John and Boy Make an Error in Judgment

Three truths:

1. I can’t remember the last time I chose to not finish a dog at a HDJ.

2. Boy has been devouring dogs since the age of two. I can’t remember him not finishing a hot dog–ever.

3. Neither of us could stand to finish the hot dogs we encountered at Dino’s Hot Dogs, a truck that’s recently opened for business on Rte 139 in Pembroke, MA. We found it while running errands, and knew that we had to uphold our THDIA obligation by stopping. This was an error in judgment.

I don’t want to hammer away at these folks, as they’ve apparently just opened. Their chalkboard menu, shown here, announces their “grand opening” specials. However, everything you need to know can be summed up in two notes:

1. Boy said his hot dog tasted “rubbery and strange.”

2. I ordered a Dino Dog (jalapenos and jack cheese) and a Scituate (slaw and dijon). While the dogs were being prepped, I tried to look up into the shiny white interior of the truck. I couldn’t see much gear. There was no noticeable “we make food here” smell to it. I turned away for a moment, and when I looked back, something had been put into a microwave. I didn’t see what, and my view was blocked when whatever it was came out. I only knew it had been in there about two minutes. When I got my dogs, I touched the rolls–not warm. I touched the apparently melty cheese on my Dino Dog. Cold. Like, recently-been-in-the-fridge  cold. And if you look at the photo…I’m not sure what their interpretation of jack cheese is, but if that stuff ain’t EZ Cheez, I’m a ballerina. And did I mention it was COLD? Needless to say, neither the slaw nor the dijon would be heated up. So if we do the math correctly, what  do we figure went into the microwave?

I will pause a moment here to allow you to wipe the tear from your eye.

The one note to Dino’s credit is that the slaw/dijon combo is an interesting take I hadn’t tried before, and the flavors mixed nicely–even if the slaw did have that straight-outta-Stop & Shop flavor. I was even willing to overlook the fact that the mustard rode on top of the slaw.

I will let Boy have the last word on Dino’s allegedly microwave-abused dogs:

He never met a dog he didn't like. Until now.