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| - JJ's may be serving red hots off of the grill, but their overall value and product is better described as luke warm. In short, they grill up a competent enough dog in a great looking space, but be prepared to fork out a handsome price for the privilege.
A walk thru the front door leads to a relatively open dining room with a mix of booths against the wall, a centralized bar area and tables out on the floor. Props to the central light fixture/insider-refence to "The Drum," which was the original restaurant at this location. You order from a central counter, where the menu is plastered against the wall . The concept is informal and, aside from delivery of your order, everything is self-serve. Credit is due here for a very polished and consistent look across the brand.
The focus, though, is mix of hot dogs and sausages. All are chargrilled and then served on a potato bun. The options are diverse and range from traditional to unique (e.g. a salmon sausage). On my lunch trip, I tried the chicken and herb sausage which included grilled onions and peppers along with spicy remoulade. It was tasty enough, but nowhere near a good value at $6.00. It couldn't have been more than 4-5 decent sized bites. Even the regular hot dogs go for $3.50 to $4.00 a piece and I would find it hard to think that just one was a filling lunch or dinner.
To make your 'red hot' a combo will be another $2.49 and that gets you a fountain drink and a side. For my side, I tried the "soon to be infamous" onion rings as I was told they were out of french fries (how does that happen?). While the batter was unique as it had the look and consistency of tiny corn flakes, my order size was small and about of quarter of the overall portion was only the flakes of batter which were heavily laden with oil. This order was soon to be forgotten. The other two options: slaw and borracho beans, though I have not tried them, seem lackluster when compared to the hype given to the fries and rings. Hopefully the portion sizes are larger.
To tally it up, I was $8.50 in just for my lunch and felt like I had very little to show for it. Was this meal truly unique, I might see it as a special occasion kind of place. But ultimately, and the real challenge here, for this concept to work is for JJ's to differentiate itself from any other restaurant that serves a hot dog or a sausage. While there are a few things here you won't find elsewhere, at the end of the day it's still a hot dog or a sausage and side items that are largely commonplace, all in a self-serve setting. JJ's hasn't elevated these items or the experience to a higher level and, consequently, I'm left asking, "Why pay the premium?" For these red hots to catch fire, something more is needed.
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