I went to Hot Diggity in Philadelphia the other day..

They serve Sabrett dogs. I'm not sure what size.. I'm not able to tell as quick as you guys would be. They use a bigger bread than just a normal roll, so they can hold a lot of toppings.
 
My Girlfriend had a dog wrapped in a fish cake topped with a pepper hash. Fish cake was nicely done, not all mashed up.
 
I had a dog with garlic cream cheese, red onion straws, green onions, and tomato.
 
My other dog had and another dog had house pickled cucumber, cilantro, red onion, carrots, jalapeno, thai chili vinaigrette, hot siracha. It was hot, but not overly so. Cucumber was nice and thin so it absorbed the juices.
 
Fries were AWESOME and they have around 10 or 12 dipping sauces. Fresh cut, nice and thick.
 
The only thing a lot of you might not like is price. Dogs are $5 or $6, but one is pretty filling with fries.
 
They have a nice assortment of craft soda such as Moxie, cucumber, etc.
 
I wrote up a full review here, but feel free to ask questions or comment on Roadfood:
 
http://theshortreviews.bl...y-philadelphia-pa.html

with all those toppings, the hot dog just seems like a filler.
why waste a good Sabbret with the whole condiment bar piled on top of it?
just my opinion. to each his own.

I agree; I'd rather get a good dog without the casserole. The roll is too big also.

They sure turn me off. And when did Moxie become a craft soda?

My usual is a cheese dog with mustard and onions but your other dog sounds good to me, like a Banh Mi which I love when I can get them.  I would think a Sabrett could stand up well to Banh Mi style decoration.

They had other craft type sodas, but I couldn't remember them all of the top of my head. I only remembered Moxie because I saw it later on and have always wanted to try it. Someone told me it's kind of like cough syrup flavor.

I'm with you on the dogs.. I would rather have a Texas Weiner, but that's not to slam Hot Diggity's style. They do what they do pretty well.

They have specials.. this month they were making a Detroit Coney which uses beef hearts. I've never had them before, so I went and bought some for myself.. they were really really flavorful and cheap as hell compared to ground beef.

I believe I had Moxie for the first time about 70 years ago.

Wow they have over 60 different types of "craft" sodas. That is a big number for folks who love to find the not-so-easy-to-find soda. I would go just for the fries and the crafts.

Yuppicide, thanks for your review and stamp of approval.  I'll add this to my short list for my trip to Philly this month!    Chris

Alas, I still have no moxie. 
 
  The Bear

Dr. Physick is an exciting Roadfood diggity soda in Philadelphia!! Talk about history.

Holly Eats said their fish cakes were so good he'd have eaten them alone. He said their fries are the best in Philly. I might think their the best within an hour's distance of me.
 
They have a recipe for "Colonial Gatorade" on their YouTube page. 1 gallon water, 1 cup molasses, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup apple cider vinegar. Something they might drink in ye olde times. It was interesting. Some sips like flat apple juice, some like molasses, some like tangy vinegar.

I guess they will not allow an order of Philly fish & chips platter with a side of southern slaw. Damn.

Gosh, you guys are a pretty tough crowd for this poster. Let's see, cheap dog with lots pf toppings, good dog with lots of toppings...if I want lots of toppings, I'll take a good dog,too....And around the Philly-south Jersey area, Moxie is a VERY rare soda!! And what is the big difference if we have a chili dog with a good dog or one of these with a good dog...I make what I call a Burnsville hot dog(town where we first had it) loaded with onions, mustard, lots of chili, then lots of coleslaw...and with pounds of stuff on it, I can still taste my Thumann's in it...no Ballpark in my sandwich!!!!!

And if you want one of thyese with all that stuff on it, wouldn't a bigger hot dog roll accomodate that? When I make my Burnsville hotdogs(above), I use a bigger roll!

Isn't the fish-cake + hotdog thing an traditional combo in a few places somewhere around Philly?

Holly Moore added Hot Diggity to Hollyeats.
 
http://www.hollyeats.com/HotDiggity.htm

I certainly think they mean well with the roll. They use the same bakery Tony Luke's uses for cheesesteaks. It's early. If/when enough folks have an opinion for a more traditional roll they may include the option. People in Philadelphia are not shy on opinion.

The fries look great. I could eat them plain. Or maybe DIY some loaded fries with hot dog toppings.

Great idea CC.. that might make another easy to do vegan option.. you can get a hot dog, a veggie dog, or fries topped with the same toppings they normally put on dogs.
 
Next time I'm there I might order a regular fries and Saigon dog and dump the toppings on the fries.

That would cover no meat on Friday as well!
 
Thank you for the thread Yuppicide! I did not know about the Phyzz Festival in July!

LUV those Hawk Krall Prints!
If I had a B & M Hot Dog Shop, the walls would be plastered with those prints!
http://www.hawkkrall.net/prints/

Well, after talking with we got the idea that hot dog purists would be tough. So, it's understandable that there are different types of places and different opinions.. one a little more fancy one a little more traditional.
 
I'm told they've done topped fries in the past as a special.

You might have had the most "exotic" menu choice with Seattle Grunge. All of the selections are designed to reflect a popular hot dog style from various parts of the country. They even have "the plain old hot dog." Hehehe.

You can have exotic. That Seattle Grunge Dog is another dog that should be put down. I know some people like all this exotic crap, but I agree with Holly Moore. The frank should never play second fiddle to the toppings. I can go to a neighborhood place like Jack's Frank & Fries and get a nice sized natural casing Sabrett prepared the same way (griddled) for a lot less and a lot cheaper and served on a better roll.

What about Amazing? They did some unusual toppings.

Yes they did. They probably had the biggest selection of toppings at a hot dog joint that I've been to. But I would get my dog with mustard only most of the time. They did have a very good chili that I would get once in awhile. Very similar to the chili at Jack's. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same as Amazing since the owner of Jack's knows one of the former owners of Amazing. Both had a hint of chocolate.

I hope you go here someday. The Diggity crew needs to communicate the size of the Sabrett as something other than 7 inches. Or some of the press on it needs to ask better questions.

Agreed. The press and food writers for the most part aren't really qualified in my opinion to write about hot dogs. Read a review about a new hot dog restaurant. Rarely is the brand or source of the hot dog mentioned. Many times they don't disclose how the dog is prepared, if it has a casing, how many to a pound, if it is a kosher style all beef dog or a German style beef and pork frank. But you will know all about the toppings offered and the cute nicknames that they give their creations. And the term "gourmet" is thrown around a lot. This tells the serious hot dog lover very little.

On reflection, I think you're right. It has to be about the dog, and, though I never noticed it before, the reviews often aren't.

First of all Yuppicide thanks for the post & for coming out from Jersey for the show. Also a big disclaimer that Hot Diggity is a client of mine so obviously I'm not unbiased. Oh also thanks Foodbme for the posting the link..
 
Really I think that "gourmet" (eclectic?) hot dog places like Hot Diggity are not really in the same category as traditional hot dog joints. They're aimed at different customers and are going for different things.
 
That said HD definitely uses better dogs than most in Philadelphia, it's hard to find ANY natural casing dogs here. Most places look at you like you're crazy for even asking, they just grab whatever skinless nameless dog is on sale at restaurant depot. 
 
And if you're going to eat a hot dog loaded with ridiculous toppings, HD is the place to do it. A lot of these "eclectic" places just load the dogs with whatever. Keith (owner/chef of HD) is a former fine dining chef and everything is made from scratch, and really really good. 
 
I also agree on the big rolls. Every single new hot dog place that opens in Philadelphia serves their dogs on giant hoagie rolls. Can't stand it. But hey at least at HD the bread is good (Liscio's Bakery) and fresh every day. Not every place does that. 
 
If you want to try something more traditional, check out out the "Detroit Coney" special they're doing this month. It's Detroit - style chili made with organic beef hearts that they grind themselves. It's a lot dryer than Detroit Chili, actually reminded me of Flint, but the flavor was there. Also they trim the roll down to more hot-dog size. 
 
Or for a hot dog that's really about the hot dog, come to Philly this summer and check out Scott Dogs. It's a cart from the chef of the South Philly Taproom, and they really make their own hot dogs. Traditional, short and stout (sort of like a Zwiegle's) smoked beef and pork dogs, steamed and then finished off on a flat grill contraption. Also on Holly's Site.