I've been on a tear lately for hot dogs. I started asking around and doing some Internet research about hot dogs here in Maine. One place that came to my notice was Bolleys Famous Franks in Hallowell, ME; near the state capitol Augusta. I hopped in my car and drove the 80 miles to Hallowell to see what the fuss was all about.
I finally arrived at my destination and perused the menu. I asked a few questions of the counter girl and decided to order a dog with mustard and fried onions, a chili cheese dog with mustard, small orders of both fries and onion rings, and a large chocolate milk. My order was packed up nicely in a few styrofoam clam-shells and I headed outside to plant myself at a picnic table.
The fried onion dog was mighty tasty with a nice snap to it from the natural casing. The mustard was the typical boring yellow stuff, but the onions had a nice caramelized sweetness to them. The chili cheese dog was very good, with some of the best hot dog chili I've had. It was real chili with a nice bit of cumin and a little heat. Meat, beans, maybe some onions, in a dark red sauce. Instead of that faux cheese sauce squirted on top, there were some slices of white American cheese layered under the dog and starting to melt nicely.
The onion rings were a bit bland. I'm all in favor of sweet onions like Vidalia's, but a more assertive yellow onion is a must for onion rings. Sadly, these seemed to be the former. They were very hot, fresh, crisp, and obviously hand made, not a frozen product. I'd like to try them again some time made with yellow, not sweet onions. The fries surprised me, they were the best part of the experience. Definitely twice cooked, they were brown and crisp on the outside and fluffy inside. You could tell that the person working the fryer knew their stuff. Both the onion rings and fries were cooked to perfection, but with the fries they rose to transcendence. They had that real earthy potato taste from a russet style Maine potato that made you sit up and say, " Man these are some great fries!" The hot dogs that I found good on their own, became excellent when paired with the fries, and the icy chocolate milk was the perfect accompaniment. I snapped a few photos, finished my meal, and sat back in the sun to relax for a few minutes before completing my 160 mile round trip for lunch.
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