A Chili Dog By Any Other Name...

On the road, again, for a trip upstate to Plattsburgh, and Watertown to do a couple of CPO Courses. Both places are familiar stops to me, as I've been doing classes in both towns for many years now. Lots of similarities between the two places, especially the way they're laid out off of their respective Interstates. The main street in both places is perpindicular to the Interstate, and you can go either east or west on these streets and see the usual assortment of stores, chain restaurants, and service centers.
When I travel, I generally try to avoid restaurants that I have access to on Long Island. No sense going for food at a place you can visit while you're home. I also do my best to find the 'talked about' local spots on the road. With some of the great sites on the internet, this has become pretty easy over the last few years.
Tonight, I decided to visit Clare & Carls Texas Red Hots, one of those places that when you speak to the locals and mention it, their eyes light up and a smile spreads across their faces. It's an interesting name for a place, especially the "Texas Red Hots" portion. Years back, on a trip to visit my cousin Rick in Houston, I casually mentioned that I wanted to get a 'real' Texas Red Hot. Rick, who has lived in Texas for the greater portion of his life, looked at me as if I had 3 eyes, and said, 'what's that'?, then went on to explain that in Texas, there's no such thing as a "Texas Red Hot". Turns out it's a term used mainly in the northeast, particularly in upstate and western New York. Rick did say that I could probably get a "Coney", at a local place, called "James Coney Island". Now, to a New Yorker like myself, you talk about a "Coney Island Dog", and you're talking Nathan's; a garlicky, highly spiced frankfurter topped with hot sauerkraut and spicy brown mustard. However, in much of the country, a "Coney" is essentially a slightly modified version of a chili dog, which seems to have originated in the Detroit area. In fact, there are two very popular coney places in downtown Detroit, right next door to each other. And fans of one place, won't go to the other, and vice versa. And both places are owned by members of the same family. Go figure.
 A chili dog is not what you'd think either.  'Chili' normally being a tomato based meat concoction flavored with hot chile peppers. This 'chili' is a savory meat sauce, flavored with oregano, cinnamon, allspice and just a little tomato. You find that in the midwest, especially near Cincinnati. Then, it turns out, there's another variation, called a "Michigan", which is a savory chili dog, but with substantial red pepper in it to give it a good kick.
So we've got chili dogs, coneys, Michigans, and Texas Red Hots, which are a variation of a Michigan, but served not in Michigan, but upstate New York. You got all that? Good.
Dinner found me in my car, awaiting the arrival of the car hop; yep, they do car service here, just like they did years back when the place first opened.

Now, admit it, isn't that the kind of place you all look for when you're on the road in an unfamiliar town? Something about the crookedness of the place, combined with the simple sign that just sort of lets you know they must be doing something right to stay in business after all these years. Nice young girl arrives at my car and takes my order, and before you know it, returns with an actual car window tray!

You've got to like the classy way they seve the soda, a nice cold can with a straw! Big squeeze bottle of ketchup, shaker of salt, and a pile of napkins - always a good sign when you're getting what should be a somewhat sloppy item. 

Up first, the Texas Red hot. Simple dog, the typical skinless, rather mildly spiced dog that you'd get in most places outside of New York. Not bad, but like most of these low rent hot dogs, if you had just the dog on a roll with mustard, you'd have been pretty disappointed in both the taste, and I think, the texture. But, smother it in this thick, beefy, sauce, a squirt of yellow mustard, and a nice pile of onions, and you've got a really tasty dog! The meat sauce is a lot spicier than some of the other variations I've had, there's a lot of crushed red pepper flakes in it, and it gives it just the right amount of heat to play off the onions. As noted, the good folks at Clare and Carls call it a Texas Red Hot - and it's one of the best coney/Michigan/red hots that I've ever had; highly recommended!

The side of fries that I ordered were pretty good, considering they were the frozen variety. They'd been cooked well, were served piping hot, and were crispy on the outside, nice and fluffy inside. A little salt, a bit of ketchup, and they went well with the dogs.
Overall, a very tasty meal, well worth the 15 or so minute drive from my hotel, and more than worth the $7 and change it cost. One of the places I'll definitely go back to the next time I find myself in Plattsburgh.
One of these days we'll have to go over the terms 'frank' 'weiner' 'tube steak' and all of the other odd and unique words that are used to refer to what is essentially a spicy sausage, the semi-german treat that we've adopted as the all American Hot Dog.