RESTAURANT REVIEW – The one type of restaurant missing from Madera is a great hot dog joint. Sure, every truck-stop up and down Highway 99 tries to create a hot dog bar with various sausages and a full line of toppings, but nothing memorable. So, it was exciting news that a successful Hot dog joint from Pismo Beach was relocating to Madera, and the only problem is that it’s actually in Madera Ranchos.
The restaurant has been open for the last two months at the recently defunct former Simply Scrumptious location on Avenue 12. Walking in, you will be impressed with how they used those two months. This place has never looked better. The walls are covered with colorful murals, which show respect to all of the Madera area high schools, and the brightly colored tables and chairs add to the fun atmosphere.
Before I review the dogs, we must discuss what they call ‘Dilly Mustard.’ I am sure some people love it; I am just not one of them. I was told it was a mix of several mustard types, so I tried it. But I think it may have also contained some horse radish. Not one of my favorite flavors. But luckily there’s an easy solution. Next time I visit, I’ll just use the good old American French’s yellow mustard. I could see the Dilly Mustard being a very popular dipping sauce. The sauce’s flavors overwhelmed what I thought was a very good German Sausage sandwich. I then removed the majority of the dilly sauce from my Hot Italian Sausage, which proved to me in the first bite that the food was good. Only my poor choice of sauces made my first sandwich less than great.
I ordered a German Sausage with onions, sauerkraut, and dilly mustard and an Italian sausage with onions, peppers, and dilly mustard. My wife ordered the Cool Dog, which was a bacon-wrapped hot dog with cheese, guacamole, bacon bites, and ranch dressing. All three sandwiches were over $8 each; hers we ordered as a combo for five dollars more which included crinkle-cut fries and a can of soda. Yes, the hot dogs are a bit expensive if you are used to truck-stop hot dogs. But that is not what you get at Slim Dilly’s. The toppings were plentiful, and the food was delicious (minus the Dilly Mustard). The sausages were top-notch, good enough that I would like to find their butcher. The menu includes many specialty dogs with unusual toppings, a good selection of side options, and ‘Jalapeno Chowda’. There is also a kid's menu and a couple of fun desserts. We will return for a second visit soon as there were just way too many choices on the menu that we wanted to try.
I’ll mention one pet peeve of mine. Like the previous tenants, they do not have fountain drinks opting to sell $2 canned soda, so no free refills are available. On the other hand, the wait staff were helpful, fast and very friendly.
A suggestion for the owners is to leave a check on the table for the customers as I like to go over my bill before I pay at the counter or through a waitress. I also use the sales tax amount to determine my tip (twice the sales tax). Otherwise, this place is a great place for a gourmet hot dog. I hope they can attract enough customers to the Ranchos to succeed. They will be a nice fit with the high school and family crowds, and hopefully, they will extend their weekend hours so we real-Madera city folks can make it out there for dinner.
For this review, I am giving them four stars only because of the Dilly Mustard, but once I get to try those selections again without the horse radish, I see a fifth star in their future.
FOLLOW-UP - We returned today to try the German Brat with sauerkraut. This time without the Dilly Mustard, and it was great, just like I thought. We also tried a few of their sides, like the spiral-cut fries. These things were huge. Have you ever tried corn ribs? I didn't know corn had ribs, but these things were delicious. The customer service is great, and I love that it is only a few minutes from the house and on my route to Fresno. This place is fast becoming my favorite hot dog joint in the valley. Today they picked up that fifth star like I knew they would.
