Dog-tired and tired of dogs
Men get their fill of St. Louis’s frankfurters during 24-hour jaunt
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| Erica Burrus photo/ Mike Flynn, left, holds a hot dog and Chris Files applies relish to his dog, while Mike Merenda shoots video for ToastedRav.com at the Courtesy Diner, 3153 Kingshighway Blvd. |
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They reluctantly await the arrival of their food — each will be having a hot dog. They do not savor the idea.
What seemed simple in its conception is proving to be a Herculean task. In this case, Hercules would have needed a different kind of strength. He would need the intestinal fortitude to stomach 24 hot dogs at 24 St. Louis locations in 24 hours.The men, Chris Files, Mike Flynn and Mike Merenda call their gastronomical journey the Tour de Frankfurter. They are recording it for their Web site, ToastedRav.com.
The 1 a.m. stop was number 20 in this day-long adventure. Their location was the Courtesy Diner at 3155 S. Kingshighway Blvd. in South St. Louis and they already had tired of eating, smelling or even seeing hot dogs.
“It was a mistake,” Merenda said.
“It was,” Flynn echoed.
The idea started simply enough. The men were at work at ToastedRav.com discussing the end of the summer grilling season. They had wanted to do a food tour of St. Louis and Files thought of hot dogs. They can be grilled and they can be found at just about any diner, drive-up, drive-thru, restaurant, bar, stadium or gas station.
Their Web site deals in all things fun and off-beat in St. Louis, so they thought they had a winner.
Bonneville St. Louis launched ToastedRav.com on Jan. 31 this year in an effort to provide entertainment about St. Louis, according to Jen Danker, new media director for the company. It’s meant to provide separate content than the company’s Web sites for its local radio stations – WIL 92.3, 106.5 The Arch and Movin 101.1.
The three men started their journey at 6 a.m. Sept. 11 at a different Courtesy Diner on Hampton Avenue. They next stopped at a Denny’s, Gingham’s in South County, Gus’ Pretzels, a Sonic and Carl’s Drive-In in Brentwood, Woofie’s in Overland, Pam’s Chicago Dogs in The Loop, Surf Dogs in Chesterfield and Foxy’s Red Hots in Hazelwood.
By stop number 11 at Al Hrabosky’s near Busch Stadium, Flynn was looking disgustedly at the hot dogs as if they were some gross-out challenge from Fear Factor. Ten hours from the start, they were dealing with sleep deprivation, travel fatigue and gastronomical stress.
“It’s been the worst day of my life,” Files complained.
Al Hrabosky, the former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher and current broadcaster, joined them for a hot dog at his restaurant.
“I’ve got a good dog,” he told them. “I’ve been accused of having a little bit too much mustard on myself at times.”
Hrabosky’s Chicago-style dog seems an appropriate addition to the tour. The Cardinals would play the Chicago Cubs later in the day at Busch Stadium. Executive Chef Steven Richardson talks up the hot dog. He listed the toppings — tomato, pickle, red onion, medium hot banana peppers and “atomic relish,” featuring buffalo wing sauce and sliced jalapeño.
“Once the toppings started coming on, that’s when it started getting brutal,” Flynn would later say.
“People want to tell you how great their toppings are, but after what we’ve been through, that’s the last things we want to hear,” Files added.
Earlier in the journey, the men welcomed variations. The pineapple on the hot dogs at Surf Dogs amused them. The hot dog looped in a circle on a hamburger bun at Carl’s was also a treat. Along the way they also had dogs with chili, cheese, onions, mustard and even bacon on them. They became weary of the toppings, but also weary of cooks touting their all-beef hot dogs and even weary of buns.
“The consensus is the bun is the killer,” Files said. “When you’re dealing with this quantity, it’s the bun.”
Twenty-four hot dogs in 24 hours does not stack up against competitive eating records, like the 59.5 hot dogs Joey “Jaws” Chestnut ate in 2007 to set a new record in the 12-minute Nathan’s Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest. Chestnut beat the record previously set by renowned competitive eater Takeru “The Tsunami” Kobayashi.
“I don’t know how Kobayashi and those guys do it,” Merenda said.
Competitive eaters are forbidden to regurgitate during the event. Merenda broke that rule near the Stan Musial statue while eating outside Busch Stadium.
In total, the three men had just one regurgitation. They also managed one mustard stain and two chili stains on their clothes.
Before they left the Courtesy Diner, a co-worker visited the crew with presents. Each received a roll of antacid tablets. They cherished the chalky taste that covered the flavor of hot dogs. The men languished at their table before packing up their video equipment to set off for their next stop – a QuikTrip gas station just down the road. QT would be one of the final four locations.
They walked outside the diner. Files and Flynn each gave a heavy sigh. With shoulders slumped, they moved on.
Anyone wanting to see the video for the Tour de Frankfurter should visit www.ToastedRav.com. The video is expected to debut on Sept. 17.
Tour de Frankfurter schedule
Here was the schedule of hot dog stops for ToastedRav.com’s Tour de Frankfurter held on Sept. 11, 2008:
6 a.m. - Courtesy Diner - 1121 Hampton Ave.
7 a.m. - Denny’s - 1515 S. Hampton Ave.
8 a.m. - Gingham’s - 7333 S. Lindbergh Blvd.
9 a.m. - Gus’ Pretzels - 1820 Arsenal St.
10 a.m. - Sonic - 8124 Manchester Road
11 a.m. - Carl’s Drive Inn - 9033 Manchester Road
Noon - Woofie’s - 1919 Woodson Road
1 p.m. - Pam’s Chicago Dogs - 6016 Delmar Blvd.
2 p.m. - Surf Dogs - 137 Chesterfield Towne Center
3 p.m. - Foxy’s Red Hots - 11658 Dorsett Road
4 p.m. - Al Hrabosky’s - 800 Cerre St.
5 p.m. - Busch Stadium (Cards/Cubs Series!) - 700 Clark Ave.
6 p.m. - Blueberry Hill - 6504 Delmar Blvd.
7 p.m. - Fitz’s - 6505 Delmar Blvd.
8 p.m. - Café Manhattan - 511 S. Hanley Road
9 p.m. - Chris’ Pancakes & Dining - 5980 Southwest Ave.
10 p.m. - Tropicana Lanes - 7960 Clayton Road
11 p.m. - Sportsman’s Park - 9901 Clayton Road
Midnight - Tiffany’s Diner - 7402 Manchester Road
1 a.m. - Courtesy Diner - 3155 S. Kingshighway Blvd.
2 a.m. - QuikTrip - 3410 S. Kingshighway Blvd.
3 a.m. - Uncle Bill’s Pancake House - 3427 S. Kingshighway Blvd.
4 a.m. - Cooking hot dogs in the car en route to next location
5 a.m. - Eat-Rite Diner - 622 Chouteau Ave.
