Vito’s Hot Dog Truck and Dickie Dee’s Italian Hot Dogs: 7th Annual YDKJ Hot Dog Tour

by Alice Magdziak • August 7, 2015 • Counties, Essex, Food, Hot Dog Tour, Hudson • Comments (0) • 2906

We try really hard not to duplicate stops on our YDKJ Hot Dog Tour but sometimes you just have to go back to really great hot dogs more than once. Our first stop on today’s trip was a repeat from last year but it was a doozy.

Vito’s Hot Dog Truck is either found right between the Harrison Path Station and the Red Bulls Arena or he’s on the road at a food truck event. Follow him on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter and it’s easy to see where he is on a particular day. The dog above is the Junkyard Dog and includes nearly every topping on his menu with a Sabrett dog. It tasted even better than it looked!

Ed actually got to step into the truck and see Vito’s operation and he was in heaven.

He even got to take the driver’s seat for a minute!

We had quite a few dogs at Vito’s because we can’t help ourselves. Here are some highlights.

We did a build-your-own with chili, potatoes and Frito’s that was out of this world good. Vito makes all his own toppings and the homemade chili and potatoes together are an outstanding combo. Frito’s aren’t even my favorite but they add just the right crunch to this dog. The Junk Yard Dog that our friend Coop ordered inspired me to try the Frito topping.

The Shore Dog is my favorite of his specialty dogs. Homemade cole slaw, big fresh slices of tomato and sriracha are the perfect combination of hot, cold, crunchy, spicy and fresh. I would eat just the toppings on a bun without the dog they’re so good.

My other favorite specialty dog is the Ol’ Salty Dog with relish, bacon crumbles and sea salt toppings. You simply can’t go wrong with that!

Vito was busy while we were there. It was obvious from customers’ comments that he has lots of regulars who wait for him to return to Harrison after going all over to festivals. Mark, below, got a couple dogs to go but had obviously been there before. Vito is so nice and his products are so delicious that we’re not surprised so many people return over and over. Our hot dog tour guest even asked when we’re going back because he’s ready to be a repeat customer, too.

After Vito’s we headed across the Passaic River and into Newark for Dickie Dee’s Italian hot dogs and sausages.

The double hot dog was on the classic half moon of bread and had lots of perfectly cooked potatoes, peppers and onions. The potatoes were only lightly fried so they were moist and easy to eat without being so crispy that they hurt your mouth when you take a giant bite of this big sandwich. Mustard on the dogs and catsup on top of the potatoes adds plenty of flavor and moistness to the overall sandwich. We really liked that the bread was nice and big to hold in the toppings but it also smashed down enough to get your mouth around this beast of a hot dog.

We also got a single sausage sandwich which was also really great. The nicely-spiced sausage is split down the middle and deep-fried. The single sandwich got a quarter moon of bread which, honestly, was a relief after having so much food already for lunch.

Dickie Dee’s cooks all their sandwich materials right in front of you. It’s fun to watch everything going in the big vats!

This concludes our North Jersey stops on the Hot Dog Tour this year. Stay tuned for the Shore and South Jersey stops coming soon! While you wait, check out all the pictures from our tour today: