Steveats: Nathan’s Hot Dogs (And More Importantly, Fries!)

Debuting a new, semi-regular feature! I tryout questionable food items so that you don’t have to in… Steveats. (Note: Title developed in about 10 seconds of brainstorming.)

So, this past weekend, I drove from my abode in Narragansett, Rhode Island, down to Vineland, New Jersey, and back. I did the trip mostly via Route 95, the Tappan Zee Bridge, the Garden City Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike. I’ll have some more thoughts about the drive itself in a future entry, but for now, let’s do some Steveats about the places I stopped along the way.

A few weeks ago, I talked about my “love” of Sbarro’s pizza, which is obtained from the odd trucker stop on the border of Connecticut and Rhode Island. There are two other fast food places in that place, one of which I’m covering today – Nathan’s hot dogs. They’re also available in other fine establishments, like the service plazas along the New Jersey and Connecticut highways, and “street meat” vendor carts pretty much everywhere.

I’m a man that loves a good hot dog, and heck, I love me a boiled dog too. You don’t have to flame grill that sucker for me to enjoy it. And if you’re looking for one of those kind of waterlogged but still delicious tubular meats, then Nathan’s has you covered.

In contrast to the usual hot dogs available from the grocery store, the Nathan’s dog seems a bit smaller yet denser. This tubular meat frustratingly does not fit in the bun, but because it’s skinny, it seems to retain its meat flavor a bit better. Saugeys are still better to me, but when it comes to the cheaper dogs, Nathan’s hits the spot pretty well.

Also – dem fries! Nom nom nom. I’m a French fry connoisseur, and thick crinkle cuts are like a drug to me. I ate way too many of them, getting them two different times in a 24-hour span. My colon did not appreciate this, but my taste buds most definitely did.

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