Rutts Hut - National Hot Dog Month Day 12

Rutts Hut is the second New Jersey hot dog icon to appear on the 2013 National Hot Dog Month Tour. As with yesterday’s featured stop, Jimmy Buff’s, Mr. John Fox “hosts” the visit to Rutts Hut. Hurricane Sandy blew the original Rutts Hut sign off the roof of the place, so the place looks like a non-descript, brick building. It was a good thing John was there to point the way!

Rutts Hut serves Jersey Rippers

Rutts Hut serves a deep-fried, Thumann’s, natural casing frank. John says there are a couple of extra ingredients in the franks that allow them to stand up to the deep fryer. Most people order a ripper: when the frank rips open in the fryer, it’s done. Some people will order and in and outer, which is a fried hot dog that doesn’t rip, or a “weller,” which is a crisped up version of a ripper. Just about everyone puts the house relish on their dogs, no matter how they’re cooked; the relish, besides the rippers, is one of the things that makes Rutts Hut famous.

Rutts Hut has that “old-school,” iconic vibe that you only find in a hot dog joint that’s been around over 80 years. There were four generations of patrons in the place, and all of them said they’d been coming to Rutts Hut since they were kids! I’ve had a Jersey Ripper before, at Mad Dogs in Venice, but I never had the original, real deal Ripper before. Boy, was it a good dog!

You can follow Rutts Hut on Facebook or on their website, but the guys don’t seem to be too vested in their internet “strategy.” The Facebook page hasn’t been updated since 2011 and the website is “under construction.” I guess when you’ve been serving hot dogs for as long as they have, a web strategy isn’t necessary!

Enjoy the video!