I’ve gotten a lot of requests to go try the Wonderdog in East Peoria for the Peoria Hot Dog Wars and that’s where I was headed today, but luckily at the last minute I noticed on their facecrack page that they are closed on Sundays. I’m finding a lot of places closed on Sundays around here, which is a bit of a bummer, because Sunday is my only day off, but what are you going to do? I’ll try and hit the Wonderdog on a weekday when I have some extra time, which is rare, so the Wonderdog may not be able to do battle in this year’s Hot Dog Wars.
Another place I’ve gotten suggestions to go to is the Ice Cream Shack on Adams Street in downtown Peoria. I just checked and they are indeed open on Sunday’s, so it’s off we go to stage another battle in Peoria’s Hot Dog Wars. Ringo...sound the battle drums!
It's a nice summer day out here today, although a little too bright for my tastes, I need to get some prescription sunglasses one of these days.
Okay, here we are in downtown Peoria, we'll hang a right here on Adams Street...
Hey, check it out, here's the defender of the hot dog crown, The Hofbrau House! Let's see if the Ice Cream Shack can knock them off their throne this week!
Here we are, wow, it's crowded here today, I'll have to park in the back.
Take note, Wonderdog, not only is this place open...
They stay open till 10PM at night! That gives them points right off the bat in my book! Let's go order.
It's not really a shack at all, but a sturdy building that you could huff and puff and never blow down.
Okay, this is seriously bugging the shit out of me. This guy's in line (I asked) yet he's standing about six feet from the ordering window! Step up to the plate, buddy, nobody realizes that you're waiting. Sheesh!
Finally someone realized he was forming some sort of weirdo out of bounds line and called him forward. We're next!
Kyle greeted me at the window and took my order. Doesn't he look like a young Timothy Hutton? This Ice Cream Shack "Separated At Birth," moment brought to you by Spy Magazine.
Here's their front window with the giant hot dog logo and the ice cream creations are listed below it.
Condiment buckets! Hey...
Oh no! If you've read my blogs for a while, you know how I feel about this. Let's just move slowly away and be grateful I didn't order french fries as a palette cleanser. Well, before we walk away I just need to say this...HUNT'S SUCKS MONKEY LUNGS ON TOAST! Okay, let's get away from these nasty little packets of horribleness.
They have a real nice courtyard up front here with cement tables to sit at. A step above your average picnic tables that most ice cream places have.
I chose this table which looks directly onto Adams Street.
It's really relaxing sitting here in the shade and watching the world go by...
Okay, enough relaxing, time to start unwrapping this food and let the battle begin!
Wow, this is one great looking chili cheese dog! Check out the chili to cheese ratio, it's perfectly balanced! Looks like we have a real contender here!
Holy moley, this is one fantastic chili cheese dog! The chili is zingy and tangy and the cheese adds a nice flavor and texture to it as well. I'd say that this is equal to the Hofbrau's chili cheese dog. Looks like the mustard dog will be the deciding factor in today's weenie war!
The chocolate shake is great. Thick and creamy and perfect on this summer afternoon.
I got the cheese nachos for today's palette cleanser between dogs.
They were good, nice and cheesy, but could've used a little hot sauce on them or something to spice them up a little bit, but all in all a very nice palette cleanser. Alright, onto the mustard dog, the deciding factor in today's hot dog war!
Okay, first off, the mustard is slathered on a little too sparingly for me. Come on guys, lean in to it a little! And secondly, it's generic yellow mustard, would it kill these places to invest in some quality spicy deli mustard?
Wow, talk about a buzz killer after that fantastic chili cheese dog! It's not horrible, but it's not up to the level of the mustard dog at the Hofbrau, which used spicy German mustard. I think you can tell who won this week's battle, but the results are below. We'll see you all tomorrow.
Hot Dog War Status
The Ice Cream Shack has an outstanding chili cheese dog, loved the chili, tangy and tasty and the chili to cheese ratio was perfect. I thought for a second we may have a new victor in the Peoria Hot Dog Wars. Then I opened up the mustard dog. Generic yellow mustard and not too much of it. This tipped the scales back in The Hofbrau House’s favor. I just can’t get over how so many places refuse to invest in some spicy mustard choices for their hot dogs! The Hofbrau House has wonderful German hot mustard and it puts them over the top and leaves them as the weenie war winners for the fifth week in a row! Stay tuned for next week’s battle in Peoria’s Hot Dog Wars!
Hot Dog Rating
Three Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles. The chili cheese dog was one of the best I’ve ever had, but they blew it with the generic mustard spread thinly on the mustard dog. In addition to the great chili cheese dog, the chocolate shake was fantastic too and I’ve heard all their ice cream creations are wonderful treats on a hot summer day or night. Now if they’d only ditch that shitty generic mustard!
Ice Cream Shack
2313 NE Adams Street
Peoria
309-686-2828
Further Reading: We All Scream For Ouce Cream, CI News Now and facecrack.
Bonus Link To Vote For Spike’s Team!
Yesterday, I got this email from MBIP pal, commenter and rater of beer taps, Spike:
"Some of you are aware already, but I was picked by the NY Red Bulls as their Community MVP for my work with the Luis Rojas Foundation, our local charity which raises money to create after-school soccer and fitness programs for NYC kids in the poorest of schools. With this honor, I am now in a competition against 18 others around the country, each selected by the other MLS teams, for a chance to win a $10,000 donation to the Foundation.
I'm asking if you would please vote for me by clicking here. You may vote as often as you like, so this is a stuff the ballot box campaign."
Basically, you can help Spike get $10,000 for the Luis Rojas Foundation, by placing as many votes as you can. It takes about ten seconds to vote and you can vote as many times as possible. I’ve put in about 50 votes so far and will keep logging more in until the deadline of July 12th. He’s in fifth place right now, we need to push to get him to number one. Here’s all you need to do:
Go to this link and find Spike’s team. It’s the Red Bull Michael Nies Team, which I’ve marked on the screen grab above. Just click on that...
And it’ll take you here. Click on “Submit Vote,” fill out a captcha and you’ve just voted. Then do it again as many times as you can. Right now Spike is in fifth place. Let’s see how fast a few good MBIP friends can bring him up to number one! You can keep voting up till July 12th, so bookmark the page and if you have a few moments to kill, place a few votes for Spike and his team! Thanks, everybody!