Where's The Beef?

The beef was in the Yank's Franks' testing labratory. Actually it was the Italian Beef, imported from Chicago the land of great politicians and even greater hot dogs.

The judges were set. Each one of them, Hot Diggity, Double Dog Dennis, The Hot Dog King and me (Yank) had sworn to skip several meals prior to the tasting and arrive super hungry. I wasn't able to skip breakfast, but I did skip my mid-morning snack. Well, I didn't skip it, but I had far less than I otherwise would have. Well, not far less, but less. Hey, the point is, I was very hungry.
The menu was set, and the Italian Beef sandwiches were to be the highlight. I felt we couldn't have a legitimate tasting without a sidedish so I added onion rings to balance things out. They weren't the amazing Yank's Franks onion rings, but they weren't bad.
To wash it all down, we had the famous Yank's Franks Root Beer. What a meal!

As you can see from the photo, we gathered around the tasting table for our first bite of the Beef sandwiches. What you may not know from my previous posts is, The Hot Dog King is in the Witness Protection Program (you now understand why his title The Hot Dog King doesn't include his name) so his face had to be obscured to protect his identity.

The Italian Beef was made by taking very thinly sliced roast beef which is placed briefly into Au Jus gravy and then onto a warm and crispy bread roll. Then you add a ladle of Au Jus gravy followed by some cooked sweet peppers to finish this awesome sandwich. Some people (me in particular) like to have their sandwich topped with Hot Giardiniera. It was delicious, I mean delizioso!

I always said I'd like to get a job eating or testing mattresses. One more check mark on my Bucket List. Even though Yank's Franks won't be opening until May, we continue to do research to bring our customers the best eating experience possible.

Frankly, we serve the BEST dogs!

We Are Re-Opening The Research Kitchen Next Week

The Yank's Franks research kitchen will open to test a potentially new Yank's Franks menu item. This time it's not hot dogs.

Santa left this package for us and it is full of the ingredients (or as they say in Texas, the fixins') to create authentic Italian Beef sandwiches.

Thank you, Santa (and also Chicago Dog Debbie and Jumbo Dog Jim). My taste buds won't sleep a wink until they get some Italian Beef.

Frankly, we serve the BEST dogs!

Who knows, we may add to our tag line...
Serviamo anche le miglioro carni Italiane!

An Inspirational Hot Dog

The last hot dogs from our Cross-Country Tour were from a spot that Hot Diggity and I used to frequent. We would go there often and get the same Dogs each time. We both got Hot Dogs resting on a bed of bacon, then slathered (is that a word?) in spicy mustard and topped with sauerkraut.

We would always get our dogs to go, drive to the beach and eat them.

Any idea what these memorable hot dogs inspired?

Don't answer...let Max tell everyone. How about it Max, do these dogs remind you of anything at Yank's Franks?

Frankly, we serve the BEST dogs!

The Cross Country Hot Dog Tour Continues ~Chi-Town

It's day nine of The Cross Country Hot Dog Tour.


We finally hit pay dirt when I stumbled into Chi-Town Chicago Style Eatery in Austin, Texas.

First a little background...Hot Diggity and I lived in Austin for seven years. It was the nicest place we have ever lived for so many reasons. When we moved to Austin, I quickly noticed that it had some of the best restaurants you'd ever want, however I also noticed that, like Maine, it didn't have what I would consider a great hot dog joint. I always believed that opening a hot dog joint in the right spot in Austin would be a winner. Well, here we are back visiting Austin and what do they have just a few miles from where we lived...a great hot dog joint!


Last night I decided to check out Urban Spoon. They had several negative comments, however most of them concerned what I would describe as start-up issues. Not that they aren't legitimate, but virtually all places (including Yank's Franks) go through a learning period. These guys, Travis and Tim, seem very responsive to their customers comments. For example, one customer complained about the quality of their fries and was upset that they used frozen fries. He went on to point out some great places that would only serve fresh cut fries. Well, Chi-Town now uses fresh cut fries. And, I promise their fries are far better than 5 Guys Burger fries. If I may add one point of disagreement, Yank's Franks uses frozen French Fries. After a very long and extensive comparison of many kinds of potatoes and fries, I will stack our Yank's Frank fries up to any out there.


Back to the point, in addition to the fries I had their Classic Chicago Dog and a Chili Dog. Both dogs were Vienna Beef hot dogs and both were done just right. What a bonus, a delicious lunch when you least expect it.

I can't believe that Austin finally has a great Hot Dog Joint!

Frankly, we serve the BEST dogs! And, Chi-Town serves the best dogs in Texas!

Is That A Yank's Franks Shirt...

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...at the famous Margaritaville Hotel on Pensacola Beach, Florida?

Yes it is, Hot Diggity and I are on the cross-country hot dog tour. Actually we are on our way to see Henry, aka The Hot Dog Cowboy. We're almost there Henry.

JB offered to trade me one of his shirts for a Yank's Franks shirt. Sorry Jimmy, I have a boatload of your shirts already. He was also surprised at my answer to his question, "what's your favorite [Jimmy Buffet] song?" I think he expected Cheeseburger in Paradise or Margaritaville. My favorite...Mother, Mother Ocean.

To follow the cross-country hot dog tour visit Yank's Franks Facebook page.
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A New Hot Dogger Has Arrived

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Our Texas Research Division just released some pretty exciting news.

Deputy Dawg Dan and Spicy Salsa Marjan made the exciting announcement of the arrival of the newest Hot Dogger, Henry. Henry weighed in at 7 lbs, 7 ozs. and was born today, 11/11.

So my mission (and I did decide to accept it. for you M.I. fans) is to come up with little Henry's Hot Dogger name. With his weight at 7, 7 and born on 11/11 the name Lucky Dog Henry sure pops to the top. However, the little guy's initials are HDC. He lives in Texas. And, did I mention his first two initials are HD? (Thank you, Deputy Dawg and Spicy Salsa for sticking to the Hot Dog theme)

So, this lucky little guy will be known as The Hot Dog Cowboy. When he gets a little older and orders his monogrammed dress shirts (his daddy was six years old when he ordered business cards so monogrammed shirts probably aren't that far in the future) his luck will shine through once again. The Hot Dog Cowboy need not worry about a separate set of shirts with his Hot Dog initials (like the rest of us that need to keep two separate wardrobes).

Frankly, Hot Diggity and Yank are feeling like Lucky Dogs!
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My Hot Dog Mission

It's Saturday and Hot Diggity and I found a new relish to try. Have you ever heard of Zucchini Relish. We sampled it at a local Farmers' Market and it was very good. Of course, I had to put it to the hot dog test.

So what you see below is my Zucchini Relish and Kosciusko Mustard Dog (for research purposes) and two Chili Dogs with Cheese (because I was dying for Chili Dogs).

The result...the Zucchini Relish was very good, however it is not different enough from our sweet relish to add to our offerings. We will keep looking and we will invite others to try the Zucchini Relish to get more opinions.

The Chili Dogs were made with Yank's Beantown Chili (as opposed to our regular Chili Dogs that were made with Angus Steak Chili). Whenever and where ever I have Chili, it needs to be topped with shredded cheddar. The Chili Dogs were awesome! Our Beantown Chili is just spectacular. We will likely have it on our menu next Spring.

Now for my problem. I ate these hot dogs a little after 9:30 pm this evening. I could go to bed an hour late, after all we set the clocks back tonight. I'll break even on sleep while most of you get your extra hour, but that's the price I'll pay.

Wait a minute, I have another idea. Maybe if I chase those dogs with a bowl of Ben and Jerry's everything will even out. Yeah, that's what I'll do.

Enjoy your extra hour of sleep. I intend to as well.

Frankly, blah, blah, blah...gotta go to bed!