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I'm in Columbus for a conference. We ate at Dirty Frank's last night. I had a Ohioana dog and a Zippidy Zam (good but the pepper juice melted the bun a bit). My partner had a Chicago dog. All good. One of my friends at the conference enjoyed the Nikola dog and Seoul dog. He wanted to try the Hot Bollywood dog too, but thought three hot dogs would be a little too much. :)

Least: Ina Garten; from her voice to her food, personality, friends, etc. . .she drives me insane.

Most: Giada Di Laurentiis, I have a girl crush on her.

Of course Dirty Franks in Philadelphia is open. If the world came to an end two things would survive. Cockroaches and Dirty Franks bar in Philadelphia..

The name Dirty Frank is a reference to Frankfurter, our mascot! Dirty Frank is a cross between Burt Reynolds and Mel from Mel's Diner and is our logo and mascot.

Hi hotdoglover,

We prepare the dogs traditional Chicago style and steam them at 140 degrees. If we cooked them any hotter we would damage the thick natural casing and the hot dog would lose it's snap. The buns are also steamed and come out warm, soft and pillowy.

Kbear919,

Yep, we've added funnel cakes to the menu! Hope you try them, they are made to order and taste like the fair!

I have to agree with many comments here.I have studied culinary arts for years and these housewife cook wannabees do not know the difference between a good Veloute and a bowl of gravy.
Where does the food netwok find these people?
Sandra Lee gets so excited over her booze,you would think she was an alcoholic! Rachael Ray acts like the host of Sesame Street with her ignorant, goofy, childish sayings. Paula Dean serves so much fat in her food, it is more rich than her fake,overpronounced accent which is comparable to fingernails on a chalkboard.Giada dresses like a street walker and tries to sound italian with her fancy pronouncing og food.What happened to credible culinarians? are all we are left with are women's day readers like these four women who think they are teaching cooking? please!!!

My favorite is Ina and my very least favorite is Giada. Can Giada's tops get any lower without this show being rated as porn? I have nothing at all against showing some cleavage, but please...this is a cooking show, and if her cooking isn't good enough to stand on its own, they should take her off the air. Actually, I tried several of her recipes and thought they we just "okay". Her books are loaded with photos of her rather than of the food, and she is way too full of herself. She should stop the annoying Italian accent when she pronounces Italian food items. She was born and raised in California for goodness sakes!

is the 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract a mistake? ive never seen this much vanilla used in a cookie recipe...

I was the kid making the Egg Creams at the 40 thieves. I worked there for a few years in the very early 70s, just as Brighton was starting to change from Easter European immigrants who came there early in the century, to Russian immigrants who started moving there in droves in the 70s and 80s. During the day my boss, Leon, was a big tall crazy Russian who used to yell the name of his girlfriend ("Rifka") at the top of his lungs and scare the living daylights out of me. We would stand side by side on the corner and take money for the Daily News, cigarettes, and magazines. Then I'd have to duck inside and make the occasional egg cream for passers by.

food wise, i love bobby flay, and ina makes some good looking stuff too, her food reminds me of the stuff you would find at a favorite small local brunch place of something haha. but i have to say i LOVE paula deen, i would not eat 98% of the food she cooks, but she is soooo damn entertaining to watch,

I used to watch this channel frequently for info on cooking techniques, and good recipes; not on much anymore. Weekend getaways at $40 and such rot are a waste of time. I have no problem with the dumbed-down shows for the chef-boyardee crowd, but I have the travel channel, with Bourdain, for the other stuff.

Faves: Alton, Mario, Sara

Middling: Sandra, Giada [OK....just eye candy....no turtlenecks needed]. Flay....I like the genre, so I follow his recipes. Emeril....shelf life date gone by......he's now a shill on the "green network".....and, not convincingly so. Paula.....on the fast track to Emeril status.

Least: Ray Ray. Well, Sandra too...although S doesn't annoy me me nearly as much as does RR.

FAVE: jamie oliver -- i LOVE jamie at home. also nigella -- apparently i love brits.

LEAST FAVES: sandra lee, hands down. not even a competition!

Favorites: Paula Dean, her recipes I can make and have. Sandra Lee because her recipes are very doable. Why do so many dislike her? I love to watch her. I also like the fact that with Sandra Lee, you can take common packaged stuff and make something great. Alton Brown, definitely a fav of mine. I can't stand Emeril. His recipes are so complicated, why bother? Ina Garten's recipes are too complicated as well.
Least Favorite: Obviously Rachel Ray is an amature when it comes to cooking. Come on folks, I mean, my teenage son can concoct what she comes up with. Also, she is extremely irritating with all of her hand gestures and her EEVO and her rolling eyes. I deliberately turn off the FN when she is scheduled. I just don't get it. She's awful. BEST: Alton Brown WORST: Rachel Ray