Hot Dog Heaven

See this building? This place has been alongside Colonial Drive in Orlando for as long as I can remember, yet I've never bothered to stop there. It's not in the greatest part of town, and was somewhat hard to get to. Recent construction in the area has helped on both of those points.

The other day, I was reading an article on the web about the 10 best places to eat in Orlando. Orlando is a crap hole for food, with nothing but every chain restaurant under the sun lining the streets. I've said that Orlando doesn't have any place that the locals know about and frequent. Well, Hot Dog Heaven was listed in this survey of 10 best places to eat for 'best hot dog in Orlando'. I was driving past it the other day and decided to pull in and give it a try.

At 1:30 in the afternoon, the place was packed. This is a good sign. It's a long skinny building with places to sit against the wall. There's also tables and a very long bench outside. The bench faces the road, so you can sit, eat, and watch the idiots go speeding by. I opted for the bench after placing my order.

I blew my chance to get a genuine Chicago dog while we were actually in Chicago last year. In fact, I'd never had a Chicago dog  before until Sonic added them to their menu. You're stunned, I know, but knowledge of these things even existing doesn't make it down to the south, just as many people up north have no idea what grits are. Anyway, the Chicago dog at Sonic was good, but the Chicago dog is also the specialty at Hot Dog Heaven. I ordered one up with fries and cole slaw on the side.

To get to it, it was the best hot dog I've ever had in my life. There's something about the combination of ingredients (tomato, diced onion, mustard, dill pickle, neon-green relish and hot peppers on a poppy seed bun) that works together to create a flavor second to none. I know some of you may not like all of those ingredients, but if you start messing with it by taking stuff off, you may knock the entire experience out of whack. The fries were crisp and straight out of the fryer into my basket. Just incredible.

I'll be going back, soon and often.

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Hot Dog Heaven
5355 East Colonial Drive
Orlando, FL 32807-1816
(407) 282-5746

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