Back in college at the University of Maryland, when North Campus Dining Hall was still a dining hall and not a fancy buffet, my best friend Jason used to go to the ladies manning the hot dog section and always order a “North Jersey Beach Dog”.  This magnificent concoction consisted of a hot dog, piled with fried potatoes and onions (like at breakfast) and honey mustard.  Since then, I have literally spent hours scouring the internet for any mention of this hot dog variety, and despite the endless depictions described on wikipedia, the abundance of selection at Pink’s in LA or any number of East Coast places (including any of the North Jersey/Jersey Shore selections, the North Jersey Beach Dog has remained my unicorn.

A while back, I was walking in Fells Point and happened to see the sign in the window for Stuggy’s challenge.  It basically consists of devouring 4 Beasts in 2 minutes.  And after trying Stuggy’s World Famous Gourmet Dogs for the first time the other day, I seriously think I may give it a try.  I’m not exactly sure what inspired me to visit this Baltimore institution, renowned for it’s gourmet hot dogs, found late at night in Fells Point or during any O’s game at Camden Yards, Deep Fried Oreos or Puck’s cane sweetened sodas, but in the middle of the day last week I ventured down to try their infamous Crab Mac Dog.

The guy there also recommended the Bob Marley Dog, one that he designed himself and I have to thank him again if he’s reading this now.  That was one of the best hot dog/hot dog combinations I’ve ever tasted.

The dogs themselves were plump with a casing that had a nice crisp bite to it.  The Crab Mac had huge lumps of crab over gooey macaroni & cheese.  The Bob Marley had jerk chicken, red cabbage slaw, grilled jalapenos (for the flavor without a lot of the raw heat) and mango mayo.  The sweet and the salty, cool crisp with grilled savory over a soft bun that held everything together.  Amazing.

I even loved the beautiful photography of the dogs that adorned the walls.  The light coming through the lunchtime window gave me a couple of good shots as well.

I love the fact that Stuggy’s was started by a father and son that wanted to bring original, delicious hot dogs back to their hometown.  In their own words, “Born and bred in Baltimore, we take pride in our city, and we’ll make an effort to retain the neighborly ambiance of this establishment.”