Mobileâs best hot dogs: Our Top 5
The humble hot dog occupies a unique place in the American culinary scene, and it’s not a place everybody cares to go. Let’s be realistic about that.
I mean, the common hot dog isn’t even a sausage, really. It belongs to a class of products known as emulsified forcemeats, and that alone is enough to send some people screaming in the opposite direction.
But aficionados know that if hot dogs are on the menu, you’re usually somewhere where people are having a good time. And even if you’re not eating one in a ballpark, they’re usually a filling option that gives you a lot of bang for the buck in a quick easy handful of food, so you can get on with your business.
Here are the best hot dogs you’ll find in Lower Alabama.
READ MORE: Alabama’s best pizza: Our Top 10
The Homewrecker is a bacon-wrapped, foot-long hot dog served at the River Shack in Mobile.Lawrence Specker | [email protected]
5. ‘The Homewrecker’ at the River Shack
6120 S. Marine Drive, under the Dog River Bridge; www.facebook.com/RiverShackRestaurant
The only reason this place comes in at No. 5 is that it’s not really a hot dog place. It’s a funky waterfront hangout that offers burgers, seafood and tantalizing specials. But that’s not to say that hot dogs are an afterthought. In fact, The River Shack menu features the nuclear option. Named “The Homewrecker,” it’s a footlong dog with the payload wrapped in a spiral of thick-cut bacon, topped with jalapenos and other goodness. This may be the first time in your life you order a hot dog and have to take half of it home for later.
Order this: The Homewrecker. That’s it. And don’t say you weren’t warned.
READ: This Alabama restaurant’s ‘Homewrecker’ is a bacon-wrapped, foot-long hot dog
At top: A standard hot dog from Mobile’s Dew Drop Inn, topped with chili and sauerkraut and other goodness. At bottom: It’s true what they say about Dew Drop dogs.Lawrence Specker | [email protected]
4. The Dew Drop Inn
2407 Old Shell road; www.facebook.com/DewDropInn.Mobile.AL.
Oh, I’m going to take so much heat for not ranking this one No. 1. And I probably deserve it. Is this Mobile’s most iconic hot dog? Absolutely. Does it literally have generations of fans, with grandparents introducing grandkids to “Mobile’s oldest restaurant” on a daily basis? Again, absolutely. It’ll win the people’s choice voting hands-down. And I’ll say that when you order a Dew Drop Dog you know exactly what you’re going to get: A smallish dog loaded up with chili, sauerkraut, mustard, ketchup and pickle, for the agreeable price of $4.25. And you know that if you look, you’ll find the meat has imparted a pinkish tint to the bread it touches. To order and eat a Dew Drop Inn hot dog is to be reassured of the pleasant fiction that there are some constants in this life.
Order this: If you want to mix it up, order it “upside down” to get the wiener on top of the toppings, or “female” to get the toppings with no wiener. Lighten up, culture warriors, they’ve been doing that for eons.
READ: Mobile’s Dew Drop Inn is where regulars rule
Chris Redd offers a loaded hot dog at his roadside stand in Baldwin County.Lawrence Specker | [email protected]
3. Redd’s Hotdogs
21925 S. Milwaukee St., Robertsdale; www.facebook.com/reddshotdogs28
Let’s face it, the essence of the hot dog experience always has and always will involve a hot dog cart. In 1989 Chris Redd’s dad threw off the grind of his career as a boilermaker, moved his family from Connecticut to Baldwin County and opened a roadside hot dog stand. “From that point on,” Redd says of his father, “he always had a huge smile on his face, I’m gonna tell you.” Chris took over the business in 2009 and usually seems to have a smile on his face too, as he serves a line of customers from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays. If you’re passing down Ala. 59 on the way to or from the beach, bear in mind this isn’t just an opportunity to grab a quick roadside snack – it’s an institution.
Order this: Whatever dog you choose, get the chow. A variant of the relish more commonly known as chow chow, the proprietary recipe is so tasty that Redd has to cook up something like 50 quarts a week.
READ: Beach bound? Don’t miss this Baldwin Co. hot dog stand
Need a quick, economical lunch? Go see Al Kay at Al’s Hot Dogs and Other Fine Foods.Lawrence Specker | [email protected]
2. Al’s Hot Dogs and Other Fine Foods
4701 Airport Blvd.
Another Mobile institution, another worthy No. 1, another personal favorite. 25 years ago, Al’s occupied a spot off Bienville Square, where it was one of the few reliable lunch spots a slowly rebounding downtown had to offer. “If you are what you eat,” said the sign by the counter, “we’re fast, cheap and easy.” And they were: You always left feeling you’d gotten a little more than your money’s worth. The no-nonsense Chicago wit and wisdom of the owner, Al Kay, was another big attraction. Somewhere along the way, Kay relocated the sign and the rest of the business to an Airport Boulevard shopping center, and Al’s has continued to operate on a takeout-only basis since the beginning of the pandemic. But the magic is still there, and you’ll still come away feeling like you got more than your money’s worth.
Order this: You can get an authentic Chicago Dog here, a treat virtually unknown in the South, with toppings that include tomato slices and a dash of celery salt. But it also pays to explore the non-hot-dog treats on the menu, which includes burgers, gyros and chicken-and-sausage gumbo.
Wendy Clanton prepares a hot dog in her Lil Red’s Cart while serving the nutritional needs of the late-night Dauphin Street crowd.Lawrence Specker | [email protected]
1. The drunk at 1 a.m. on Dauphin Street Dog
Location varies, but Cathedral Square is a good starting place
It’s after midnight on a weekend and kitchens are closed throughout the Dauphin Street entertainment district. Meanwhile, you’ve been on a liquid diet for the last five hours and you’re in need of ballast. Fortunately, professionals are ready to help. On a recent Friday night I found two of them: Nazear Williams at King Dogs on Cathedral Square, and Wendy Clanton, who was operating out of her Lil Red’s Cart trailer at 22 N. Jackson St., where there’s a small food truck food court with seating. King Dogs has been a fixture on Cathedral Square for at least a decade. Clanton is a newer addition: A couple of years she decided to make a jump after 23 years with the Mobile County Public School System. She went from assistant principal to chief cook and bottle washer, and clearly enjoys the change. “These are my people now,” she says of her wildly eclectic clientele. As she said it, a crew of partiers were piling out a heavily customized pickup truck to see her, and just behind them was an older couple dressed for a square dance convention being held in town. That’s Dauphin Street for you.
Order this: My mission was hot dogs, but Clanton nearly sold me on her Conecuh nachos, which she says are her most popular item. I’ll try that next time. King Dogs has some innovative hot dog presentations and I tried the Frito Pie dog, topped with chili, cheese, Fritos, fried onions and a drizzle of barbecue sauce. It was crazy good.
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