Dew Drop Inn - Mobile, AL

Posted By Michael Stern on November 4, 2007 9:43 AM

The Dew Drop Inn is not by any standards deluxe, but it is culinary royalty. This is the restaurant that introduced hot dogs to southern Alabama! The date was 1924, and proprietor George Widney soon became known as The Hot Dog King.

Hot dogs are still the prime attraction, especially for natives who move away then pine for a taste of home. Waitresses tell tales of families from Memphis, Louisville, and even farther North who return like expatriates to a beloved homeland so they can weep for joy over plates of Dew Drop dogs. The hot dogs themselves are merely bright red steamed franks of medium size, but the presentation is awesome – in toasted buns, topped with cool sauerkraut, a moist layer of sweet beefy chili, mustard, ketchup, and a pickle slice. Some aesthetes order them upside down (the dog sits atop the condiments) and others like them "shaved" (without kraut). The same unusual chili is used as a topping for Dew Drop cheeseburgers, which singer Jimmy Buffett (a Mobile native) credits with generating his burger lust when he was a boy.

Hot dogs and hamburgers are the star attractions, but there is a whole large menu of po boys, gumbo, Gulf shrimp and hot dinners accompanied by such good vegetables as turnip greens and rice and gravy. Coca-Cola is served the true-South way, in its shapely classic bottle alongside a glass full of ice. Banana pudding is the choice dessert.

The setting is cool and comfy, a wood-paneled roadhouse of laminate tables with little flower arrangements in Coke bottles on partitions between booths. Service is speedy; checks are delivered with meals.

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Posted By JBogdahn on October 12, 2011 11:35 AM

I had passed this place a bazillion times, and finally stopped in, and was glad I did! The chili dog was great, and the gumbo was about as good as my mom's when she was in her prime. Can't wait to get back and try the fried okra.

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Dew Drop hot dog

gumbo

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Posted By Drew Baxter on October 25, 2010 2:24 AM

I just don't get it. Natives think this place is great. Everybody else thinks it's not. I've eaten there because natives told me how great it was. I ate there the burger and hot dog were just plain poor. Nothing special. Just a basic hot dog. The burger was small, burnt, and plain. If you want a good burger go to Butch Cassidy's. If you want a good hot dog, go to a hot dog stand or make one at home. It's not hard to beat theirs.

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Posted By Jim Palm on December 25, 2005 11:53 PM

Being a couple of Parrotheads, we just had to go try the cheeseburger, and I have to say that I was disappointed with it. After having a cheeseburger in paradise at Margaritaville this one was below par. Now the hot dogs are something totally different - we were in Mobile for two weeks and we made four more trips to the Inn just for the hot dogs. They spoiled me for hot dogs anywhere else and I can’t wait until we get back to the area for more. The onion rings were probably in the top three or four on my list of great rings I’ve had around the country.

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