would woof down four like they were Tic Tacs! One day he ordered six and ate them. After a while, he stopped coming by-the remodelling job he was working on in the area was completed and he moved on to the next job.
Not long after that, a skinny guy (it's always the skinny guys who can really eat) came by with some of his buddies and ordered four chili dogs. I told him the record was six. He ate seven!
That record still stands after 2 years, but there's a new challenger on the horizon: Tyler from BOSE. He pledged to break the longstanding record last winter and he came by today with some of the other BOSE regulars. He ordered three chili dogs and declared that he was officially training to break the record.
After polishing off three, he came back for three more!
I thought for sure he would break the record today, but his buddy told me he lost his momentum about half way through his fifth chili dog! He finished the six he ordered, but he couldn't cram any more chili dogs in his tummy. He was a bit worse for wear too-heck so would you if you ate enough chili and hot dogs to increase your net body weight by 15%!. He wanted the guy who drove to go REALLY SLOW back to the office and even considered a borrowing a bucket for the ride.
While Tyler didn't break the record, his efforts should be commended. I am confident I'll have a new chili dogs king by the end of the summer!
Here's where he ran into the wall-midway through he fifth chili dog
Here he is with his empty chili dog holders. Note the glassed over eyes and squeamish look on his face
My chili dogs are famous around these parts. People come up to me on the street and tell me they LOVE my chili dogs. One day I sold 5 pounds of chili (that's a LOT) before 11AM! The record for eating chili dogs in one sitting is 7. The guy was a skinny dude-130 pounds tops and he WOOFED them down.
In honor of the great chili dog, I made this motivational poster over at big HUGE Labs.
Go there and make your own!
One critical element to running a Hot Dog Truck is Propane. I need to get my propane tank filled twice a week. Thankfully, the propane place is only a few hundred yards down the road. Here's Mark at Spec-Aire filling up my tank. It was 86 degrees out today and Mark was looking for excuses to go outside; he usually hides in his office on crappy days! Mark likes the Chili Dogs.
Mike hangs in the office and takes my money. Mike goes for chili dogs and sometimes the Tuna rolls. Just don't ask him about the new computer system.....
Today was a gorgeous day, 70 degrees and the hot dog lovers are coming out of the woodwork!
This lovely Red Sox fan was havin' a good day!
Here's another happy Sox fan with "Red Sox" spelled in Japanese on his shirt. (Further translation found the shirt to say "My mother dresses me funny"). This guy's buddy is a former Hot Dog Man from Worcester. I guess that makes me "the Hot Dog Man's Hot Dog Man!"
Fred from Coldwell Banker is a hard core, year 'round regular. Here he is enjoying his standard "two all around brown" dogs. Fred owes me about $320.00 for STRAWS! (Straws are 8 bucks at the Hot Dog Truck and he never pays). Fred is going to be PO'd when he sees this picture!
Here's Fred's lunch: YUMMY!
The good weather means the folks at BOSE finally crawl out of their cubes and come on down for hot dogs. BOSE World HQ is right around the corner from my truck. When the picnic tables are out, they conduct meetings there! This guy bravely takes a bite out of a chili dog for the camera. I must say people look pretty goofy eating hot dogs!
These two guys (also from BOSE) are regulars but they tend not to venture out on the REALLY COLD days. The guy on the right gets two RED and WHITE dogs (Ketchup and Mayo). There really is no good explanation why someone would put ketchup and mayo on a hot dog-there must be some trauma in his childhood manifesting itself by ruining good hot dogs with KETCHUP!
The guy on the left switches it up a lot-sometimes going for a burger, sometimes dogs. Today he got two BLONDS (Chili, Onion and Mustard). This hot dog name is courtesy of a gal from LA who suggested that name here (she's sooo naughty!) Many people who work at BOSE are also musicians and guy on the left is too. He's in a Grateful Dead
These were the first dogs of the day today, 2 with Kraut.
Here's one of the "regulars," Adam from Genzyme, enjoying the best damn hot dogs on the planet! (He was hungry today-3 dogs!)
The guy from Worcester Elevator got 2 with ketchup, relish and onion.
Some guy from South Carolina wanted 2 with chili, cheese, onions, mayo and ketchup.
Now doesn't that make you hungry?
Friday's "warm" and sunny 40 degree weather brought the near return of brisk business to the Hot Dog Truck. After freezing my butt off for the past three weeks with one or two "nearly good" sales days, Friday's weather brought some of the "cube dwelling crowd" out for lunch and drove sales past their minimum acceptable level for the first time since the last week of January.
It looks like we're done with arctic blasts until next winter (so sez the local weather media) so business should return to acceptable levels until next Thanksgiving.
In three short weeks it will be April and historically, that's when business starts to crank up. A typical day in season has me slinging dogs from 10:30 AM until about 1:30 PM with few breaks in the action. I like being busy-the day goes faster and the money is good.
Also, beginning Monday, April 2, 2007 I will open for breakfast! Hot dogs will be available as will a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on a bagel or english muffin. I'll also serve up grilled muffins and bad coffee! And remember-chili dogs aren't just for breakfast anymore....
OK world, let's hear it. Everybody has their own special hot dog spot. It is a place where you went as a kid, a place where you go now, a place you've been to once because a friend told you "this place has the best hot dogs anywhere." For some folks, that place is the Hot Dog Truck. For many others its somewhere else (hey, its a big world-I can't feed everyone).
I want to hear about your hot dog joint, the place you go to when nothing but the best will do, the place that has that combo of personality and the quintessential hot dog.
Tell me about it, tell the world about it, leave a comment-pictures if you've got 'em- a link if the joint has a website- and make it a good story. Heck if its a really good hot dog tale, I'll make a post out of it. (Any regulars at the Hot Dog Truck who disparage my dogs will be banned when they come for lunch!)
Come on, let's hear it people.....
Here's one from a friend, check the comments for more!
A friend of mine is a helicopter salesman (hey somebody has to do it) and he recently emailed me this little tidbit with photos:
I made a business trip to Vancouver Island in British Columbia back in June, 2004. The island is mountainous and heavily forested. I had a treacherous drive through the mountains on questionable roadways full of big trucks and giant old-growth trees right up to the edge of the road. My return trip started at Port Alberni airport in the interior of the island. My destination was the ferry at Nanaimo to go back to Vancouver. Since there were no rest stops along the mountain road, I was plenty hungry and found this "Hot Dog Truck" at the ferry waiting area. Pretty slick.
My customer and his "toy" at Port Alberni.
Map of area
Mountain road driving to get to the Hot Dog Truck
Hot Dog Truck (actually, it's a trailer)
Sign at the trailer-who can argue with that?
Thanks for the story and pictures, Mike!
