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tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption
CHAIN -- Nathan's
Famous Until recently, my sole exposure to Nathan's Famous was the grocery store version of the hot dog. But that was enough to make me a fan. They're easily the best tasting hot dogs available for cooking at home. I've made fans of them out of people who didn't like hot dogs in the first place. My friends refer to them simply as "the GOOD hot dogs". A checker at Safeway and I had an extended discussion about them when I bought their entire stock during a "buy one get one free" sale. Apparently, it's the only hot dog her husband will eat. The retail version of the dog is a relatively new twist. The dog itself has been around practically a century. Polish immigrant Nathan Handwerker was working for Feltman's, a thriving restaurant that came out of the evolution of the hot dog. Charles Feltman had developed the "sausage in a sandwich" which he sold alongside pies out of his pie wagon to inns. The Nathan's website says Nathan's opened on a $300 loan from two Feltman's co-workers...Eddie Cantor and Jimmy Durante. Other histories don't mention Cantor and Durante as Feltman's employees...they indicate Cantor and Durante simply encouraged Handwerker to compete with Feltman's because they were angry that Feltman's had increased the price of their dogs, and Handwerker funded himself with savings. Handwerker's fiancé came up with the recipe. The spices were made in parts at two different locations to keep the recipe secret. Nathan's undercut Feltman's price by half, charging a nickel a dog. But it took some savvy to earn customers trust that Coney's were something that should be eaten at all. The solution was to dress neighborhood bums up as doctors and pay them to sit at the counter. Problem solved. Nathan's became...well...famous. There are many celebrity stories ranging from Al Capone to Cary Grant. Nathan's has been a mandatory campaign stop since Nelson Rockefeller declared nobody could get elected in New York State without being photographed eating a hot dog there. The Nathan's Famous company owned a number of concepts for awhile, including Miami Subs (sold in 2007) and Kenny Rogers Roasters (sold in 2008). Nathan's currently owns Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips. The idea was to offer the ability to co-brand several different concepts. While they no longer own all the brands, they still have rights to use the brands in co-branding. The menu available at your local Nathan's should include the core hot dog in normal, chili and/or cheesy varieties, as well as fries. Some locations have hamburgers. Many locations are "express" outlets or co-branded locations. You can also find Nathan's brand dogs hot and ready to eat at some convenience store chains and movie theater snack bars. The original dog can't be beat. I don't know of a better dog anywhere. But Wienerschnitzel is still the better chili dog, and there's a couple of reasons for that. First, Nathan's chili is terrible. Second, Nathan's dogs are simply too good to cover in chili. I have a spot-on knockoff recipe for Wienerschniztel chili sauce and, while it's fabulous on an Oscar-Meyer, it isn't on Nathan's. The Nathan's Coney should simply be eaten on a bun with yellow mustard. Nothing else. Nathan's dogs can now be found in supermarkets. There are several varieties, including regular dogs, bun-length, kosher, natural casing (the closest ones to the actual restaurant dogs), and dogs with built-in cheese. So go with Nathan's the restaurant or Nathan's the retail version. You won't go wrong either way. Click here to return to tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption |
