Jimmy Johns! West Chester, PA

Best snappy dogs ever - been there since the 40's - great fries, better dogs. Buy a box frozen to grill when you get home. If you're a model train lover, even better for you - trains run all over the walls, display cases, you name it. Just north of intersection of routes 1 & 202, on rt 202 heading towards West Chester.

Gee could I possibly be the first to say it?.........................the advertizing section is over there==========>

What brand of dog is served at Jimmy John's?

c'mon, give the guy a chance.
if we see that this is his only post, we know he's a shill. if not, welcome to Roadfood jugnut
I love jugs too, to drink or to cuddle with.
down here Jimmy Johns is an assembly line sub joint.

I was just in Philly for the afternoon, and I noticed there was a Jimmy John's right in center city now!!  (just off of Chestnut)
Surprised to see it's expanded to PA..
I tested their tuna sub while in Dallas last year, and it was decent....

yup, let's give jugnuts a chance....

Please don't confuse this Jimmy John's with the Jimmy John's chain. The full name of this restaurant is Jimmy John's Piping Hot Sandwiches and has been around since 1940.

John Fox: They serve Hatfield natural casing beef franks.

Not sure what kind of hot dog it is, but its good a good casing and tastes great especially with mustard and sauerkraut. Not sure about the frozen dogs, just got a couple to go and ate them in the car. Haven't been there for a while and the one problem with the place is getting back south. There is a heavily divided highway and not that many places to be able to turn around to get down to 95. 

Allan

I thought West Chester was off I-78 some where southwest or east of Allentown.

West Chester is out beyond Lancaster, going to Philly. This might be worth a Sunday drive...somewhere that actually serves beef franks with casing!!!

CheeseWit


Please don't confuse this Jimmy John's with the Jimmy John's chain. The full name of this restaurant is Jimmy John's Piping Hot Sandwiches and has been around since 1940.

Thanks for pointing that out, as I was confused, cause I did'nt remember them having hot dogs!!!

Holly Eats likes Jimmy John's, and he's no shill.

http://www.hollyeats.com/JimmyJohns.htm

John Fox, the dog in Holly's Pic looks a little stubby to be standard issue Hatfield's, maybe it's a specially made dog? Then again, Holly's review appears to be several years old, maybe the dogs are not the same now.

I thought it was made special for them by Medford's.  They also sell five pound boxes of them there.

I don't know the brand, but can tell you that the frank in Holly's picture is not the Hatfield's natural casing beef frank. As mentioned, the brand could have changed and may now be Hatfield's natural casing beef dog. Holly's review is a few years old.

Don't get me started on special made dogs. The great majority of times this is claimed, the person is lying. I think I've written an encyclopedia regarding my experiences with places and people who claim this.

<<Don't get me started on special made dogs>>

John, just to clarify, I didn't mean they were specially made only for Jimmy John's. I'm just suggesting that maybe a local butcher makes the dogs and supplies them. I've seen similar looking dogs at Coney Island Lunch in Scranton and a couple of other places. They are not specially made for those places but they look different than the usual brands and are made locally.

Love the name, jugnuts!

Ken, I thought that you meant specially made by Hatfield. It's certainly possible that the dogs are made by a local butcher. Or even by a known meat purveyor. While they don't usually make a special recipe for a hot dog joint, they will make a special size. Sabrett (Marathon) did this for Irving's Deli. They got a new mold and made dogs 5 to a lb; similar to Syd's. I was told that it's much less labor intensive to make a different size than it is to make a different recipe. And they didn't make a special recipe for Irving's despite what Marc Singer says.

As for Hatfield, they make a cheap dog with beef, pork, and poultry. I think they also make a beef and pork dog. They make an all beef dog which I had and didn't like. Then they make a natural casing beef dog with a different spicing that was made specially to compete with Sabrett and Best's. A distributor told me that it's not even sold in Pennsylvania because they like the dogs milder there. This dog has an excellent spicy, smoky flavor and is available here in Jersey at a few hot dog carts, the Rahway Grill, Mazzi Dogs and a few other places. I can say with absolute certainty that it is not served at Jimmy John's.

I was curious so I contacted Jimmy John's. They serve two different dogs. The guy I spoke with was very helpful and had no qualms about answering my questions. The smaller dog is a skinless Hatfield's beef and pork. I was told that it's the same dog that you can buy in the supermarket and at Phillies games. I've had this dog at Tido's in New Brunswick and a place in Jackson, N.J. It's not good in my opinion. Just a bad spicing. It was rated by myself and others as the worst hot dog (at Tido's) out of 87 places that we visited in the summer of 2006.

The other dog pictured on Holly's site is a fatter dog made by Dietz and Watson of Philadelphia. It is a natural casing beef and pork dog that was served at Jimmy John's for the last 40 years. I remember having a smaller, skinless Dietz and Watson dog once before. It was at Casino Tony Goes in Trenton. A very good dog, but all wrong for an Italian Hot Dog, which is how it was served there. While it was the worst Italian Hot Dog I ever had, the frank itself was very good and would be good on it's own; especially in a natural casing like the dog in the picture.

The guy I spoke with tried to claim that it is a special dog made just for them. I was too tired to dispute this, and besides I was happy that he was kind enough to divulge the brand, which is more than a lot of people will do.

On a side note, a new place opened in Elizabeth called Valentina's Hot Dog Grill. Someone I know went and said the dogs were just ok; that Jerry's nearby is much better. I called and spoke with the owner who would only tell me that they used a skinless all beef dog and grilled it. When I asked why he wouldn't tell me the brand (which he admitted I could get on my own), he said that if I knew it, I would get it and make it at home. While I already do this, it doesn't mean I wouldn't go out for one. I can get any hot dog I've had (including Galloping Hill Inn's) out, but I continue to patronize these places. 

I can buy Grolsch beer at my neighborhood liquor store to enjoy at home cheaper, but I still enjoy one at the establishment my daughter works at. But I digress.

Nice work John! I knew you'd find out the definitive answer. Thanks on behalf of all of us!

And I agree with you that it makes no sense for the owner of a food establishment to not divulge this sort of information. If their fears were true (i.e. that we could make it at home), no one would ever go out to eat anywhere.

Ahhh screw it JF Hummels are the ONLY way to go LOL...yes let the HD salvos begin now, in any event I never have and never will be an owner of any kind of food establishment but to my minds eye why not just say who provides your product? I.E. Vienna Beef in Chi town and places abroad, Hummels in the NH area, Grote-Wiegle, Muckes really just say who your dog man is what's the bfd?

ken8038


<<Don't get me started on special made dogs>>

John, just to clarify, I didn't mean they were specially made only for Jimmy John's. I'm just suggesting that maybe a local butcher makes the dogs and supplies them. I've seen similar looking dogs at Coney Island Lunch in Scranton and a couple of other places. They are not specially made for those places but they look different than the usual brands and are made locally.

 
Hey Ken,  Which Coney Island?
 
The one on Lackawanna Avenue uses Berks.
 
The one on Cedar is now closed due to a fire.  I believe they used to use dogs from Gutheinz, a small Scranton producer.  Then I believe they switched to a dog made by Schiff's in Scranton.  It was a short fat dog that was split and served on a roll similar to a dinner roll.  The Schiff's dog was custom made just for this location, so they say. 

man, what big secrets the HD guys have.
its like they have these little producers making 5 dozen a week for each of them with their own secret spices for each.
you could go to 5 different HD places that serve the same dog & they all would taste different

<<Hey Ken,  Which Coney Island? >>
 

Joe, I get them confused. Which is the one by the Railroad tracks? That's the one I meant.
 
PS: I MIGHT be heading to NEPA next Fri/Sat (one day or two day), either solo or with a couple of pals. Any trip would have to include the Ooh Ooh Bird.
 
I won't be able to firm any of this up until next week, but I'll keep you and maybe Mosca posted offline.

My standard lunch there is 2 dogs, 1 with the simmered onions and brown mustard, the other with sauerkraut and brown mustard, and fries. The onion rings are good, too
I bring touring relatives frequently

Ted Sapp


Love the name, jugnuts!

Where did our buddy JUGNUTS go?!?
Maybe he's bouncing around to lots of other websites by now!
 
JUGNUTS, where are you?!?

Tried it once when I was in the area near West Chester. Didn't like the dog at all. Hardly any taste of spice. It was the blandest dog I've ever tasted.

Ken,

Does the Eden Gourmet store in South Orange still carry Hummel's? I called and the girl said that she didn't think so, but I was also told that they didn't have them the first time when you mentioned it. I went anyway and they were there. Was wondering if you've been there since.

<<Does the Eden Gourmet store in South Orange still carry Hummel's? I called and the girl said that she didn't think so, but I was also told that they didn't have them the first time when you mentioned it. I went anyway and they were there. Was wondering if you've been there since. >>

John, sorry but we haven't been back. Other than the Hummel's there wasn't much there to draw me back. Right now we're pretty well stocked up with Sshlen's and Thumann's so it will be a while before I even think about going back.