I went to this year's opening at Emo’s last March at around five in the morning. That whole visit seems like a blur, so I thought it’s time for a revisit. And what better setting to do it in than a hot dog battle between two Peoria icons like Emo’s and The Hofbrau House. If you recall from last week, I had an outstanding couple of dogs at The Hofbrau House, so let’s see what Emo’s can bring to the table in this installment of Peoria Hot Dog Wars. Ringo, sound the battle drum and let the weenie wars begin!
They're calling for thunderstorms today, so I'm hoping to get this installment over before they hit. So far it's a little overcast, but not too bad looking out here.
And there's the familiar clown face looming in the distance as we travel down War Memorial Drive.
The skies are brightening up a bit as we pull closer to the parking lot at Emo's. Maybe we'll catch a break on the weather after all.
As always, there's a bit of a crowd here, let's go get in line.
One woman stands between me and this week's order. I like her hair-do.
When I got to the window, all the lovely ladies working there agreed to pose for a photo. Ladies and gentlemen, please give a big hand for the beautiful women of Emo's!
Condiment buckets!
As if on cue, after seeing that sickening Hunt's collection of ketchup, the skies are starting to darken.
All the umbrella tables are taken...
So we're going to have to tough it out and have this hot dog battle out in the open and hope the rain doesn't happen till we're done. Hunt's ketchup and an impending thunder shower...hot dog war is hell!
Okay, lunch is served, let the games begin and may the best hot dog win!
I'm starting with their chili cheese dog. The initial problem I'm seeing here is that it's all cheese, there's no chili on it as far as I can see.
Okay, I can see a little bit of chili underneath the cheese after taking a bite...
But you really can't taste it at all. The prime taste on a chili cheese dog should be the chili, then the cheese and then the hot dog. All you taste on this is the melted cheese, which isn't a horrible thing, but it's just not right. Kind of like having Hunt's ketchup instead of Heinz. And yes, I'll obsess over that all fucking day long!
For a palette cleanser between hot dogs, I got the cheese fries, which was a little bit of a mistake after eating a cheese-soaked chili dog. This is really turning into a cheesy post!
The cheese fries are good, but they could've used a little ketchup and...well...you know.
The chocolate milkshake here is delicious and it passes the straw standing in the middle thickness test.
I also got the hot dog with mustard and it was good, but between the Hunt's ketchup sighting and the cheesy chili dog, I have to admit to being in a little bit of a dark mood.
And this scary sky isn't helping matters any, let's get out of here before the storm hits and blows us away into the land of oz. You can read about the results of this week's hot dog wars below. We'll see you all tomorrow.
Hot Dog War Status
Well, Emo’s is known for tasty dairy products like their wonderful ice cream creations and great milkshakes, so I guess it’s proper that The Hofbrau creamed them in this week’s hot dog battle. Go to Emo’s for great ice cream and other summer treats, but if you’re looking for the best hot dog in Peoria, I recommend The Hofbrau House, they win this week’s battle and are going to be one tough contender to beat! Plus they have beer!
Emo’s
3618 Prospect Rd. (Corner of War Memorial Drive)
Peoria Heights
Further reading: CI News Now, PJ Star and WCBU.
New MBIP Page
I put up a new page here at MBIP, it's some of the online press I've gotten for this blog and other projects from the last couple of decades. You can check it out by clicking here and see what a media whore I really am!
