Hot Dog Johnny

It was great trotting up old Highway 46 way out in the West Jersey countryside. We were heading for the bridge across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania - when suddenly we spotted an oasis of old-time fast food refreshment, the out-of-time Hot Dog Johnny's, one of the best roadside food stands left in America (there aren't many left): Hot Dog Johnny's "since 1944".

Naturally, we stopped for a tasty snack. The menu featurtes hot dogs, hot dogs, and hotdogs. Delicious juicy weiners, with your choice of mustard, ketchup, onions, relish, slice of pickle, or all of the above. Pretty traditional stuff, but that's why they've remained in business "since 1944". They do their hot dog thing as well as it can be done. The fries looked great too, but I'm laying off fries.

For drinks you can order birch beer, fresh buttermilk or coffee. I went for the birch beer, not too many places carry it any more. And this is real east coast birch beer - very similar to root beer but with a more distinctive flavor. It really does taste like the way a yellow birch smells if you stand right up close and sniff the bark. And much less sweet than the soft drinks of today. Comes right out of a silver keg with the word BIRCH-O emplazoned on the side. The buttermilk is good too.

Good Luck to you, Hot Dog Johnny. Thanks for giving folks something different and a real taste of the way America liked its fast food back in 1944. We still like it!