Hot Dog Of The Week: Texas Weiners
The first, possibly most important thing to note about Texas Weiners is that they have absolutely nothing to do with Texas. Originating in Paterson, New Jersey, at Greek-owned hot dog restaurants, a Texas Weiner is deep fried and served with Greek sauce—a smooth, slow cooked meat sauce spiced with cayenne, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and cumin. It's more of a Greek Bolognese or Saltsa Kima than anything resembling Texas Chili. Legend has it the recipe is a closely guarded secret to this day. A Texas Weiner "all the way" includes mustard and diced onions.
Texas Weiners also spread to Philadelphia and across Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania, where they are usually split and grilled rather than deep fried, but still normally Greek-owned, and with a similar secret sauce said to have been passed down from a mysterious Greek gentleman. Gravy fries are a popular side dish, or even pierogies at Yocco's in Allentown, which might be the only Italian-owned Texas Weiner stand in the world.
The Coney Connection
In 1916, Nathan's opened in Coney Island. Nathan's never served Greek sauce, but their "Coney Sauce," a similar spicy tomato and meat sauce that had not yet been altered by Greek cooks or named "chili". Nathan Handwerker, who was Polish, and his German mentor Charles Feltman are credited with popularizing the hot dog in America, and creating the business model for the hundreds or thousands of weiner stands that would open over the next two decades.
A few Pennsylvania hot dog stands actually challenge the claim that Jersey had the first. Texas Hot Dogs in Altoona, Pennsylvania, claims to have opened in 1918. Coney Island Lunch in Scranton also claims to serve the original Texas Weiner, opening in 1923, as did Texas Weiners in Philadelphia. New Jersey didn't have a Texas Weiner until 1924. So for a minute, I thought the Jersey claim was incorrect. But recently, hot dog historians have uncovered information about a hot dog stand in Paterson before 1920, and if you look at the geographical evolution of the Texas Weiner phenomenon, it's pretty clear that New Jersey is the epicenter.
Further Afield
In western Pennsylvania we find a lot of Texas Lunch stands, and then Dallas Hot Weiners in New York State. Even further north there's Texas Hots in Rochester and Buffalo; served with a chunkier sauce that contains bread crumbs, they also claim early 1900's authenticity. Then in Ohio it's Skyline Chili, also founded by Greek immigrants, and Michigan's many Coney Island stands—which, you may not be surprised to hear, also go back to a single Greek entrepreneur in 1917 with a secret family recipe. I would guess Rhode Island's New York System Hot Weiners are also part of the Texas Weiner family tree. Even the northernmost tips of West Virginia and Maryland have a few Coney Island Weiner stands. (South of that, it's all slaw country.)
Check out this handy Google map I created to chart the evolution of the Texan Weiner phenomenon. It's actually pretty incredible that so many of these places are still open. Texas Weiner road trip, anybody?
View Texas Weiner Map in a larger map
Regardless of who made the first, the real discovery here is that Greek immigrants and Greek cooking had more to do with the popularization of hot dogs and what we call chili in America than anyone else.
The story of the hot dog may be more all-American than we think. Brought over from Germany, popularized in Coney Island by Polish Jews, then spread across the country by Greeks—it eventually filtered through every regional and ethnic variation imaginable.
Hungry for More?
Check out this fantastic article about Texas Weiners on the Library of Congress Website. And don't miss this amazing commercial from Clifton, New Jersey's own Hot Grill, that pretty much sums up the "Texas" marketing theme.
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12 Comments:
I should point out before anyone comments that, yes, weiner is sorta misspelled here. The German would be wiener, but Hawk tells us that all the restaurants he encountered spelled it ei.
Adam Kuban at 4:15PM on 07/17/09
"The first, possibly most important thing to note about Texas Weiners is that they have absolutely nothing to do with Texas."
I couldn't agree more - I have lived in various parts of Texas for all of my 28 years and have never run across a 'Texas Weiner'. This is fascinating - it sounds pretty good, too ...
rvana63 at 4:17PM on 07/17/09
Ha. Seems that I'm learning a hotdog-something new everyday. But I hafta confess, I'm so all about the hairy Russian hot dog right now, thanks to that link in Talk...
conky at 5:27PM on 07/17/09
Love these hot dog illustrations! I would totally hang them on my wall.
chilledmartini at 5:37PM on 07/17/09
Growing up in NJ, the Texas Wiener was a staple. I wasn't close enough to the north Jersey landmark places, but we highly enjoyed those served by The Red Tower and other places around the Plainfield area.
pbelardo at 6:07PM on 07/17/09
@rvana63-
I don't think there has ever been a TW or similar restaurant in Texas, ever.
@chilledmartini-
Thanks!
On a related note, Texas Weiners now have their own Wikipedia page, although they are claiming that the style was invented "in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, independently of each other".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_weiners
These guys likely knew or were aware of each other. Many of the Jersey locations were opened by former employees of the originals.
I like to think there was a secret Greek hot dog meeting somewhere in a smoke filled New Jersey basement around 1915.
Hawk Krall at 6:20PM on 07/17/09
Another data point for you: In my college days in the Allentown-Bethlehem, PA area, this style of dog was (and still is) also known as a Greeker. I have never heard the term Texas Wiener/Weiner, but I ate dozens of Greekers in my day. I think most of us figured that the name had something to do with it being a college town and the "Greek" fraternity system and all that. I had no idea that the dog had this pedigree! Thanks for the informative article and opportunity for nostalgic reflection.
Lorenzo at 7:47PM on 07/17/09
Hey, Dallas Hot Weiners in my hometown (Kingston, NY) made it! The first time I went there was after taking the SAT's....good stuff!
chanterelle at 12:58AM on 07/18/09
Although I live in N.J. and have access to all of the places that specialize in Texas Weiners, (and it is spelled with the e before the i) including some that date back to the 1920's and 1930's; no one can say for sure actually when or who originated this particular style. We do know that it started with Greeks and their unique sauce.
I always thought that this particular dog originated in N.J., but the research in the above referenced book (the Great American Hot Dog Book) suggests otherwise. Pete's in Alabama for example, opened in 1915. It is possible that they were serving southern style slaw dogs when they opened and later introduced their popular chili sauce.
I would recommend the Great American Hot Dog Book. It not only has a great history drawn from various sources, but descriptions of regional hot dog styles, examples of hot dog joints in every state, and recipes of some of the popular toppings featured at some of these unique places. I'm even quoted a few times.
The article from the Library of Congress (click on all the topics, not just the intro) is very good, but with one glaring error. A Texas Weiner is not all beef. In New Jersey it is a beef and pork mix. A friend of mine wrote the author about this, but hasn't received a response. Actually there are 2 types of Texas Weiners prevalent in N.J. One is the Paterson area or "Hot" Texas Weiner. Popular in Passaic County, specifically Paterson and Clifton. This version uses a deep fried beef and pork frank and is topped with thin clovey chili sauce. As described above. Most places use a Thumann's frank that is specially made for deep frying. Examples include Libby's, the Goffle Grill, the Hot Grill (which uses a Sabrett beef and pork rather than Thumann's), Pappy's Diner, Falls View, Getty Grill, etc. Although the term grill is in the name, these dogs are deep fried.
The other style of Texas Weiner is the Plainfield area Texas Weiner. This dog is more like what a Coney is in other states. The frank, also a beef/pork mix, is grilled rather than deep fried. It's topped with a thicker, drier chili. Almost without exception the brand of dog used is a Grote & Weigel Griddle Franks that are labbelled Texas Weiner brand on the box. Examples are Texas Weiner l & 11, The Red Tower chain (individually owned), J&G, Manny's Texas Weiners, Middlesex Texas Weiners, and others.
If you care to wade through 87 reviews, there are many in the following link that are Texas Weiner joints in Jersey that I've visited. If not, let me suggest 3 of my favorites. Pappy's Diner in Totowa, Hot Grill in Clifton, and Libby's (one of the originals dating back to 1930) in Paterson.
http://thegourmetchilidog.com/vendors/nj/JohnFox_2006_01.html
On another note, the Star Ledger (Jersey's statewide paper) reviewed hot dog joints under five years old yesterday.
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/dining/index.ssf/2009/07/hot_dogs_in_new_jersey.html
hotdoglover at 6:29AM on 07/18/09
@hotdoglover
great links.
It looks like, according to this article that Pete's wasn't owned by the Koutroulakis family until 1939, so who know if they were doing "greek sauce" originally.
http://www.southernfoodways.com/documentary/oh/greek/BG08_petesfamous.shtml
He also talks about the greek restaurant owners drinking whiskey all night and trading recipes, interesting stuff
Hawk Krall at 12:39PM on 07/19/09
Just got back from a road trip, check out these Texas Weiner related posts-
Historic Texas Lunch in Chambersburg, PA-
http://drawingforfood.blogspot.com/2009/07/historic-texas-lunch.html
Curtis' Coney Island in Cumberland, MD .. not a "Texas Weiner" officially but close and really good & a cool place-
http://drawingforfood.blogspot.com/2009/07/curtis-coney-island-famous-weiners.html
Hawk Krall at 1:47PM on 07/29/09
We have a similar thing called a "hotchee dog" at the Hamilton Restaurant in Carlisle PA (a Greek family run restaurant). Can't beat a hotchee dog and a fresh vanilla Coke on a hot day!
Schlappette at 2:47PM on 08/11/09